Investigators found a few pieces of evidence at the crime scene. Krystal Beslanowitch’s socks were found nearby, and the granite rocks on the site had blood on them. Based on Beslanowitch’s injuries, it was concluded that the rocks were used as the murder weapon, per The Cinemaholic. Beslanowitch’s boyfriend Chris was investigated, but he was ruled out due to lack of means and motive. There was also a taxi driver known as Herb Fry who was looked into, as he was said to have had an interest in Beslanowitch, but there was no forensic evidence that tied him to the crime.

Years passed and Beslanowitch’s case went cold. It was in 2006 when the case was reopened, and a couple of years later, the granite rocks were swabbed for DNA. In 2013, there was new technology that made it possible to further examine the DNA evidence left on the granite rocks as well as the scrapings collected from underneath Beslanowitch’s fingernails, as reported by Deseret News. The technology used was from M-Vac Systems and made use of a wet vacuum to collect touch DNA from the granite (via M-Vac). The DNA profile was then uploaded to CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and it matched a man named Joseph Michael Simpson.