Questions Linger After Murder-Suicide

Almost three weeks after the main suspect in was killed by her brother, Wayne Sanchez, who then turned the gun on himself, the questions continue about how one of the most bizarre missing-persons cases in the Bay Area was handled by police and county prosecutors.

On the Justice for Janine Facebook page, several friends of Jesus and Georgette Sanchez, the parents of Jeanine and Wayne, have left messages about the delay in reprocessing evidence that initially landed Maurice Nasmeh in jail.

When asked to respond to the concerns, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Chief Scott Seaman explain that they began serving in their capacities after the July 2001 disappearance.

Rosen officially became the county's top prosecutor Jan. 3 and immediately was briefed about the case and directed district attorneys to review the evidence, he said.

Seaman became the chief of police in July 2002, a year after her disappearance. 

Early in his time with the department, Seaman said he made the case the department's top investigative priority.

Under Los Gatos Monte Sereno police Capt. Alana Forrest and then-detective, now Sgt. Steve Walpole, Seaman led a team of experienced investigators, including Mike Schembri, an investigator from the DA's office, in a task force to tear the case apart and build it back up again. That effort led to the charging of Nasmeh with Harms' homicide.

In Seaman's view, the reopening of the cold case was successful. Nasmeh was arrested in December 2004. He spent almost 2½ years in jail but was released in June 2007 because of faulty evidence.  

Rosen said he learned that there was evidence that had not been tested after taking office, so he ordered it sent to a nationally renowned fiber expert for testing at a laboratory in Illinois. The testing is expected to be finished in six months, he added, at which time he will report the findings to the community.

"If we believe, based on the evidence that we have, that Maurice Nasmeh killed Janine Harms, we will announce that and explain the basis for our decision," he said. "If we don't believe Maurice Nasmeh committed the murder, then the investigation is still open."

Rosen said retesting the evidence is a slow and painstaking process. "We're committing thousands and thousands of dollars and resources to get all of this evidence tested, because we believe it's very important," he said.

Questions about what else besides fiber evidence from a rug found to be one missing from Harms' Los Gatos duplex that lead police authorities to Nasmeh can't be answered, because the investigation is not complete yet, Rosen said. "We're following the evidence, and where that leads is what we'll announce," he said. 

Coincidentally, Rosen said he had asked Brian Welch, the supervisor of the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office Homicide Team, to contact the Sanchez family the Saturday before the murder-homicide occurred, but nobody answered. After the tragedy took place Jan. 15, Welch once again reached out to the family and spoke to them.

On Jan. 26, the San Jose Police Department released to the San Jose Mercury News the 911 audio recording of Wayne Sanchez killing Nasmeh inside Peet's Coffee and Tea at the El Paseo de Saratoga shopping Center in San Jose. Rosen said he had spoken to San Jose Acting Police Chief Chris Moore and told him that since there was no criminal investigation with no pending prosecution, he would defer to him as to whether to give the recording to the media. "If there was a criminal prosecution, then the decision would have been mine ... I support his decision."

Rosen acknowledged the case has had many tragic twists and turns and pledged to do everything he could to bring the investigation to completion.

Seaman said his department would continue to support the DA's office in determining who's responsible for Harms' murder. "I remain absolutely committed to answering that ultimate question, 'What happened to Jeanine?' I'm committed to the Sanchez family to help them get the answer to what happened to their daughter, and I am eternally hopeful that someone in the community knows what happened to Jeanine, and I ask them to please come forward and help us answer that critical question."

Seaman, too, conceded that the missing-body homicide case has been difficult and challenging, "but we have reached a conclusion, which we're continuing to examine."

Janice Burnham, Harms' longtime friend and creator of the Justice for Jeanine Facebook page, declined comment for this story.