Krista Harrison

Krista Lea Harrison was an eleven-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered on July 17, 1982 from a park near her home in Marshalville, Ohio in 1982.

Case
Harrison was abducted from a park by a man driving a brown van with bubble-shaped windows in the summer of 1982. Her remains were discovered in a field nearly a week later. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

A box, bag, towel and clothing found with the body were later linked to Robert Anthony Buell, who had previous offenses as a serial rapist in the area. He had brought his victims to his home in Akron, Ohio.

Perhaps the most important piece of evidence were the orange-colored carpet fibers on Harrison's body that matched those in Buell's vehicle. They were also notably similar to those found on the body of Tina Harmon, abducted from Lodi, Ohio in late 1981.

A man was previously convicted of Tina's murder based on largely circumstantial evidence. After Buell was convicted of Harrison's murder, the conviction for her murder was overturned.

Post-episode notes
Robert Anthony Buell was executed in 2002 by lethal injection, despite the fact that the episode states he was sentenced to death by the electric chair.

According to former journalist for the Cleveland Scene James Renner, Buell was linked to Tina's murder after DNA testing indicated he was the individual who had raped her.

The 1983 abduction and torture of Deborah "Debbie" Smith was also linked to Buell by candle wax found on the remains that matched those in his home, also according to Renner. Little information is available on the Smith case.