During the investigation of Dana Satterfield’s rape and murder in her own beauty salon, there were times when authorities thought they had found the culprit. However, the case remained stalled for years until a man confessed to hiding a dark secret.
Nude Body Discovery
Dana Satterfield, 27, was described as a beautiful, vibrant, hardworking woman. She was also a wonderful mother of two and had recently separated from her husband. Dana owned and operated her own beauty salon in Roebuck, South Carolina, USA. The rest of her time was mostly devoted to her children.
On July 31, 1995, the day started like any other. Around 6:30 p.m., Diane Harris, a door-to-door saleswoman, stopped by Dana’s beauty shop to sell her a bottle of cleaner before continuing to other nearby stores for deliveries.
By around 8:30 p.m., Diane returned to the area near the beauty salon to wait for her ride when she heard a strange noise from inside. Then she saw the lights go out, followed by a loud noise. Diane was shocked to see a man jump out of the window.
Immediately suspicious, Diane hurried to a nearby house to call 911. The police quickly arrived at the scene shortly afterward.
Inside the beauty salon, they found a woman who appeared to have been strangled with a fabric bag strap. The victim also had multiple bruises on her body and was suspended from a hot water heater about 3cm above the floor.
Roebuck was a small town where everyone practically knew each other, so the police immediately recognized the lifeless body as the owner, Dana Satterfield.
The police immediately searched the area, but the search yielded no results.
Investigators ruled out the possibility of a robbery as nothing seemed to have been taken. They believed the violent attack seemed personal. Dana was found naked, showing signs of sexual assault.
Unexpected Encounter
A forensic team processed the crime scene, collecting fingerprints on the hot water heater, hair samples, and semen. All evidence was sent to the lab for analysis. Meanwhile, investigators continued to interview witness Diane.
Diane stated that she only faced the man for a second. The unexpected encounter left her shaken but still able to provide the necessary details to sketch the suspect’s portrait for the police.
Although the police obtained a male DNA sample from the crime scene, it did not match any DNA in the system. Furthermore, most of Dana’s friends spoke of her friendly nature and believed she had virtually no enemies.
The police then talked to Dana’s ex-husband, Mike, suspecting him of either killing his ex-wife or hiring someone else to commit the crime due to their strained marriage.
Mike’s fingerprints were found on the hot water heater near the body. He told the police that he had just helped Dana replace the broken water heater. Mike also claimed their divorce was amicable. Additionally, he did not match the description of the suspect. After providing solid alibis and passing lie detector tests, Mike was cleared from the suspect list.
The hired assassin hypothesis was also ruled out as the police could not find any evidence supporting it. The nature of the murder and rape did not fit the characteristics of a hired killing.
Investigators shifted their focus to another witness report of seeing a white and navy blue Ford Bronco near the crime scene.
The Suspicious Car
After Dana Satterfield’s ex-husband was cleared from the suspect list, investigators turned their attention to another witness report about seeing a white and navy blue Ford Bronco near the crime scene. Previously, this person had also spotted this car passing by Dana’s beauty salon on the day of the murder.
Believing this could be a lead, investigators followed the trail, scouring Roebuck for similar-colored Ford Broncos.
Eventually, the police discovered Mary Ann Vick, one of Dana’s clients, owned a similar car. However, the witness noted that Mary’s car did not entirely match the one he had seen.
While awaiting the analysis results of the samples sent to the forensic lab for processing, the police spent months meticulously interviewing Dana’s clients.
But as months passed, the investigative agency still failed to identify any suspects.
A Decade Stalemate
Moving into the second year, the police got a potential breakthrough. A prisoner revealed that his cellmate, Russell Quinn, had a photo of victim Dana Satterfield and claimed to be involved in the crime.
Initially skeptical of these admissions, the police changed their minds when witness Diane Harris was asked to identify among several photos. Diane picked out Russell’s photo, stating this was the man she saw jumping out of the crime scene window.
However, the police’s hopes were dashed when Russell’s DNA did not match the DNA sample obtained at the crime scene. Believing that “science doesn’t lie,” the investigative team had to return to square one. The suspect’s DNA sample was entered into the DNA database but yielded no matching results.
The investigation into the brutal murder remained deadlocked for a decade. Those ten years were incredibly difficult for Ashley, Dana’s 8-year-old daughter when she was killed. Investigators also deeply understood that the longer the time passed, the harder it became to solve murder cases.
But then, in 2005, there was a new breakthrough in the case thanks to a chance encounter between 18-year-old Ashley and a young man named Michael Pace, who also lived in Roebuck.
For many years, Michael had kept a dark secret that would help expose Dana’s killer. Michael revealed that his high school close friend was involved in the crime. Interestingly, this person was not unfamiliar to the investigative team.
The murderer is 17 years old
He revealed that the person who killed Dana was his high school best friend – Jonathan Vick. Jonathan is the son of Mary Ann Vick – one of Dana’s customers at that time, who also owned a white and blue Ford Bronco similar to the witness’s description.
On July 31, 1995, Jonathan, then 17 years old, bragged to Michael that he planned to go on a date with Dana and was going to find her. Michael said at the time he found it difficult to believe that a 27-year-old mother of two was interested in a teenage boy 10 years younger than her.
Michael had no idea that it wasn’t a joke. That evening, Jonathan walked into Dana’s South Carolina beauty salon, raped and strangled her. Before climbing out the window to escape, he hung the victim’s body on the water heater in the bathroom.
A few days after the brutal murder, Jonathan admitted everything to Michael. But at the same time, he also threatened to take Michael’s life if he revealed this to anyone.
Michael believed that Jonathan dared to do so, so he had to keep silent. However, after many years, Michael felt regretful, especially after meeting Dana’s daughter. Finally, he decided to go to the police.
Investigating Jonathan, the police have additional information. The ex-girlfriend commented that Jonathan was quite violent. Sometime after the crime, he once drove her past Dana’s store and threatened that if she did not listen, the end result would be like “that woman”.
While in the Marines, Jonathan also assaulted several people and was known to have a violent temper. When he went to another job, the man once again acted against his colleagues and was fired. Additionally, one of his ex-girlfriends has also mysteriously disappeared.
The truth after a decade
At the time of police arrest on October 24, 2005, Jonathan had a wife and children. The 27-year-old man was forced to provide a DNA sample. Test results showed that Jonathan’s DNA matched the DNA sample found at the scene in the past.
Jonathan’s trial began in November 2006, lasting 4 days. The defense attorney noted that the strange hair on the victim’s body did not belong to Jonathan. However, this argument was countered with evidence that the killer dragged Dana across the floor of the store into the bathroom. Before that, the victim had spent all day getting her hair cut and styled and as a result, strands of hair left by customers could be scattered on her clothes and body.
In court, Jonathan affirmed his innocence and had nothing to do with Dana’s death. However, the jury only took less than 20 minutes to deliberate before finding Jonathan guilty of all charges including murder, rape, and kidnapping.
However, because he committed the crime as a minor, Jonathan did not face the death penalty. Instead, he only received a life sentence.
In 2010, Jonathan received an additional three years in prison for threatening the life of a prison officer and attacking another prisoner. Jonathan was also subjected to special management, forced to stay in his cell 23 hours a day for six months.
Jonathan is currently being held at Lieber Correctional Institution, a maximum security facility in Ridgeville, South Carolina, and will not be eligible for parole before 2035.
