My theory about the 1996 murder of Carol Ryan.
Carol Ryan was horrifically assaulted and left to die on the side of the road nearly 30 years ago in Syracuse, NY. Was her murder a dry run for an even more savage crime?
September 1, 2024, marks the 28th anniversary of the death of Carol Ryan, the 42-year-old mother sexually brutalized and left to die next to a road near Syracuse, New York. She had been beaten, dragged, and mortally wounded from an explosive device inserted into her vagina. Still alive when discovered in the early morning hours of September 1, 1996, Ryan died five hours later on the operating table at University Hospital in Syracuse. She never regained consciousness and was never able to say what had happened to her. Her murder is far and away the most infamous unsolved crime in Central New York.
In 2023, the Onondaga County District Attorney again theorized that the murderer was probably someone close to Ryan, a person who knows he’s a suspect, and has now “lawyered up.”
I remain skeptical of the whole “The boyfriend did it” theory. Spurned boyfriends (and girlfriends) do not typically abduct, assault, and destroy their former love interest with a strategically placed explosive before dumping their naked body alongside a public highway. What happened to Carol Ryan was not a crime of passion, but of opportunity, committed by a cunning, evil stranger with a pathological hatred of women. He was trolling for a victim in the early morning hours of September 1, 1996, and Ryan just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Based on publicly available information, I believe the most likely suspect is John B. Andrews, Jr., the sole suspect in the murder of two teenage girls 33 days later in the nearby town of Dryden, NY.
Andrews, 31, had been awaiting arraignment in those deaths when he hanged himself in the Tompkins County Jail in Ithaca, NY, on November 2, 1996. Police had charged him with kidnapping, sexually assaulting, torturing and murdering his next-door neighbor, 16-year-old Sarah Hajney, and her best friend, Jennifer Bolduc, also 16. Both were cheerleaders at Dryden High School. After killing the girls, Andrews scattered their body parts across two counties.
Newspaper accounts from the time are vague as to whether or not Andrews was ever ruled out as a suspect in the Ryan murder. One detective is quoted as saying, “At this point, we do not have any information that Andrews was up in this area during the period of time that Carol Ryan was killed.”
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. More important, a review of both cases, based on previously published accounts, and from the vantage of 28 years, reveals a chain of circumstances strongly suggesting they may, in fact, be related.
Consider:
· Carol Ryan fit the profile of women targeted by Andrews. John Andrews had a history of assaulting petite women with blonde or red hair. Both of the women he attacked while stationed with the U.S. Air Force in Germany were blonde and 5 feet 4 inches tall. Sarah Hajney was 5 feet 3 inches tall with red hair; Jennifer Boldac was 5 feet 4 inches tall with blonde hair. Ryan, according to her son, was 5 feet 4 inches tall with red hair.
· Both cases involved penetration with a foreign object. The 26-count indictment filed against Andrews in Tompkins County included one count of Aggravated Sexual Abuse, defined per NY State Penal Law as inserting a foreign object into the vagina or anus of another person and causing physical injury. Carol Ryan died five hours after an explosive device was inserted in her vagina and detonated.
· Injuries to Ryan’s head and face were consistent with Andrews’ M.O. of “blitzkrieg” assaults. In all three attacks attributed to Andrews, he used the element of surprise and his own size to quickly overpower his victims. One woman who resisted was struck repeatedly in the head with a dumbbell. Several newspaper articles from 1996–1997 referenced the injuries to Ryan’s head, noting bruises and both eyes being swollen shut. Her son told reporters his mother had been beaten beyond recognition.
· Ryan’s killer discarded her along a road that could have offered a quick, surreptitious escape route back to Dryden. State Route 91 in Jamesville is a mostly rural road that continues south to Truxton, then picks up Route 13 south into Dryden. Andrews could have easily traveled the 39 miles from Jamesville to his residence at 38 Church Street in 45 minutes while avoiding the interstates.
· Both cases were notable for their savagery. Whoever maimed Carol Ryan used an explosive with the strength of a quarter-stick of dynamite. Sarah Hajney and Jennifer Bolduc were sexually assaulted, tortured, and dismembered with axes and knives. Andrews then threw their body parts out the window of his car as he drove through Chenango and Madison counties. The wanton, sexually sadistic nature of both attacks suggests they were carried out by someone with an intense rage toward women.
· No other murder with a similar M.O. has been reported in Central New York since Andrews’ suicide on November 2, 1996.
A possible scenario
John B. Andrews Jr. may have traveled to Syracuse in the very early hours of Sunday, September 1, 1996, intending to abduct and murder a random woman as part of a “dry run” for the much more important attack on his 16-year-old neighbor, Sarah Hajney.
· He spotted Carol Ryan hitchhiking in Eastwood and quickly sized her up as the perfect victim — petite, red hair, likely inebriated, willing to get into a stranger’s car.
· He overpowered and beat her into semi-consciousness, then took her to a location near the city along a rural route which would enable a quick escape back to Dryden.
· He dropped Ryan in the driveway of the county recycling facility in Jamesville, removed her clothes, inserted the explosive, detonated it, and fled south on NY-91.
· During the 39-mile drive back to Dryden, he threw her clothing and other evidence out the window of his car.
