Eagle, Idaho, is full of remarkable people with stories that quietly shape our communities—and sometimes even history. One of those individuals is Ted Lagerwall, a longtime prosecutor who found himself at the forefront of one of Idaho’s most groundbreaking criminal cases: the decades-old cold case murder of 9-year-old Daralyn Johnson.
Lagerwall’s journey into DNA forensics wasn’t planned. A career prosecutor, he spent nearly 25 years in Chicago working as a gang and cold case homicide prosecutor for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. When he and his family relocated to Idaho, he began working out of the Canyon County Courthouse, bringing with him a wealth of experience—but not expecting to become one of the state’s leading voices in forensic DNA law.
A Cold Case Reopened
The case that would change everything had roots all the way back in 1982, when Daralyn Johnson vanished on her way to school in Nampa, Idaho. Her younger sister, Darcy, still remembers the day vividly—Daralyn had left early to deliver a note to a friend after a minor disagreement. But Daralyn never made it. Her disappearance launched a massive community-wide search that ended in heartbreak four days later when her body was discovered near the Snake River by a 14-year-old boy named Darwin Shippy while he was fishing with his family.
The initial investigation led to the arrest and conviction of Charles Fain, who was sentenced to death in 1983. However, by 2001, Fain was cleared through traditional DNA evidence and released from death row, leaving the case in limbo—technically still active but without a viable suspect. It sat that way until 2018, when scientific advancements caught up with justice.
A Scientist Who Changed the Game
Enter a world-renowned paleogenomicist—part of the team responsible for mapping the Neanderthal genome—who had mastered extracting DNA from highly degraded materials, like woolly mammoth hair and ancient bones. While he normally flew under the radar, a genealogist reached out to him to help solve the mystery of a child’s coffin found beneath a San Francisco home. The scientist extracted viable DNA from the remains and suggested that it could be matched through genealogical tracing. His contribution quietly laid the groundwork for what would become modern forensic genealogy.
This very scientist was later contacted by Detective Mark Taylor, who works for the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and lives in Eagle. Taylor asked the scientist a simple question: If we get DNA from a potential suspect, could you compare it to the evidence from the 1982 case? The answer was yes.
What followed was nothing short of revolutionary.
Lagerwall Takes the Lead
Ted Lagerwall stepped in at a crucial time. The case was active again, and the need for someone who could bridge the legal world and the evolving world of DNA science was critical. “I’ve done DNA cases as a gang prosecutor,” Ted said, “but I wasn’t part of a forensic unit. We don’t have that infrastructure here in Idaho.”
Undeterred, Lagerwall threw himself into the work. He traced the chain of custody of evidence that had, over the years, passed through labs in Quantico, Canada, Seattle, and California. His office became a wall-to-wall maze of colored lines and paper mapping the evidence trail, resembling a scene from A Beautiful Mind—a comparison Ted jokingly notes doesn’t apply to his intellect, but certainly to his obsessive dedication.
He collaborated with experts at Quantico, Seattle, and even New York prosecutors involved in the Gilgo Beach serial killer case. Slowly but surely, he immersed himself in cutting-edge forensic science, including whole genome sequencing—the same technology used to help identify victims in the aftermath of 9/11.
Eventually, DNA extracted from hair samples—which many experts once believed were useless—helped lead to a suspect. The match was confirmed through family tracing and ultimately direct comparison, making it one of the first uses of whole genome sequencing for criminal prosecution in U.S. court history.
Justice at Last
In court, Lagerwall presented evidence that had never been used before. With the scientist who helped decode the Neanderthal genome testifying, the courtroom witnessed a historic moment in the merging of law and science. The details were harrowing—Daralyn had been sexually assaulted and murdered. Her family, including her sister Darcy and parents Deanna and Dennis Johnson, were finally given the long-awaited closure they had waited decades for.
“This wasn’t just a case,” Lagerwall says. “It was a responsibility. To the family, to the community, and to the truth.”
Legacy
What began as a cold case became a milestone in legal history, and a powerful example of how persistence, science, and the pursuit of justice can work hand in hand.
Today, Ted Lagerwall remains an important figure in the Idaho legal system. A quiet force behind the scenes, his work not only brought justice to one family but may well reshape how future cases are handled throughout the country.
And it all started in Eagle.
