“It is a wild case of a double life, a stolen identity, and a gang called “the Shotgun Bandits.” It sounds like a Western novel, but it was a stunning revelation. Genetic genealogy uncovered a “John Doe” in Indiana who had lived undercover in Tucson for decades. Colorado authorities were looking into cold cases and thought a John Doe who died in 2012 might match their suspect. The thing is that the man’s obituary said, “Bill Lee Hull.” The problem is the real Bill Lee Hull is still alive.
As far as anyone in Salem, Indiana, knew, the sweet and elderly Bill Lee Hull passed away and was buried in 2012. But soon, they learned he was buried with more secrets than anyone knew. “He wasn’t a liar, he was just a robber,” said Kaycee Connelly, a genetic genealogist with Moxxy Forensics.
Flashback to when he died; investigators learned something odd. “The Social Security number he was using was found to belong to somebody else,” said Connelly. And that wasn’t the only thing. He had burned or destroyed his fingertips and prints on his hands. “When someone removes their fingerprints by unknown means, there’s a reason to that. So we know there were probably some skeletons in the closet,” said Katie Thomas, co-founder of Moxxy Forensics.
So, he became officially known as a John Doe. “There was a lot of speculation of who this guy was,” said Thomas. In March 2023, after Colorado authorities called an Indiana coroner seeking information, Moxxy Forensics got involved, and they exhumed his body, extracting DNA from his femur to see if they could make a genetic genealogy match. And they made one, in just 30 minutes, to a great-niece of a man named Albert Roadhs. “She did not know of his existence,” said Connelly.
And then it gets even wilder. Who is Albert Roadhs? After research, the forensics team learned he lived a life full of crime for two decades and was part of a gang called the “Shotgun Bandits” that investigators said would commit aggravated robberies in Colorado. He was also known as “Pinky,” a name tattooed on his body.
But after he got out of prison in 1967, Roadhs seemingly disappeared, and he became Bill Lee Hull, then met his partner of more than 30 years, Bessie Fields, down in the Old Pueblo. “They lived in Tucson, Arizona. They apparently met at a bar called The Bush Wacker,” Connelly said.
Because Fields died years ago, no one knows if she ever knew Roadhs’ true identity. Her kids told investigators they never knew he was somebody else. And while he never lied about his age, where he was from, or the siblings he had, the Moxxy Forensics team is still trying to piece together where he was from 1967 to 1987, two decades that this mystery man was unaccounted for. “His story isn’t over quite yet. I think there’s still more to come,” said Connelly.
The real Bill Lee Hull is alive, but the genetic genealogist said he doesn’t know that Albert Roadhs stole his identity, and they’re still trying to figure out where and how the identity was stolen. And after all that, Roadhs did not match that Colorado cold case suspect.” -AZ Family