There might be progress in a 20-year-old Evansville killing | Webb – Courier & Press

Elizabeth Banister, 18, was found stabbed to death in Evansville on Jan. 20, 2000. Evansville Courier & Press

After decades of frustration, there may be some progress in a 20-year-old Evansville homicide.

Thats according to Sara Stewart, the sister of Elizabeth Banister: an 18-year-old Evansville woman who was found stabbed to death in her near-Downtown apartment just after midnight on Jan. 20, 2000.

Eyewitness News first reported the story Monday night. Stewart later confirmed the news to the Courier & Press as well.

According to Eyewitness, Stewart said a private investigator may have located a possible suspect. Thatperson is reportedly in jail.

Evansville police are aware of the possible suspect, detective Aaron McCormick told the station. Theyre still gathering information.

More: Evansville woman is still trying to solve her sister's murder | Webb

More: It's now been 20 years since this horrible, unsolved Evansville killing | Webb

Elizabeth Banister(Photo: 1998 North High School yearbook)

I interviewed Stewart about her sister back in 2019. She said communication with investigators has dwindled dramatically over the years, to the point where she didnt even know the name of the detective assigned to the case.

There are a lot of cold cases, and I get it: they have a lot of work to do, she said then. But not one cold case is more important than another.

Hordes of unsolved killings hang over Evansville including a horrific slate of homicides in the past few months.

All of them are perplexing in their own way, but the Banister killing is especially sad and bizarre.

The apartment at 254 Washington Ave. was full that night. Friends flooded the place to drink and hang out.

But the crowd thinned by midnight. One person was passed out drunk. Another watched a Matlock rerun. And a third stepped out to use a communal bathroom in a different part of the building.

Around 1 a.m., a friend dipped their head into the apartment to check on Elizabeth. Thats when they discovered a crime scene that has baffled Stewart and investigatorsfor decades.

Elizabeth had been stabbed multiple times in the chest the fatal slash piercing her aorta.

No one in the apartment reported hearing anything strange. The only possible lead came from a neighbor who claimed they spotted an African American male duck out a window and run off into the night.

Somehow, someone slipped into a crowded apartment and killed this young woman without anyone noticing.

According to C&P stories from the time, police interviewed dozens of witnesses. Everyone in the apartment was cleared of any wrongdoing, and any hope of quickly solving the killing dissipated as time slogged on.

Stewart has never given up. Shes spoken with private investigators and started a Facebook group to cull leads.

Shell do anything to solve the killing of her sweet, humble sister, she told me. Elizabeth was a caring, generous person who survived an abusive childhood and emerged as a strong young woman ready to start a new life.

She deserves justice, Stewart said.

I may never find out who killed her. It may continue to be an unsolved case, she told me in 2019. They may find the killer after Im dead. After Im old and gone.

I dont know. But I feel like Im not doing enough.

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Contact columnist Jon Webb at jon.webb@courierpress.com

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There might be progress in a 20-year-old Evansville killing | Webb - Courier & Press