DiAnne Keidel's disappearance and murder

Domestic abuse of ANY kind is unacceptable – full stop. Whether it be between spouses or a parents’ violence against their children, Gene’s abuses are inexcusable. Perhaps the resources available to an abused spouse have increased since the 1960s, but cases of domestic abuse go unreported all too often. It was encouraging that DiAnne had made the separation from Gene – he had his own apartment, and she’d seemingly removed the four children from his dangers too. One wonders how close to a “clean break” DiAnne had come. All to unfortunate for her, and for Susie and Kelly, the children who died in the house fire in January, 1967.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I’m not remotely suspicious of Lori Romaneck’s recollection of her father’s murder of her mother DiAnne. She was able to distinctly locate where her mother’s body would be located without corroborating information of her mother’s fate. I am curious about additional facts that would clarify and further substantiate Lori’s memory of the events on that fateful September evening in 1966.

• With Lori’s report of her father Gene’s physical abuse of DiAnne and the children, did the surviving son Greg concur with the behavior and events described?
• It’s interesting that the oldest and youngest children (Susie and Lori) were the ones who witnessed the fight that led to DiAnne’s demise, along with Gene digging the burial site in the backyard later on. In between, they hid in the closet - apparently a common sanctuary all the kids would use to avoid their father’s abuse. So only Susie and Lori were witnesses to both scenes, and Susie died leaving Lori the sole witness. Didn’t either tell their siblings Greg and Kelly what they’d seen in the four months before the fire? Didn’t Lori want to at least confide in her older brother at some point thereafter?
• Lori described the deadly blow Gene delivered to DiAnne very specifically. DiAnne had apparently “took her defense down”, apparently distracted when she saw the children on the stairs above. It was at this moment Gene landed a blow that knocked DiAnne down, and she hit her head. It’s not impossible but unlikely that this single action would kill DiAnne. The episode didn’t indicate that any head trauma was found on the victim’s skull. Therefore, did Gene have to purposefully kill DiAnne after the children ran back upstairs?
• Lori mentioned that her father Gene threatened to kill her if she ever revealed the details of her mother’s death. But the episode implied that Gene may’ve only seen the children fight with or strike DiAnne – not that he knew they’d seen him bury their mother. And when did Gene make the threats? When Lori was still five years old? Or repeatedly?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Any two events that happen in relation or succession can be called a coincidence. But we don’t typically use the phrase unless they’re intimately or even mildly related. Even though it lent no direct meaning to the case in terms of substantiation or evidentiary value, Bob Marlin’s death almost immediately after DiAnne’s disappearance could be called a true coincidence. The episode’s description of Marlin’s heart attack occurring the very next day conflicts with an account I read in a 2010 book Criminal Justice: Evidence by Colin Evans. Part of this text was available on Google Books.

Once recovered from under the concrete patio, DiAnne Keidel’s remains needed to be identified. This was in spite of the obvious connection given Lori’s information leading to the location. However, this proved more difficult than anticipated. Bacteria had compromised the DNA, and DiAnne’s dental records were destroyed after her dentist retired. Ultimately, a combination of the forensic anthropologist’s report, the age of the remains in relationship to a nearby tree’s roots, and the photo superimposition were to key to DiAnne’s identity and Gene’s conviction.