Beyond Criminal Headlines: Gina Tron, Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons on the case of Suzanne Bombardier

As a California man was being sentenced to life this year for the 1980 murder of 14-year-old Suzanne Bombardier, prosecutors suggested that he may have killed other women.

Mitchell Lynn Bacom, 68, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on June 27 for Bombardier’s kidnapping and murder.

On the night of June 21, 1980, Bombardier was babysitting her older sister’s children when she was kidnapped. Her body was found four days later floating along the Antioch River. She had been raped and stabbed once in the chest.

Prior to Bacom’s sentencing in June, the Suzanne Bombardier investigation was the oldest cold case murder in Antioch, California’s history.

Recently, Cox Media Group’s Nicole Bennett had the opportunity to speak with Gina Tron, a journalist and writer who currently covers true crime for Oxygen, and author Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons about Bombardier. Gibbons, who was credited with assisting in a break in Bombardier’s case in 2017, is currently working on a book about the investigation.

>> Listen to the full episode below.

Beyond Criminal Headlines is a true crime podcast where every two weeks, host Nicole Bennett sits down with esteemed journalists from across the industry who’ve covered some of the most notorious crimes in American history. Find the latest ‘Beyond Criminal Headlines’ content on any podcast provider or listen on demand here.

In 2015, DNA samples from Bombardier’s case were sent to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Laboratory for them to create a DNA profile. In early 2017, after advancements in DNA analysis technology, Antioch police were notified that a CODIS hit was made that identified Bacom as the perpetrator.

According to multiple sources, before Mitchell Bacom was sentenced last June, deputy district attorney Mary Knox told the court that his former cellmate at the Martinez Detention Facility claimed Bacom had confessed to ‘raping and slicing’ sex workers as he drove across the country working as a truck driver.

Paul Holes, a renowned cold case investigator who previously worked on the Golden State Killer case, told media that this alleged confession should be taken very seriously.

Gibbons also weighed in on Bacom’s purported confession when she spoke with Gina Tron for an Oxygen article earlier this year: “I hope the DA looks into the new accusations that Bacom killed sex workers while working as a truck driver — especially the cold cases of sex workers Valerie Schultz, Rachael Cruise, Jessica Frederick. I also hope they look at the cold case of Lisa Norell.”

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