Due to the violent rape and murder of Melinda Snyder in 1990, people are curious to learn more about the case.
When her world collapsed, she was 22 years old, had just finished college, and was beginning to pursue her dreams by working as a teacher’s assistant at Northside Elementary School.
As a previous beauty queen, Melinda had already established a prosperous and stable life. However, the young woman was unaware that her natural beauty would ultimately lead to her death.
In other words, until the foreboding January 23, 1990, the devout Christian had everything going her way.
Obituary: Everything About Melinda Snyder Murder
Melinda Snyder’s Murder Left Her Family Devastated After Their Daughter Was Raped By Edward Cronell in 1990.
Sadly, there was no Obituary of her death, as her family has been sensitive regarding the topic since then.
That early that morning, Melinda’s roommate heard a strange noise, a gunshot, and a car driving away. She hurriedly contacted 911.
When the Police arrived, they discovered the young woman bleeding in her bed. She was immediately taken to the adjacent Piedmont Medical Center, but it was already too late; the assistant had died from her wounds after receiving a direct hit to the head.
As if that weren’t enough, Melinda was sexually abused before her attacker fired the gun, making her death a blatant, cold-blooded homicide, according to official documents.
The early investigations were a little confusing because there was no typical evidence at the crime site, such as firearms or fingerprints, leaving the investigators with nothing but the offender’s semen.
This was a problem because DNA technology wasn’t as developed in 1990, but that’s also when the earlier-mentioned car became a crucial element.
After all, a few witnesses stated that the car resembled the one that Edward “Ed” Cronell, a local real estate agent, drove.
He got access to the House because he was the broker for the one Melinda was renting a room from.
Although it doesn’t appear that this man was ever formally considered a suspect, the former beauty queen had recently broken up with her long-term boyfriend and had planned to go to the United States to be closer to her parents.
In reality, the Police quickly came up with the theory that Ed had chosen Melinda as the object of his sexual desires and had purposefully waited until the middle of the night to avoid being discovered.
What Happened To Edward Cronell?
Ed wasn’t detained or prosecuted for the crime until the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a historic decision in 1993, forcing him to provide a DNA sample in response to his denial.
It was a “landmark” because it was the first case in the State to request fluid samples from a suspect for analysis before proceeding with any other steps.
When the subsequent test revealed a match, it was certain that Ed was responsible for Melinda’s horrible death.
As a result, he was charged with murder, first-degree burglary, and first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
After a jury trial in 1994, Cronell was found guilty on all three counts and given two life sentences plus an additional 30 years for the sex crime.
As a result, he is serving a medium-security sentence at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina, at age 56.
His next anticipated parole eligibility date is March 24, 2023. He initially became eligible for parole in 2014 but was immediately refused. This happened again in 2019.
According to accounts, Ed has not only served time in prison for having a smartphone and using social media, but he has also never shown regret for any of his deeds.