Finding Joel Patrick Courtney

Joel Patrick Courtney, who lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was found and charged with assault, kidnapping, and sexual assault. Once arrested, his victim was able to identify him from a police lineup. Sadly for Courtney’s wife and three children, he would, later on, be convicted of even more vicious crimes. But what exactly made them put the pieces of evidence together to be able to name him as Brooke’s captor?

Connecting The Two Attacks

Many times, detectives from different counties, and even states look to other departments to help with their cases. This time, Jinx Jones, an Albuquerque detective called the Corvallis police department to share his thoughts. He had cases of other kidnapping and rape victims that were blonde and blue-eyed, just like Brooke, but that was too little to go on. But there was a crucial piece of evidence that was able to tie Courtney to Brooke. In 1991, Courtney had a previous record for sexual assault in Washington County, so he had been in Portland, Oregon before returning home to New Mexico. He had been working a job that required him to travel to different states, and the car he drove was a green minivan, exactly like the one mentioned by the two witnesses.