October 18, 1996: William Reece is released from prison After serving nearly 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting two women in his native Oklahoma, William Reece was released from prison in the fall of 1996. After his release, Reece briefly stayed with his mother in Anadarko, Okla., before moving to Harris County, Texas where he found work as a farrier and construction worker. Reece made frequent trips between his new home in Texas and his mother's home in Oklahoma in 1997.
The DNA from Johnston's body had already been tested twice, with no results, but with advancements in DNA testing, OSBI supervising criminologist Wendy Duke and her team were able to develop a partial male profile. The team compared this partial profile to the profiles from known suspects, and eliminated all other suspects, until they got to William Reece. In December of 2013, a buccal swab was collected from William Reece and sent to the OSBI for comparison.