Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘People Magazine Investigates: The Aloha Murder’ delves deep into the 1972 cold murder case of Nancy Anderson, whose brutal murder caused unrest across the entire community. Despite the best efforts from law enforcement, the investigation came to fruition unexpectedly after about five decades. The episode not only goes behind the scenes to provide the viewers with a detailed account of the investigation but also features insightful interviews with Nancy’s family and friends, who share their views and perspectives on the case.
Nancy Anderson Was Found Dead in Her Shared Apartment by Her Roommate
On November 10, 1952, Merle Vern Anderson and Thelma Bernice Brown Chambers welcomed a little bundle of joy into the world in the form of Nancy Elaine Anderson. Born and raised in Bay City, Michigan, Nancy was one of ten siblings, which included his brother Jack Anderson and sisters Mary Schiattone, Janet Christensen, Betty Burk, and Carol Sampson. In late 1971, the 19-year-old high school graduate moved to Waikiki, Hawaii, in hopes of finding her place in the world and enjoying the island life before attending college. Soon after her move, she began living in a Waikiki apartment complex at 2222 Aloha Drive with an 18-year-old roommate named Jody Spooner.
In order to get by in the new city, Nancy started working at the local McDonald’s, where she bonded with people and made a new group of friends. However, right when things were beginning to look up in her life, things turned upside down just a couple of months after her move to Hawaii. Around 2:30 pm on January 7, 1972, Jody came home and found Nancy talking to two silverware salesmen. The former went to sleep for a while in her bedroom. Upon waking up from her nap, she noticed that the salesmen had left and the constant sound of running water was coming from her roommate’s bedroom.
When Jody entered Nancy’s room to investigate the situation, she was met with the horrific sight of the latter’s dead body on the floor. In a state of panic, she ran to her neighbors for help and called the authorities to inform them of the same. After the police rushed to the crime scene, they taped the area and found out that Nancy had been stabbed 63 times in total, three of which also had exit wounds. The autopsy report revealed that the cause of her death was a knife wound to the heart. Without any delay, the authorities launched a homicide investigation.
Nancy Anderson’s Alleged Killer Was Caught After Nearly 50 Years
For the following months and even years, the detectives dug deeper into the case and followed up with every possible clue, only to be met with dead ends. Since Jody reported Nancy was last seen with a couple of salesmen, the investigators interviewed several door-to-door knife salesmen who were in the area to sell knives. They, without any hesitation, volunteered their fingerprints and even passed polygraph tests. Nancy’s former boyfriends and the property manager were also among the potential suspects. However, the police ruled all of them out due to a lack of evidence. Thus, the case turned cold as the detectives ran out of leads.
After five long decades, in December 2021, the case finally saw some new development when the Honolulu Police received an anonymous tip that a 77-year-old man named Tudor Chirila could be a possible suspect in the 1972 murder of Nancy Anderson. When they dug deeper into his life, he was a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s and lived quite close to where Nancy resided. In March 2022, the detectives managed to locate his son, John Chirila, in Newport Beach, California, and obtain a DNA sample from him.
Thanks to genetic genealogy and DNA phenotyping, they were able to identify him as the biological child of the individual whose DNA sample was found on a blood-stained bathroom towel at the crime scene. In order to confirm their suspicion, the Reno police obtained a search warrant for Tudor Chirila’s residence, and during their search on September 6, 2023, they collected a DNA sample from there. A couple of days later, Tudor attempted to take his life but couldn’t succeed.
Tudor Chirila Passed Away A Few Months Before His Trial
Finally, after about five decades, Tudor Chirila was arrested in Reno on September 14 for being the possible killer of Nancy Anderson. Charged with second-degree murder, he was held in the Washoe County Jail without bail before getting extradited to a Honolulu jail. Since Tudor Chirila pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, he was scheduled to go to trial in March 2024. However, while awaiting trial, he reportedly died of cardiac arrest in jail on Christmas Day of 2023 at the age of 78. Despite feeling disappointed about the fact that they would never find out who Tudor was to Nancy and the reason he allegedly killed her, the Anderson family found closure in the fact that they at least saw the alleged killer behind bars.
Nancy’s younger sister, Mary Schiattone, told KITV, “Our family always had faith we would eventually find out about who was behind her murder. We didn’t think he’d still be alive but we always hoped for something.” Meanwhile, the other sister, Betty Burk, said, “We’re going to meet as a family and have a big celebration. It’s finally over after 52 years, it’s been quite a journey. Nancy has been with us and she helped guide us. Last year was a highlight, we found Tudor and the family traveled to Reno, Nevada.” On the other hand, Jack Anderson told ABC 12, “He did spend the last part of his life behind bars, so we did get justice in that sense. But there is really never — when it comes to things like murder — there is ever really justice per se, but as a family we are at peace with it.”
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