A 43-year-old cold case homicide in Mansfield has been solved following the death of the primary suspect in a shootout with law enforcement last month in Stark County.
Debra L. Miller, 18, was brutally murdered in her apartment at 151 W. 3rd St. on April 29, 1981. Despite multiple reopenings of the case over the decades, investigators were unable to gather sufficient evidence to indict a suspect. That changed in 2021 when Mansfield Police Detective Terry Butler, inspired by a conversation with retired Lt. Dale Fortney, reopened the case alongside DNA analyst Dawn Fryback.
Starting fresh, Butler and Fryback applied modern DNA technology to reexamine evidence from the crime scene. Their meticulous work uncovered a DNA profile that implicated James Vanest, who had lived in the apartment above Miller at the time of the homicide. Although Vanest had been questioned in 1981, he was not considered a suspect.
Detective Butler interviewed Vanest twice during the investigation. In their first meeting in November 2021, Vanest attempted to justify the presence of his DNA in Miller’s apartment—despite Butler not mentioning it—raising suspicion. Vanest also admitted to lying to investigators during the original investigation. In 2024, during a second scheduled interview, Vanest abruptly ended the conversation, requested an attorney, and refused to cooperate further.
In the weeks following that interview, Vanest sold his home in Canton, Ohio, purchased a pickup truck and enclosed trailer, and fled to West Virginia. During a traffic stop in West Virginia, authorities found Vanest in possession of firearms and arrested him on state charges. He was later indicted on federal gun charges by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) but posted bond and returned to Ohio.
On Nov. 18, 2024, U.S. Marshals and the Canton Regional SWAT team attempted to serve Vanest with an indictment at a hotel on Sunset Strip Avenue NW in Canton. Vanest barricaded himself inside and opened fire on law enforcement, striking a North Canton police officer in the arm. Officers returned fire, killing Vanest.
DNA evidence collected from the crime scene, along with the findings from Butler’s investigation, established proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Vanest murdered Miller in 1981. The case has now been officially closed.
