2 killers, 2 victims, no justice for victims

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Each month Factfinder 12 works with police and features a cold case in hopes of bringing much needed new information to police and much needed closure to the loved ones left behind. For April 2022, Factfinder 12 looks at two cases. Each very different, both very cold.

Generally when featuring or investigating cold cases, Factfinder 12 speaks with victims’ family members and their friends. We show pictures and videos taken before they were killed. Sometimes though, those things are available to us. Family members move, change their phone numbers or don’t want to take part in the story. The victims still deserve justice. Such is the case with the two cold cases we look at this month.

59 year old Bernard Woodard was found murdered under the Douglas Street bridge near Delano just over two years ago. Police Officer Trevor Macy says it’s a case that has left investigators looking for answers.

“There is a group of people that that I’m told held him in a very high regard, as far as the the people that he frequently associated with,” Officer Macy said. “We’re looking to...who knew him.”

Looking to who knew him, though, has been difficult for investigators. Woodard was homeless. He does have family in the area, but they chose not to take part in this story. The 59 year old lived in the area where he was murdered. He died from blunt force trauma to the head and was discovered just before 5:00 P.M. on February 10, 2020. Anyone with any information that could aid in the investigation into his death is asked to contact police.

The next case we’re looking at is even colder than that of Bernard Woodard. On November 4, 2015 Terrence Smith was gunned down at a home in the 800 block of South Broadview in Wichita. Recently released from prison, police say they don’t believe he was the intended target of the shooting.

“We talked to several people that knew him or knew where he had gone once he was released from prison. So, there was nobody that we could really track to him having a known enemy that would know where he was at the time that this shooting happened,” Wichita Police Detective Michelle Palmer said. “It was almost as if it were by happenstance that he was there at the time this happened.”

Smith’s murder was committed by people who walked up to the house. There was no description of a vehicle being used, according to police. Close to 40 shell casings were left behind, and police say some witnesses say they saw people picking up shell casings after the shooting. What happened to Smith was the third in a series of events, investigators say. Two days before there was a drive-by shooting that police feel is related. Just before that police investigated an aggravated robbery they believe may also be connected, but with little cooperation from those who knew him, Terrence Smith’s murder remains unsolved. Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, police say may be helpful to solving the case.

Click here to submit a tip in either of these homicides. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

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