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A financial analyst is murdered, perhaps to silence her investigation of Mexican banks.  Lynn Amos  Just her bed was on fire CASE DETAILS  Police found accelerants on the mattress On December 11, 1995, at 3:30 A.M., fire units raced to a blaze in the Georgetown section of Washington D.C. Once inside, firefighters discovered that the fire was restricted to the upstairs bedroom. In fact, the bed itself was on fire. At first it looked like no one was home. But as the smoke cleared, firefighters were stunned to see a woman in the bed. She was barely alive. Thirty eight-year old Lynn Amos was a financial analyst who had lived in Washington for just five months. She was rushed to a local hospital with third degree burns over 80% of her body. Anne Saer was a friend of Lynn’s:
At first, investigators believed it was an accident. Lynn’s blood alcohol content was .25 which was two and a half times the legal limit for driving in Washington, D.C. That, and the fact that they found a cigarette butt, seemed to indicate that Lynn Amos had been smoking in bed. But Lynn’s friend Emily Smith didn’t believe it:  Was she killed because of her job?
The police had to rethink their initial theory when insurance investigators found accelerants on the mattress, floor and pillow. According to Lynn’s mother, Helen Amos, they concluded that the fire had been deliberately set:
Lynn Amos clung to life, barely conscious and unable to speak. Ten days later, on December 21, 1995, she died. The cause of death was officially listed as “homicide.” But who would want Lynn Amos dead and why? She was a friendly and outgoing person with no known enemies. But Lynn apparently did have her secrets. In the weeks before she died, she had suddenly stopped talking to her friends about her job. Soon, a motive for Lynn’s murder began to emerge. Lynn Amos had moved to Washington to take a position with a management-consulting firm. As part of her job, she made frequent trips to Mexico to assess the lending practices of several large banks. Less than a month before the fire, Lynn had lunch with a close friend, Emily Smith. According to Emily, Lynn seemed reluctant to talk about work:
Emily said that Lynn told her that she had uncovered some questionable lending practices:
On December 10, the day before the fire, Lynn once again hinted to friends that she had uncovered some potentially explosive information. Emily speculated:
The last time anyone spoke to Lynn was late on the night of the fire. According to Ann Saer:
Lynn’s mother says she was told that the fire looked like a professional job:
Lynn’s friends and family believe that sometime after midnight, the killer broke into the town house. There were no signs of forced entry, so he may have had a key. Or maybe Lynn knew her assailant. Anne Saer believes that the intruder may have forced Lynn to drink until she passed out:
Then, the killer tried to make her death look like an accident. Lynn Amos never completed her report on the Mexican banks. Her former employer declined to appear on camera for this segment. In a letter to our producers, he wrote, “We are troubled by the same questions being asked by investigators. We can only hope that forensic science will provide some answers. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season nine with Robert Stack and season five with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
JK
Was the cigarette butt ever tested for DNA?
Anonymous
Most fires caused by cigarettes I’m skeptical of. (Any fire they can’t figure out, they always seem to blame a cigarette.) But in this case they found a cigarette butt. And it is an insurance case where a company is too cheap to pay for an accident. The key witness is the victim. She was alive long enough to rat someone out if she wanted to. With that I have to disagree with the manner of death.
Anthony Durrant
It could be that Lynn uncovered a numbers racket and chose to send the correct numbers instead of the ones she was given; this is what eventually led to her Death.
AENON
Likely her investigation uncovered something that spooked some very powerful people they didn’t want to be exposed Lynn’s report didn’t just uncover financial irregularities but perhaps an organized crime ring which may’ve led to her murder
EyeRolls
I don’t know how the poor person from UM who has to read all these ridiculous armchair detective theories does it. It would drive me insane. You, sir or madam, are doing the Lord’s work
No Name
You tragedy mongers need to get a life.
Josef Stein
Eu sei de tudo!
Vi o Rey descer do carro com uma sacola de pão, tipo pullman, sabe?
Ah e tinha um suco de groselha também, um dos meus preferidos.
Mano, tenho certeza velho que aquele safado “amigo” dele que matou ele, ué oxi.
Até parece que ele ia sumir daquele jeito e ia ficar tudo na boa, concorda?
Acho que ele irritou alguma máfia de cachorro quente e fez eles perderem muita grana.
Então jogaram ele de cima do prédio e plantaram o celular e o óculos depois dele bater as botas com todo respeito, claro.
Vai atrás do loirinho que 6 vão ver que tô certo.
Abraço, valeu.
Bota meu nome no próximo episódio.
Aj
I highly doubt a Mexican would commit a crime in the nation’s capital unless they had permission from iut government all and all it looks like our own country killed her or her job witch is soo sad they coulda just made her sign a non disclosure as an employe of the company then sue her if she opened her mouth or even ruin her career rather then kill her ruin her career so no one would believe her it’s just soo sad us humans result ti muder so quickly and like it would take an alien threat to realize how precious each other lives are and how as a race we should he United regardless of the difference in what ever I mean the killer had a key or she let him in so the fact that she was close to him or her like a co worker or her boss or that some one from the inside gave inside info to get her murdered just makes me soo sick only some one highly trained did what they did to her I’m surprised they didnt make it look like an accident or in away where her muder wouldn’t look like a murder truly I mean a fire really? Why that why not break her neck or Inject her with somthing that’s not dected that’s so confusing to me she should told some one what was going on maby it would be solved by now tisk tisk
Anonymous
The Mexican banks are not that bad. They would of had no knowledge of her investigating. And detectives don’t realize that. When you find something hidden, those people didn’t know you would find it.
J
Doug, I am so sorry about what happened to your sister Lynn.
Anonymous
I’m also sorry Doug. She seemed to be a very good person.
Doug Amos
I am Lynn’s brother, and the only member of her immediate family still alive. About a decade ago, through a friend with a contact within the CIA, I was told it would be best to not look into Lynn’s murder any longer. I did discover The Barent’s Group was an operative for the CIA. We’re obviously not sure if Lynn was aware of that fact. I, as well as others, believe my sister was killed by the company she worked for or by our own country
robert doub burnette
Doug,
I was in 4th and 6th grade with Lynn at Dannelly Elementary back in the Stone Age.
I recently found my school group pictures for those grades. Some people don’t have any of their
school pictures. If you like I can send you copies of those pictures, either the entire picture or just Lynn.
Back in the late ’70’s and again in the early ’80’s I was at Ole Miss. One night I was in the Kroger grocery store in Oxford at about 10 pm. There weren’t many people in there but as I was standing in the checkout line a rather tall young woman with red hair who looked just like Lynn was heading for the exit about 60 feet away. She looked over her shoulder at me as she headed for the door with a look on her face as though she thought she might recognize me but wasn’t sure. I’ve done some checking of the Ole Miss yearbooks from those years and didn’t find her. Was she ever at Ole Miss?
She seemed like a very nice person and very mature for a grade school girl. It made me sick when I found out what happened. At first I wasn’t sure if it was Lynn from Dannelly or someone else but when I saw her picture I knew it was her because she had exactly the same face in her late ’30’s that she had in 4th grade; some people reach their adult look very early in life.
Robert Burnette
robu57@yahoo.com
Wilmington, NC
Fatboy
Some people only smoke when they drink, this maybe what happened. Otherwise she may have uncovered evidence of money laundering for the Cartels
Anonymous
Absolutely. If you can find another arson homicide so barricaded I would like to study it. Most cases like this an arson only covers up a person already killed. (Unless an entire building is set.)
Different perspective
Everyone here seems to think that her murder has something to do with her job since that’s the angle the episode took, but that might not be the case. It could have been a home invasion gone wrong.
AENON
Home invasion got be wrong? Average home invader isn’t gonna burn their victim to death there is no evidence of a home invasion this was contract hit possible motive for Lynn’s murder her investigation uncovered something that if made public would’ve been damaging to powerful influential people that’s more than an home invasion gone wrong
Anonymous
It is very easy to look at a case wrong. (I do it all the time and often need to re-watch from a different perspective.)
Anonymous
What about her own company, it’s not unheard of for them to send people out on a job and they find something they shouldn’t, if they were in bed with the cartel they would’ve kept an eye on her. That’s one place to start, also the accelerants, it’s now possible to discover which brands were baught where and there should be some public record, another thing is there a professional arsonist, they will have killed again and again after, look for similar MO’s as Lynn’s and you should get closer.
Anonymous
I’ve never seen ethonol confuse hard liquor for kerosene, turpentine, or gasoline until reading this insurance case. It was just hard liquor mixed with cleaning chemicals and other common household items.
Anonymous
My name is Eric, I live in Miami. I think I could be a huge help to you guys. I am a magician. Since I read above that this crime scene was “Staged” I think I can use my skills as a magician to catch the killer. If you would like my help, I’ll be more than happy to help. But if I’m going to help you, I need everything you guys have. Everything to the smallest detail. I am just offering my help. Thank you.
unsolved
Hi Eric – for more details you will need to contact the Metropolitan Police Department. Thank you.
Intuitive
How in the heck do you think you can solve this murder as a magician? Are you going to pull evidence out of hats and read cards that tell what happened? Eric, do us all a favor and go magick yourself a life because you apparently do not have one. This is a murder case not some fifteen minute play game for you to get attention with. Of all the comments on this site yours is highly offensive and disgusting. Do you have morales???
Salem Stryder
Dude no
Anonymous
Can you mix gasoline, turpentine, kerosene, and hard liquor without it spreading to other areas? (You may want a fire department for safety.)
HughRax
Hello. And Bye.
Chanita
Rip Sweet pea
Irma
I wondering if investigator took a look at the work she had been looking into before her death. I think that a better thing to do, cause it’s apparent that whatever she had been working on has a lot to do with this murder. I would start there and see where it takes me. zzzzzzzshe hay have come across banks that are taking dirty money. Mexico is know for it’s drugs and what better way than the banks.
chanita
was she killed because she knew too much? THE ANWSER IS YES AND HERES WHY…a SHE KNEW A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN SHE WAS SUSPPOSED TO KNOW AND FINALLY b ITS BECAUSE SHE PROBLEY HER LIFE WAS IN DANGER!i
Anonymous
On time a documentary interviewed a scientist about Bigfoot. He looked high as a kite. Her investigation seemed very similar. The CIA has the best detectives in the country. They took on where she left off. They also found nothing. It is simply a dead end. It would solve other crimes unrelated. But for the case it is a dead end.
Nikki
What about her friend? We know that she smoked, so the cigarette could’ve belonged to her. And of course she had access to the house, since they were so close.
Maybe she did know what Lynn was working on and wanted to kill her for that?
Lori
That’s ridiculous!
Kay
What consulting company did she work for?
LUIS FREEH
A COLLEGE KEG PARTY TO CHUG FROM THE KEG WOULD GET HER THAT BLOOD ALCHOL LEVEL, A DESIGNATED DRIVER WHO ENCOURAGED HER TO LIVE A LITTLE WOULD HAVE BROUGHT HER BACK TO HER HOME, CAFFIED HER UP TO BED AND HAD “PLENTY TIME” TO LITE THE FIRE WITH HER IN THAT STATE. WHO WOULD HAVE TAKEN HER TO A COLLEGE KEG PARTY? THAT’S YOUR MAN!
Che'
You’re really stupid, right? Either that or you left your response as a joke…
LUIS FREEH
HEY! “ERIC MILLIN”! SHOW “HURATIO KANE” YOUR MAGIC TRICK.
unknown
A magician is not as stupid a thing as you think, from merely knowing his hobby I know that he is highly observant, knows about misdirection and how to hide things in plain site, they can analyse very hard to miss detail that the police are too busy to notice, a magician is a jack of all trades, chemistry, biology, fraud (no offence Eric) and misdirection. Hence why alot of magicians have a career. They are brilliant deductionists.
Anonymous
what if the killer smoked that cigarette
couldn’t they get DNA from it?
Anonymous
Not if it was burned from alcohol. (Like gasoline it also has ethonol.) They could. But only a few labs are that good. Atlanta is one of them.
Johnny
I don’t think this Lynn Amos Case will ever be solved. Sounds like a professional hit and a threat for any others to back off investigating the Mexican banks. The cigarette a good clue since Lynn didn’t smoke. Hope this case gets solved but doesn’t look promising. Case a stone wall and ice cold.
Anonymous
It was solved. The insurance company threw it in the wrong direction. And it is mixed with Mexican phobias. Makes a good mystery.
Jackie
This is going to sound weird but I just watched this show like 15 min ago. Before this airing I’d never heard of this, and it got my interest at first mainly because the crime took place in the DC area- I moved to Northern Virginia 4 years ago. As the story continued and they revealed that they suspected she might have been murdered by Mesicans because of her job it just hit me. About 11 years ago I lived in Mexico City for a few months as an expat fiancee. I did not soeak the language, could not work and with a 5 yr old kid and the stories of kidnappings, murders sort of made me leave the country and my fiance and we moved back to the US. However, during my stay we went out a lot to lots of places, met all sorts of people At clubs, restaurants, expatriate meetings, gatherings and I remember hearing all sorts of stories about how corrupt the businesses, financial institutions were. I did not know that much since I did not work but my ex fiance was a risk manager for a German co. They said they would do anything and everything to go on with their businesses and anyone who got in their way would be punished. Of course, I knew about the drug cartels and their way of dealings with people but taking out people for getting in the way of financial dealings was a surprise to me. Then again I remember I gave ‘tips’ to people, cops, to even give me directions everytime I got lost -there was no siri or iphones back then. I specifically remember them saying well, they would behead you, shoot you in the head, accidentally run you over, burn you alive in your home, etc. So, now it just hit me hearing this story, I believe it was in 1995(i was living in Europe at the time) could it be actually true Lynn Amos was murdered by a hitman at her home because of what she knew. I wish I could help more in this case. I just had to write this comment and mention what I have heard. I do not want to anger Mexicans, however it is a known fact the country is dangerous (even getting a cab) especially for expatriates, especially families with little foreign kids.
I hope the police can solve this case and bring justice to Lynn.
LUIS FREEH
FOREIGN! FUNNY! “I” DON’T “RECALL” HER BEING FOREIGN. LITTLE FOREIGN KIDS.
Anonymous
You’re saying nothing new. We all know how dangerous Mexico can be, “you just had to write what you heard”. It means nothing do you know how many people have been murdered since then? And you cant even provide a name or anything. And nothing sounds weird you just heard alot of talk.
a.p
probably the killer is someone related to her job .(just a guess)
a.p
the cigarette butt belonged to the killer. if lynn didn’t smoke . so does this mean that the killer who knew lynn , came to her house , made her drink , and then using the cigarette butt and alcohol lit the fire ?
opp
What about the alcohol did it belong to lynn or did the arsonistbring it incase lyn didn’t drink as well as smoked
joe
What about who did she call no number from phone company or callr id from her phone
joe
I guessinG It’s an ongoig investigation and the police can’t discuss the case , but it also seem lynn was force to drink in hope to bur from inside her body as well as from out side with the alcohol , unsloved talk about insurance investigator, who hired them for what like an out side pi or was there money involved in lynn death? Also what happen too the person before lynn did they disappear quite left the company if they alive maybe they know somthing..
A Concerned Person
Maybe he’s the killer and wants to relive what he did. I know killers love the memories of what they did. Just saying…
caring heart
This should be taken serious! If you know you can’t be of any help, don’t post stupid comments! This is not a game! “Mr. Magician”
A confused replier
What do you mean? He is taking it seriously; even though he’s a magician, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to genuinely help.