Suvechha Sarkar
On a quiet morning in March 1983, the community of the small town of Ben Lomond, California, was shaken by a tragedy. Joette Marie Smith was a bright and beloved young woman, but she was brutally killed. The crime devastated her family and friends and left investigators searching for answers for nearly four decades. Investigation Discovery’s ‘On The Case with Paula Zahn: A Bridge to Disaster’ traces the timeline of the events leading up to the fateful day and highlights the tireless efforts of officials who uncovered the primary suspect in the case. The episode further features interviews with officials and her family members.
Joette Smith Was Found Dead in the San Lorenzo River in California
Joette Marie Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on September 24, 1949. She was welcomed into this world by Carl William and Hedwig Ann Smith and grew up in a loving household. She was the oldest among her brothers, Bill, Gordon, and Joseph, and her sisters, Evette, Annette, and Lea. The siblings had a close bond, and she often taught her sisters how to cook. Joette possessed an affinity for testing her creativity in cooking. She graduated from St. Albert’s High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and pursued higher education at St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, Kansas. Joette resided in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before eventually moving to Boulder Creek, California, in 1973.
Joette later settled in Ben Lomond, in Santa Cruz County, California, and opened her restaurant, Buffalo Gal’s. She successfully ran the establishment and lived across the street from it on Hillside Avenue. However, her beautiful life changed forever on March 27, 1983. Around 11:10 am on March 29, a man walking his dog along the banks of the San Lorenzo River discovered a woman floating face down in the water. The authorities were notified, and when they arrived at the scene, they observed that the woman only had a strand of pearls, a black boot, and a nylon stocking on herself. She also had an unusual ring on her finger. When her remains were brought to the bank, they found she had notable injuries to her face and head, along with marks on her neck, indicating strangulation.
Since detectives noted no footprints, broken branches, or signs of disturbance at the location, they reportedly deduced that the crime occurred elsewhere. They searched under a bridge around 300 yards upstream of the river. They discovered a red scarf, a torn black bra, a navy dress, and the second boot that the woman was wearing. Investigators also found some loose change lying at the scene. Since the ground there was disturbed, they reportedly concluded the crime occurred there, and then the woman’s remains were disposed of in the river. Police showed her picture to people around Ben Lomond, and locals identified her as 33-year-old Joette. The autopsy reportedly determined her cause of death to be strangulation, and she was sexually assaulted. Experts estimated she was in the water for around 24 to 48 hours.
The Case Went Cold After Several Leads Led Investigators to a Dead End
Investigators initially spoke to Joette’s roommate, Rachel Devereaux. She informed them that after Joette came home from work, they watched a TV show. Rachel went to sleep by 11 pm, but when she woke up around 3 am and didn’t find her, she presumed Joette had gone to her restaurant as usual. However, Rachel expressed suspicion about Joette’s ex, Miguel, who had a messy breakup with her around six weeks before the murder. Miguel’s new girlfriend provided an alibi for him, and he was ruled out as a suspect after she passed a polygraph test. Detectives learned from a bartender at Henflings Bar that before midnight on March 27, 1983, Joette went there just after the last customer left. She informed them that Joette reportedly bought a cigarette pack, received 50 cents change, and decided to walk back home.
The change matched the coins found at the crime scene, and it was revealed that Joette was last seen alive by the bartender. They discovered that the last customer at that bar was Bruce, who briefly dated her before the incident. When he was brought in for questioning, officials noted bruises on his face, which he claimed were from a bar fight. He was arrested on another outstanding warrant, and a bloody shirt was found at his home. However, Bruce was ruled out as a suspect when his DNA and other evidence did not link him to the scene. Police then focused on Mark, who also dated Joette previously. Mark knew information like her cause of death, sexual assault, and the clothes she wore before it was revealed to the public. However, with an alibi from his girlfriend and no physical evidence tying him to the crime, the lead went dead.
Forensic Breakthrough Led Officials to the Murder Suspect After 39 Years
The case went cold until an inmate from another state contacted the detectives in 1988. He informed them that there was a janitor, Eric David Drummond, who worked in a bar near the location where Joette was killed during that time. Detectives discovered Eric had suddenly left California after the incident. Furthermore, he had a history of violence against women and was previously convicted of sexual assault in California and Nevada. The investigator found out that he was also a suspect in a similar case where the woman had survived, but he was never put on trial. One of Eric’s former female co-workers revealed that he often asked women out on dates and got violent when he faced rejection. He was in prison when officials questioned him, but he denied his involvement.
Eric admitted that he went to Joette’s restaurant to ask her out a few days before the murder, and she had allegedly said that she would think about it. Since detectives only had circumstantial evidence and nothing physical tying him to the scene, the case again went cold. It was reopened in 2022, and Joette’s clothing was sent for testing since it had never been tested before. It had a male DNA on it, but it didn’t provide a match on the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Investigators discovered that Eric’s DNA had never been entered into the database. California police contacted law enforcement in Washoe County, Nevada, to obtain his DNA since he was residing there at the time. In August 2022, Eric willingly gave a swab to the police, and it matched the one that was found on Joette’s clothing.
Eric Drummond Passed Away Before Officials Could Arrest Him
In September 2022, right before officials obtained an arrest warrant for Eric for the murder of Joette, the 64-year-old died by suicide in Sierra County, California. One of the detectives who helped solve the case expressed his disappointment, stating, “To get a conviction in court, that’s what we strive to get, and we felt the frustration that we were never gonna be able to get that.” The news completely devastated Joette’s family, and speaking on the matter, Annette said, “I hope he burns in hell.” On the other hand, Evette explained, “I was never wanting to see him in court.” Despite strong evidence connecting Eric to the crime, he never faced criminal charges or stood on trial related to the case.
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