Who was Corina Contreraz? Teen was raped and stabbed 18 times nearly 50 years ago - Old DNA finally revealed her killer

For nearly five decades, the brutal murder of 16-year-old Corina Contreraz remained a haunting mystery. The Montana teenager was raped and stabbed 18 times in December 1978 after leaving a birthday party in Billings. Despite years of investigation, her killer remained unidentified as the case gradually went cold. Decades later, advances in forensic genetic genealogy led investigators to Angelo James Stallsmith Sr., who had died in 1990. With no remains available for testing, investigators turned to an unusual source: a decades-old fingerprint booking card. DNA recovered from the card ultimately matched evidence from the crime scene, finally identifying Contreraz’s killer.

WHO WAS CORINA CONTRERAZ?

Contreraz was a 16-year-old teenage girl living in Billings, Montana. According to PEOPLE, she was last seen with friends at a birthday party on December 22, 1978. At around 3 AM, she left to walk approximately eight blocks to her boyfriend’s home but never arrived.


A school bus driver discovered her body later that morning on the side of a road several miles from where she had been headed. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 18 times.

According to Cowboy State Daily, Dotty Ramirez, her second cousin, remembered her not as the 'quiet' teenager described in some earlier reports, but as a 'happy and bubbly' girl. The two had grown up just houses apart and spent much of their childhood together.

"We were so young at the time," Ramirez told the outlet. "We were just being kids."

HOW INVESTIGATORS FINALLY FOUND A SUSPECT

Investigators pursued numerous theories over the years, but the case went cold. In 2002, DNA recovered from the original evidence was entered into CODIS, but there was no match.

A major breakthrough eventually came through forensic genetic genealogy. Investigators narrowed their focus to Angelo James Stallsmith Sr., but there was a problem: Stallsmith had died in 1990 and had been cremated.

According to Forensic Magazine, investigators then explored an unusual possibility - old fingerprint booking cards from Stallsmith’s previous encounters with law enforcement. Several cards were located, including one dating to November 11, 1982.

DNA extracted from that card matched the unidentified male DNA recovered from Contreraz’s body in 1978.

"To our knowledge, we are the first agency in the United States to be able to get this done," said Detective Captain Dan Paris of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office during a press conference as quoted by Forensic Magazine.

WHO WAS ANGELO JAMES STALLSMITH SR.?

Stallsmith was a local welder with a long history with the law enforcement. In fact, according to Forensic Magazine, there have been 19 incidents of his contact with law enforcement from 1966 to 1989 across the nation. He had been imprisoned in California, Montana, and Oregon. Additionally, he had escaped from San Quentin Prison in California in 1972, only to be caught days later in Salina, Kansas.

Authorities found no evidence that Stallsmith knew Contreraz and believed her murder was likely a 'crime of opportunity'. For Contreraz’s family, identifying him cannot undo what happened, but it has finally answered a question that haunted them for nearly half a century.

"Her spirit is finally free, and we can breathe again," Ramirez told Cowboy State Daily.