Christine Foster was found partially nude, stabbed more than 52 times and her skull crushed, dumped in a drainage ditch on the side of a road near Belleville, IL on March 20, 1995.  Near the time of the murder, a grand jury declined to issue charges against George Bricking for the murder, failing to find probable cause.  The case went cold.

There was a clue centered around a ruby ring clutched in the hand of Foster when she was found.  Bricking had a similar ring but claimed he had lost it in the sink drain at his mother’s house.

In 2012, the investigation was relaunched when St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department investigators reinterviewed a handyman, who came to repair the sink in the house Bricking shared with his mother. They also reinterviewed Bricking’s mother, Jeannette Yarber, who told them she still had the receipt for the ring at her house. The receipt was collected as evidence and was tested for DNA. The search warrant also requested investigators be allowed to photograph the drain and seize the gooseneck portion for evidence. The search warrant also sought a buccal swab from Bricking’s cheek to obtain his DNA standard.

Last week, Bricking was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Christine Foster’s sister thanked Lt. Jack Kaffer and Calibre Press instructor Steve Johnson for their continued pursuit of the case.

Well done!

More information on this cold-case at bnd.com