Justice for Jennifer Servo: Is an indictment on the horizon?

It is the decades-long saga that has haunted the city of Abilene.

A young and talented television news reporter was killed in her prime and there have been no convictions, let alone arrests.

Jennifer Servo, a KRBC reporter, was found murdered in her Abilene apartment on Sept. 18, 2002, and recently the Abilene Police Department sought help from the television show, "Cold Justice," in hopes of bringing her killer to justice.

Already, "Cold Justice" had aided in the arrest of Billye Brown, who has since been indicted in the 1982 killings of his common law wife, 30-year-old Susanna Flores Brown and her daughter, 8-year-old Francesca Martinez.

Will APD have the same luck in the Servo case? At the end of the show, law enforcement officials declared they will seek charges against their prime suspect, Ralph Sepulveda.

The Reporter-News reached out to Sepulveda for a comment on the recent developments in the case and to find out if he has retained a lawyer who could make a statement for him.

Sepulveda did not respond.

Anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent beyond a reasonable doubt unless proven guilty in a court of law.

For previous coverage of this historic case, see more from the original lead detectives.

Unlikely an unknown assailant

While there were few pieces of new evidence that came to light in the show, prosecutor Kelly Siegler and APD detectives scrutinized every aspect of the case, including interviewing old witnesses and looking at previous statements.

According to Detective Jeff Cowan of APD's Cold Case Unit, cold cases in general are "a different breed — which require a fresh set of eyes, countless hours of research, more manhours, and also more funding, as advanced lab testing usually leads to higher costs."

"Cold Justice" brought all of that and more, flying Abilene detectives to Montana to interview Servo's family, to Tennessee to interview former suspect Brian Travers and lastly to Hawaii to interview Sepulveda.

Siegler and the detectives then scrutinized every suspect in the case, including the possibility of an unknown assailant.

While eliminating suspects systematically, Cowan said, "The original officers noted that there were no signs of forced entry."

He said if there had been an unknown assailant, the downstairs neighbor would likely have heard screaming.

In reviewing the neighbor's original statement, detectives noted that the neighbor said he woke up at 2 a.m. and heard "two people were yelling at each other." To that neighbor, "it sounded like a two-way conversation."

To APD detectives and Siegler, an unknown assailant did not fit with this description from that key witness, so they crossed such a suspect off the list.

'He's cleared'

Brian Travers, KRBC weatherman at the time of the killing, was the last known person to see Servo alive. For years, he has been dogged by his reputation as a potential suspect in this contentious case.

As a result, detectives combed through original statements and found that Travers "did seem very cooperative." Siegler also noted he had cooperated with the department since day one — even against the advice of his own lawyers.

In the past, Travers had also given a DNA sample and even flew up to Servo's funeral in Montana.

Cowan said that while "he's a little bit awkward socially," Travers has no previous criminal record.

Detectives in the show requested to speak to Travers in person, and against the advice of his own lawyers he did. While he declined to appear on camera, it seems he satisfied all of the detectives’ questions.

Cowan gave the final word, however, saying, "He's cleared in all this."

'All roads lead back to Ralph'

"Cold Justice" not only interviewed past witnesses and cleared Travers’ name but also brought to light some new evidence that has never before been seen. The show highlighted some entries in Servo's diary, which detailed her complicated relationship with Sepulveda, then a 35-year-old Army ranger.

In an undated diary entry before her death, Servo wrote, "He's mooching off me!"

Siegler noted that while Sepulveda had arrived in July 2002 with Servo to Abilene, he moved out of their shared apartment on Aug. 2, 2002.

Servo had found out that Sepulveda had left behind an ex-fiancé and a child in Montana.

Servo subsequently ended the relationship, and Sepulveda sat for six weeks in his own apartment in Abilene with little to no furniture. He had contacted Servo in an attempt to rekindle the relationship to no avail.

Upon reviewing the timeline of their relationship, Siegler said, "This is an obsession. This isn't just love."

Friends of Servo also told detectives over the phone that Sepulveda "liked to strangle her (Servo) whenever they were having sex."

Siegler said the autopsy report had revealed that Servo had been strangled and had also died of blunt force trauma.

At this point, no other suspects remained besides Sepulveda.

"Based on what we have, all roads lead back to Ralph," Cowan said.

When Siegler and Cowan spoke with Servo's family, Siegler said, "Detectives Jeff Cowan and Shawn Montgomery are going to present their case to their prosecutor seeking charges for the murder of Jennifer Servo against Ralph Sepulveda."

Cowan said they "had a meeting with our DA's office, (and) they're looking at taking this case, seeking charges or going to grand jury on Sepulveda."

Servo's mother Sherry Abel said, "I finally feel we are going to have some justice for Jen."

While it won't bring her back, this is what the family had been hoping for, Abel said.

More on Cold Justice. Cold Justice returns to Abilene to work historic Jennifer Servo case

More from the original lead detective. Retired lead investigator from Jennifer Servo cold case murder speaks out

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Justice for Jennifer Servo: Is an indictment on the horizon?