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In September 2008, Brittani Marcell was only 17 years old when she was nearly beaten to death with a shovel by an intruder at her home in New Mexico. Although Marcell survived, she was left with life-long wounds and almost a decade-long mystery as to who attacked her that fine afternoon when all she wanted to do was have a pleasant lunch with her mother, Diane.
After a years-long investigation into the teenager's shovel beating, investigators' efforts seemed fruitful when a small amount of blood evidence collected from the crime scene led them to Justin Hansen, who was arrested in 2017. The following year, Hansen pleaded no contest to first-degree attempted murder and aggravated burglary, but maintained his innocence in the crime.
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen revisits Brittani Marcell's case and her near shove with death in an episode titled The Match. The official synopsis for the episode says:
"Diane Marcell walked into her home and found her daughter covered in blood, the attacker said she was next; a single drop of blood was the key to finding him, but it took nearly a decade to unlock its secrets."
The upcoming episode will air on the channel this Thursday, May 4, at 7:00 pm ET.
Brittani Marcell's shovel beating: A vicious attack by an intruder, blood evidence, justice after a decade, and other details from the case
1) Marcell was attacked at home in the afternoon hours of September 11, 2008
On the afternoon of September 11, 2008, Brittani Marcell drove back to her Albuquerque, New Mexico, home where she was scheduled to meet her mother, Diane, for lunch.
However, when the mother entered the house, she found the teenager unconscious and bleeding on the floor with an intruder standing over her, shovel in hand. Before Diane could call for assistance, the attacker dropped the shovel and threatened her while reaching for a knife. Following this, she ran out of the house seeking help.
2) The intruder escaped via a broken back window
By the time Diane returned to the scene, the intruder had escaped via a back window that had broken glass, cutting himself in the process and spilling a small amount of his blood on the crime scene. The concerned mother then rushed Marcell to the hospital, where the 17-year-old remained in a medically induced coma for weeks before recovering. She partially lost her memory, including the attack.
3) Brittani Marcell sustained severe lacerations to her face and head and fractures to the skull
According to reports, Marcell suffered several head and facial lacerations, multiple skull fractures, a fractured wrist, and a broken arm. Doctors declared her condition critical and that there was minimal brain activity, fixed pupils, a crushed ear canal, and severely damaged optic nerves. She was only discharged from the hospital after five months. Afterwards, her family moved to Texas.
While in Texas, she went to a rehabilitation center, but lost her left eyesight and was declared permanently deaf in one ear. Over the years, Marcell was slowly able to regain many of her abilities and saw major progress in herself, especially undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy.
4) The survivor's memory was recovered via hypnosis years later
Brittani Marcell's beating case went cold over the years due to a lack of leads but was re-opened in 2013, after which she was urged to undergo hypnosis to be able to recover her memory. The procedure worked when she started giving out a vague description of her attacker. Finally in 2016, she gave authorities the name "Justin," which was then linked to Justin Hansen.
5) Detectives discretely acquired Justin Hansen's DNA which gave them the biggest break
By the time Hansen was considered a suspect, he was a married father-of-four and blatantly denied knowing Brittani Marcell. However, witnesses claimed that the two often interacted at the mall where Hansen worked back in the day. He also denied providing detectives with a sample of his DNA, which only raised suspicions.
Sources state that after his refusal to give a sample, detectives discretely collected his DNA from a used McDonald's cup, which matched the sample taken from the blood from the crime scene all those years ago. He was arrested in July 2017. The following year, he pleaded no contest to first-degree attempted murder and aggravated burglary, but maintained his innocence in the matter.
Brittani Marcell's case is slated to air on Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered this Thursday.
