Brianna Denison was just 19 when she was abducted and murdered in Reno, Nevada. Her killer was a serial predator whose crimes had been escalating for months.
A Bright Life Cut Short
Brianna Denison was born on March 29, 1988, to Bridgette and Jeffrey Denison. When her father died suddenly while she was just six years old, the tragedy brought the remaining family closer together.
Her mother later recalled that they had to become a team, and Brianna grew protective of her in ways that went beyond her years.
Growing up in Reno, Nevada, Brianna became known for her kindness. Her childhood friend Danielle, who had known her since nursery school, described her as the nicest person she had ever met. Brianna never forgot a birthday.
Whether it was a close friend, a distant acquaintance, or a family member, she would always make the call.
After graduating high school, Brianna decided to pursue higher education in California. She enrolled at Santa Barbara City College, where she studied psychology with dreams of working with children someday. She had a boyfriend, a solid group of friends, and a life that seemed full of promise.
Even though she was hours away from home, Brianna stayed connected to her mother. She sent regular texts and photos, keeping Bridgette updated on everything happening in her life.
Her mother admitted that the distance made her nervous. Whenever she had a bad dream, she would call Brianna immediately just to make sure everything was okay.
In January 2008, winter break brought Brianna back to Reno. She was excited to spend time with old friends and hit the slopes for some snowboarding. The weekend was supposed to be about fun and relaxation before heading back to school. Nobody could have predicted what was about to happen.
The Weekend Everything Changed
On Friday, January 18, 2008, Brianna headed to her friend K.T. Hunter’s house near the University of Nevada, Reno campus. The two had been friends since school, and K.T’s place was the gathering spot for the weekend. That night, the group went out dancing and had a great time before cramming into K.T’s bed to sleep.
Saturday the 19th started normally. Brianna went to her mother’s house to do laundry, and the two of them caught a movie together. Brianna had been fighting a cold and was considering skipping the concert she had planned to attend that night.
Her mother encouraged her to go anyway, reminding her that she really liked the band.
At 9:00 p.m., Brianna hugged her mother goodbye. She later texted asking if she should check in when she got back to K.T’s house. Her mother told her not to worry since she knew where Brianna would be staying.
After the concert, Brianna and K.T. met up with another friend, Jessica Deal, and the three of them caught a shuttle bus to Sam’s Regency Casino Hotel for another party. Jessica left early, catching a ride from a stranger in the parking lot because it was freezing outside. She later admitted it was a bad idea.
Around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 20th, K.T. and Brianna got a ride back to the house. Brianna decided to sleep on the couch instead of cramming into K.T’s bed again. The couch was positioned right by a glass door that was never locked.
The house had a relaxed atmosphere where people came and went freely. The two friends said goodnight around 4:00 a.m. At 4:23 a.m., Brianna sent a text to her boyfriend in Oregon. Then everything went quiet.
The Morning She Vanished
K.T. and Jessica woke up around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. They headed to the kitchen to make breakfast and immediately noticed that Brianna was no longer on the couch. They assumed she had gone upstairs to sleep in her roommate’s bedroom, the Reno Gazette Journal reports.
K.T. knocked on the door at 9:45 a.m. and told Brianna it was time to get up. There was no response. She knocked again, harder this time, but silence followed. She began pounding frantically, and still nothing. When she checked inside, the room was empty.
K.T’s panic set in quickly. Brianna’s cell phone was still there. Her shoes were by the couch. Her purse sat untouched. She had gone to bed in just a tank top, and with the freezing winter temperatures outside, there was no way she would have left voluntarily.
K.T. called Brianna’s mother to tell her something was wrong. As she waited for Bridgette to arrive, she noticed something terrifying. The pillow Brianna had been using had blood on it. Two small spots and a spatter.
She called Bridgette back, hysterical, and asked if she should call the police. The answer was yes.
“Um, my friend spent the night last night on my couch. She’s gone and there’s something that looks like blood on the pillow,” Brianna Denison’s friend said in a harrowing 911 call.
Within hours, Brianna’s mother, her aunt, and law enforcement had converged on the house. There were no obvious signs of a struggle, but the blanket Brianna had been using was found in the kitchen.
A brown stuffed bear she had used as an extra pillow was missing. Based on the evidence, investigators quickly determined this was not a voluntary departure. Brianna Denison had been abducted.
A Serial Predator Emerges
As investigators processed the scene, they swabbed the back door knob and recovered DNA belonging to an unknown male. That DNA sample would prove critical because it matched evidence from two previous attacks near the university campus.
The first attack had occurred on October 13, 2007. A 21-year-old student was grabbed from behind in a parking garage and pushed to the ground at gunpoint. She screamed, which frightened her attacker, and he ran away, apparently dropping a packet of condoms as he fled.
The second attack happened on December 16, 2007. A 22-year-old exchange student was grabbed outside her home in the early morning hours. The attacker covered her nose and mouth until she lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she was inside a truck. He drove a short distance before sexually assaulting her in the vehicle. He told her not to look at him, then drove her home and ordered her to get out without looking back.
