10 years ago when they first started talking about DNA criminal investigations I figured that most cold cases would get immediately solved. Unfortunately it has taken a decade, but I am glad to see this happen more and more.
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DNA Links Ohio Inmate To 1972 Murder
Woman Found Dead In California 36 Years Ago
UPDATED: 11:02 AM EST December 7, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A DNA sample provided by an Ohio prison inmate has been linked to evidence from a 1972 murder of a California woman, the Ohio Attorney General announced Monday.
Edwin D. Richardson, 68, is serving time at the Pickaway Correctional Institute for another murder, NBC 4's Teresa Garcia reported.
Marla Jean Hires, a married mother of a 2-year-old son, left her home in Stanton, Calif., for work on Oct. 29, 1972.
Less than four hours later, a maintenance worker at a country club in nearby Yorba Linda noticed a bundle of carpet laying on the golf course. Upon closer inspection the next day, the worker discovered a woman's body rolled up in the carpet. The woman was subsequently identified as Hires, 23, who had been reported missing by her husband.
In October, scientists at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation entered Richardson's DNA sample into the Combined DNA Index System database. His DNA matched physical evidence taken from Hires' body, and the Orange County California Sheriff's Office was notified.
"They had the foresight to save the sperm that was collected from her body," said Bob Beasley from the Ohio Attorney General's Office. "She had been raped and that (evidence) was kept in an evidence locker.
"Now with the DNA results that we have, the forensic analysis that we have in this particular case, Mr. Richardson's profile is one in a trillion," said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
Authorities said Richardson had been in and out of trouble since he was 11 years old. He has been in an Ohio prison since 1981, serving a life sentence for the murder of an Ohio woman and the kidnapping of two other teenage girls.
Earlier this year, Richardson gave his DNA sample in preparation for a June release from prison, but when his DNA hit the database he was not released. Instead he was charged with another murder.
Richardson, who suffers from terminal emphysema, will remain behind bars in Ohio until California authorities decide whether to serve a warrant and extradite him.
Investigators are also looking into whether Richardson may be connected to similar unsolved crimes in other states where he lived, including Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.
