An unlocked door and the DNA of a 4-year-old boy that caught the phantom predator episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 22, 2026 · 17 MIN

An unlocked door and the DNA of a 4-year-old boy that caught the phantom predator

from True Crime Vanished · host Creator at Obomedia

The unlocked door of Briana: serial killer of Reno: The Murder of Briana Denison In the early morning of January 19, 2008, a man entered a house in Reno without forcing the door, took Briana Denison sleeping on the couch, and disappeared without waking anyone. The impossible: he left his DNA on the doorknob, untouched money, and did not activate the sleeping dog upstairs. How did a predator attack four times within a kilometer without being captured until his own girlfriend turned him in? In this episode, we explore how a piece of underwear found in a truck connected three previous assaults to the homicide, and how the DNA of a four-year-old boy confirmed the identity of the serial killer. We unravel the pattern of a plumber who hunted college students, the failures that left him free after the first attack, and the contradiction between his alibi and the testimony of the one who brought him to justice. Victim: Briana Denison Date: January 19, 2008 Location: Reno, Nevada, USA Status: Convicted; death penalty pending (2010) - Briana disappeared from a couch next to an unlocked door while her friend slept upstairs; her pillow had blood and bite marks. - Three previous attacks in October, November, and December 2007 within a kilometer shared the same male DNA from the murder. - James Biela was identified by an anonymous tip nine months later; his girlfriend contradicted his alibi and found women's underwear in his truck. - The DNA of Biela's four-year-old son matched genetic markers from the scene, confirming biological kinship to the killer. Briana Denison, Reno Nevada murder, 2008, homicide, investigation, forensic, serial killer, sexual assault, mystery solved, true crime SpanishTo listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.comOBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases.Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived.We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons  a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered.From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault.© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie

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An unlocked door and the DNA of a 4-year-old boy that caught the phantom predator

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