· Once he realized he had gotten away with it, Andrews became emboldened to execute his plan to abduct and murder Sarah Hajney and Jennifer Boldac 33 days later.
There are at least three ways to prove or disprove the connection between John Andrews and the murder of Carol Ryan:
· Records from Andrews’ employer on the night of August 31, 1996, and morning of September 1, 1996. Andrews worked the third shift at Pall Trinity Micro Corp. in Cortland, arriving home shortly before 8:00 a.m. Now Pall Corporation, the company at 3643 State Route 281 may still have records showing whether Andrews was working at the time Ryan was abducted in Syracuse.
· Matching physical evidence. Physical evidence known only to investigators may further link Andrews to Carol Ryan. Evidence recovered from the Dryden murder included:
- Gray duct tape. Duct tape found at the Hajney home and the cabin where the girls were killed was identical to that used at Pall Trinity. It also matched rolls of tape found in Andrews’ garage.
- Yellow rubber gloves with distinctive grip pattern. Gloves used by workers at Pall Trinity had a unique, diamond-shaped grip pattern, which was found at two scenes. Gloves with this pattern were also discarded with the girls’ remains.
- Black plastic ties. A large bag of plastic ties matching the ones used to bind the girls was found in Andrews’ car.
· DNA match to a living relative of John Andrews. At least three close relatives of John Andrews are still living in Central New York. Improvements in DNA forensics over the past 26 years may now enable analysis that would have been impossible in 1996.
In October of 2022, I mailed my findings to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. I have never heard back, which does not surprise me. I am well aware that even if a connection to John Andrews is proven, there can be no criminal liability in this matter; Andrews’ suicide prevented that. But it’s essential to try, nonetheless, given the possibility of a resolution for Carol Ryan’s family members, as well as the opportunity to close the chapter on one of the most infamous cold cases in Central New York.
If you have any information about the death of Carol Ryan, contact the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office at (315) 435–3051, or text an anonymous tip to 847411 along with the word TIPONON. Anonymous tips can also be submitted online at https://sheriff.ongov.net/tip411/
Kimberly Parr is a true crime writer from Central New York, not far from the Erie Canal. She likes her cases cold and old. Follow her at IceColdCases.com
Sources:
For much of this piece, I am indebted to the following 6-part series by Todd Lighty, “The Killer Next Door,” published in the Syracuse Herald American/ The Post-Standard, a year after the Dryden cheerleader murders.
· Todd Lighty. “Troopers’ First Clue: A Torn Curtain, Signs of Struggle in Hajney Home Fed Families’ Worst Fears.” Syracuse Herald American, September 21, 1997.
· Todd Lighty: “Red Flag: Something Odd about a Neighbor.” The Post-Standard, September 22, 1997.
· Todd Lighty: “Into the Forest: Police at Cabin Find More Bad News.” The Post-Standard, September 23, 1997.
· Todd Lighty. “Cruel Truth: The Evidence at Last Eliminates Hope.” The Post-Standard, September 24, 1997.
· Todd Lighty. “Telltale Past: Attacker Becomes a Murderer.” The Post-Standard, September 25, 1997.
· Todd Lighty. “Final Verdict: The Killer Takes His Own Life.” The Post-Standard, September 26, 1997.
Other sources:
Correspondence via Facebook with Sean Hamilton, Carol Ryan’s son, from September 17, 2022 to August 18, 2023.
Scott Rapp and Nina Kim. “Two Dryden Teens Dead, Police Say.” Syracuse Herald-Journal, October 7, 1996.
David Stout. “Two Girls Are Slain After House-Sitting in Finger Lakes Region.” The New York Times, October 8, 1996. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/08/nyregion/two-girls-16-are-slain-after-house-sitting-in-finger-lakes-region.html
Missing Person / NamUs #MP9863. Sarah Ann Hajney. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP9863
The Associated Press. “Suspect in N.Y. slayings commits suicide, officials say.” The Journal News, November 3, 1996.
Thomas J. Lueck. “Man Charged in Killings of 2 Girls Is Found Hanged in Cell. The New York Times, November 3, 1996. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/03/nyregion/man-charged-in-killings-of-2-girls-is-found-hanged-in-cell.html
Laurel Champion. “Unsolved Killing Stumps Police.” Syracuse Herald-Journal, January 10, 1997.
Firecracker documentary: The murder of Carol Ryan. Syracuse.com. Uploaded to YouTube on December 7, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqe8u3FTfXk
Katrina Tulloch. “Carol Ryan’s Cold Case: Horrific Syracuse Murder Remains Unsolved 26 Years Later.” Syracuse.com, September 1, 2022. https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2022/09/carol-ryans-cold-case-horrific-syracuse-murder-remains-unsolved-26-years-later.html
John O’Brien. “In Search of a Killer Seen as Uniquely Sinister.” Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 31, 1997.
Samantha House. “After 20 years, CNY woman’s brutal murder remains unsolved.” Syracuse.com, August 30, 2016, https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2016/08/do_you_know_who_killed_carol_ryan_brutal_jamesville_murder_unsolved_after_20_yea.html
A possible suspect found in a 27-year cold case. NewsChannel 9 WSYR Syracuse. Uploaded to YouTube on August 15, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwxFrrjwCic
