The Murder of Christina Sanoubane

The Murder of Christina Sanoubane
Background
Christina Sanoubane was born on November 21,

1979. She had a dream of one day becoming a
journalist. However, she dropped out of high school
after getting pregnant during her senior year.
Christina had her child, a baby boy, and moved in
with the father of her son, a man named Jacob
Hadley.
Jacob was verbally and physically abusive to

Christina. Christina was very open about the abuse,
but said she loved him, and wanted to make the
relationship work. Eighteen months before her death,
Jacob shot Christina in the face with a pellet gun. He
spent 3 days in jail, but that was enough for
Christina. On August 31, 2000, she moved into a new
duplex in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with her son, and was
getting ready for the next chapter in her life.
A Strange Scene
Just four days after Christina moved into her apartment, a friend of hers named
Todd Hale, went to check on her. He rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. Todd
looked in the window, and saw Christina’s 2-year-old son alone and crying. Todd was
able to remove the screen from the window, and climb inside. He walked through the
house, and found Christina semi-clothed, lying face down in her bathtub. Todd rushed
out of the home, and asked Christina’s neighbor, Carloss Robinson, to call 911. Both
men had just helped Christina move in on August 31.
Christina was pronounced dead at the scene. The police determined that she had
been attacked with a frying pan in the kitchen. Christina’s sandals were found in the
middle of the room, a metal collar from the pan was found on the ground, and some of
Christina’s teeth had been knocked out, due to the force of the attack. The police also
found bloody bare footprints in the kitchen, bathroom, and back of the house. It was
clear that the killer lived nearby, and had been someone that Christina knew. The police
also found hamburger buns in the bathroom, something that no one had ever seen at a
murder scene before.
The Ex-Boyfriend
Jacob Hadley was immediately the prime suspect. He had been abusive, and
Christina had moved into a new home with their son. There was also no forced entry into
the home, and nothing had been taken. Christina’s autopsy report revealed that she had
been sexually assaulted. Her throat had been cut, and her trachea had been completely
severed. An x-ray showed that pellet that had been lodged in Christina’s skull from
where Jacob had shot her.
The medical examiner put Christina’s time of death between 9pm-3am. Jacob was
questioned, but he had an alibi. He had been a half ‘n hour away, out drinking with
members of the University of Iowa track team. The police still believed that Christina
knew her killer, so Jacob wasn’t immediately cleared as a suspect.
The Other Suspects
Two other men that knew Christina, Todd Hale and Carloss Robinson, had come up
as possible suspects. The police were suspicious of Todd’s story, that he had been able to
get inside Christina’s home without disturbing items from a table that sat below the
window. The police asked Todd to demonstrate, and he was able to, even while wearing
steel-toed boots (this was obviously important enough to put in the episode).
Carloss was questioned next. He appeared to be helpful and cooperative, but the
police watched Carloss as they left the interview room. Carloss had knelt down to pray at
one point when he thought he was alone. The police now needed to compare Jacob,
Carloss, and Todd’s footprints to the footprints found at the crime scene.
A Mountain of Evidence
Jacob and Todd were very cooperative, and their footprints were not a match.
Carloss was not so cooperative. When he was asked to walk across the paper, he walked
on one side, but then walked over the prints that he had already left. The police were
able to get a useable print, and it was a match. Carloss’ palm print was also found on the
bathroom sink in Christina’s bathroom, and his DNA matched the rape kit test that had
been done.
Carloss was confronted about the evidence. He told the police that he and Christina
had been having a consensual sexual relationship. He even told the police that he had
found Christina's body several hours before Todd had, but was afraid that he would be
framed for the murder because he was a black man. The police learned that Carloss had
been at home alone with his kids between 9pm-3am. Carloss was married, but his wife
had been out of town.
Footprints in the… Hamburger Bun?
The police believed that they had circumstantial evidence, so they decided to look
over the crime scene one more time. In a photo, the police noticed that there had been a
partial right toe print in a hamburger bun that had been found in the bathroom. There
were also ridge details found in the bread. The police sent the hamburger bun to a latent
print examiner named Gene Czarnecki. He was convinced that the prints belonged to
Carloss.
The police now believed that Carloss had met Christina when she moved in, and
took a liking to her. He went over to her home, and made a sexual advance. Christina
denied it, and Carloss attacked and killed her. Carloss had attempted to clean up the
scene. However, he was so worried about finding something to put the knife in, that he
didn’t realize what a mess he made. He grabbed the hamburger bun bag, leaving behind
the buns and the tie, and wrapped the knife in it to keep from leaving a blood trail.
Carloss had killed Christina, leaving behind her son, who had been alone in the home for
about 24 hours.
The Conviction
Carloss’ trial began in 2002.The prosecution said that Carloss had killed Christina
because he was afraid that his wife would find out that he had an interest in Christina,
and had tried making an advance towards her. Carloss was found guilty, and sentenced to
life without the possibility of parole. Carloss has since tried to appeal his case. In 2017,
he tried to request a new DNA test. It was denied, but Carloss still maintains that he’s
innocent.

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The Murder of Christina Sanoubane

Uploaded by

Copyright:

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The Murder of Christina Sanoubane

Christina Sanoubane was born on November 21,

Jacob was verbally and physically abusive to

Footprints in the… Hamburger Bun?

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