55-Year Cold Case: Canadian Woman's Remains Linked to Notorious Las Vegas Father-and-Son Killers

Las Vegas and Calgary investigators have announced a breakthrough in a cold case dating back to the 1960s: human remains found in the desert more than half a century ago have been identified as Anna Sylvia Just, a Canadian woman who vanished in 1966.

Calgary police, reviewing old missing-person files, rediscovered a news clipping about Just, who was last seen boarding a bus in 1966. Some of her personal effects, including a passport, were recovered near Henderson that same year. Hikers later found skeletal remains roughly a mile from that site; the skull showed crushing consistent with homicide. At the time, investigators lacked DNA tools to make a definitive identification.

Metro homicide detectives in Las Vegas had preserved the physical evidence from that desert recovery. A recent re-examination and modern DNA testing, using a sample from Just’s 97-year-old sister, produced a match and allowed authorities to close the long-unsolved identification.

Records and historical tips found in Las Vegas files suggest a possible organized-crime connection. A tip from the early 1970s indicated Just may have sought a loan from Tom Hanley — a figure long suspected by investigators of working as a hired killer in and around Las Vegas. Detectives now associate the Hanley name, and his son Gramby Hanley, with the case under investigation.

Background on the Hanleys

Tom and Gramby Hanley have been described in law-enforcement records as a father-and-son contract-killing team who carried out violent assignments for a variety of clients, including mob figures, union interests and others. Though not formal mafia members, they were widely suspected of serving as enforcers. A veteran Metro detective who handled cold cases observed that the pair were among the most active contract killers operating in the western states during their era.

"[They] were total cold-blooded killers for money," a former Metro homicide detective said in a 2001 interview. "They were two of the most active contract killers in the western states. They were up for hire as enforcers."

Metro files have long linked the Hanleys as prime suspects in multiple unsolved slayings. Arrests over the years frequently failed to produce convictions after key witnesses were themselves killed or otherwise disappeared. One witness, Wendy Hanley, who lived with Tom and Gramby, later described visiting remote desert dumping areas and old mining shafts where bodies were concealed.

Investigators say the circumstances and location of Just’s remains are consistent with the disposal methods the Hanleys were accused of using.

High-profile union murder and aftermath

The Hanleys are also tied to the high-profile disappearance and murder of culinary union boss Al Bramlet, a case that prompted a multi-state manhunt. According to court records and witness accounts, Bramlet was kidnapped and later found shot to death in a desert burial site. The Bramlet case spurred intense scrutiny of violent enforcement within the city’s labor and organized-crime conflicts.

Tom and Gramby Hanley later cooperated with prosecutors in some grand-jury proceedings, at times entering witness protection. Both men have since died — one in a hospital and the other in prison. Wendy Hanley has recounted aspects of life with the pair in memoir form, and a television special documented their alleged activities.

Current status

Authorities in Calgary praised Las Vegas homicide detectives for preserving evidence and aiding the identification. Investigators have confirmed the match to Anna Sylvia Just but say they cannot yet disclose full details about how Just encountered the Hanleys or the precise motive for her killing while the matter remains an active investigation.

Anyone with historical information relevant to the case or who may have known Anna Sylvia Just is encouraged to contact law enforcement. The identification closes a decades-long chapter for Just’s family but also renews questions about unsolved violent crimes from that era.