This victim was able to provide investigators with crucial details. She described a white male with hair on his chin and tanned arms. She remembered the truck’s distinctive radio with red and blue lights and mentioned seeing a baby’s shoe on the floor.
DNA from both attacks matched the sample from the door knob at K.T’s house. Investigators realized they were dealing with a serial predator whose crimes were rapidly escalating.
The pattern was clear. First an attempted assault at gunpoint, then a completed rape, and now an abduction. Each crime was bolder and more violent than the last.
“I would say this is a serial rapist,” Johns said at a news conference. “We have two, probably three (cases) linked through DNA. The totality of the information in this case leads us to believe it is a sexually motivated crime,” he said. “I’m worried this guy is still out there, and I’m worried somebody else is going to get hurt.”
Police released a composite sketch and a description of the suspect. He was believed to be a white male between 28 and 40 years old, standing between 5’6″ and 6′ tall, and driving an SUV or extended-cab pickup truck.
The community was terrified. Sales of weapons increased as residents armed themselves against an unknown threat.
The Discovery
For 24 days, the search for Brianna consumed Reno. Hundreds of volunteers trudged through snow, checking fields, rivers, ditches, and drains. Helicopters flew overhead while search dogs worked the ground below. The community raised $150,000 to help process a backlog of DNA samples at the crime lab.
On February 15, 2008, Alberto Jimenez was cutting across a vacant lot near his workplace to grab some food when something caught his eye.
In a shallow ditch about 40 feet from Sand Hill Road, he spotted a Christmas tree lying on its side. Then he saw socks. As he got closer, he thought it might be a mannequin. Then he noticed a wound on the shoulder.
Jimenez ran back to his office and told his manager. They both returned to the ditch and called 911.
The following day, Deputy Chief Jim Johns confirmed what everyone had feared. The body was Brianna Denison. The medical examiner determined she had been strangled. Forensic analysis suggested she had been strangled in the house and her body transported to the field afterward, according to ABC 13.
She was found naked except for a pair of socks. Beneath her right knee were two pairs of underwear, one pink and one black. K.T. identified the pink pair as hers and said she had not known they were missing. The other pair remained unidentified.
DNA recovered from Brianna’s body matched the unknown male profile from the door knob and the previous attacks. The killer had left the underwear deliberately.
Investigators believed he was keeping victims’ underwear as trophies and leaving them at subsequent crime scenes as a calling card. One officer described it as taunting.
The Break in the Case
On November 1, 2008, police received information that would break the case open. A woman reported that she had found underwear in her ex-boyfriend’s truck. When she asked him about it, his reaction had been extremely strange.
The ex-boyfriend was James Michael Biela, a 27-year-old construction worker who had lived in the area since 2002. After Brianna’s body was found, he had suddenly moved to Washington State and sold his truck.
His history included animal abuse and domestic violence. He had broken a puppy’s leg, lunged at someone with a knife, and been abusive to his girlfriend. He had been arrested for felony domestic violence, but no DNA sample had been taken.
Investigators placed Biela under surveillance. When they first contacted him by phone, he notably did not ask what crime was being investigated. The following day, he met with officers and refused to provide a voluntary DNA sample.
He claimed he had been with his girlfriend on the night Brianna disappeared. When police spoke to the girlfriend, she said that was not true.
The girlfriend allowed investigators to collect a DNA sample from the son she shared with Biela. Using that sample, forensic analysts determined that the child’s biological father was almost certainly the person who had left DNA at the crime scenes, per CNN.
On November 25, 2008, as Biela arrived to pick up his son from preschool, he was taken into custody. A court-ordered DNA sample confirmed the match. He was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and first-degree murder.
Justice for Brianna
James Biela pleaded not guilty. During the preliminary hearing, more than a dozen witnesses testified, including the two women who had survived his earlier attacks. One identified him as her attacker. The other described his truck in detail, and gray fibers found on her clothes matched the interior of his vehicle.
The trial lasted three weeks. A former supervisor testified that on the day Brianna’s body was found, Biela had quit his job, collected his final paycheck, and moved to Washington State. When asked how he felt about the body being discovered, Biela reportedly said she probably had it coming and then cracked a smile.
After six hours of deliberation, the jury found James Michael Biela guilty on all counts. He was convicted of sexual assault, kidnapping, and first-degree murder.
During the penalty phase, his siblings testified about their abusive childhood. Defense attorneys argued that his traumatic upbringing and lack of prior criminal record should spare him from execution. The jury disagreed. James Biela was sentenced to death.
Two months later, he received additional sentences for the other attacks. Life with the possibility of parole after 36 years for three counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.
The judge explained this was necessary to ensure Biela would remain imprisoned even if his capital sentence was ever overturned on appeal.
Brianna’s mother became an advocate for change. In May 2013, Brianna’s Law was signed in Nevada, requiring anyone arrested for a felony to provide a DNA sample. Bridgette believed this law would save lives and that her daughter might still be alive if it had existed before.
