43-year-old murder mystery solved: Suspect killed during police shootout identified as killer through DNA
India TodayA chilling cold case in the US which remained unsolved for more than 40 years was finally closed after a suspect, who had been fatally shot in a police shootout last month, was confirmed as the murderer of Debra Miller, The Independent reported. That changed when DNA evidence linked James Vanest, a 68-year-old man killed during a police standoff in December 2024, to the crime scene. Mansfield Police Chief Jason Bammann confirmed the breakthrough: “The DNA evidence collected from multiple items, when analyzed alongside the findings in Mansfield police detective Terry Butler’s investigation, establishes proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Vanest committed the murder of Debra Miller on April 29, 1981. Because of this, we now consider the case closed.” Vanest, who was 25 years old and living in the same apartment complex as Miller at the time, was briefly questioned in the early stages of the investigation but was never identified as a suspect.
History of this topic
The killing of an 18-year-old Ohio woman was solved with DNA technology after 43 years
Associated Press
Suspect killed by police in shootout has now been linked by DNA to 1981 cold-case murder
The Independent
Nursing student was murdered while walking to a friend’s house. 40 years later, DNA leads police to suspected killer
The Independent
After more than 4 decades, DNA leads to arrest in killing of Susan Leigh Wolfe
CNN
DNA analysis helps US cops identify killer, solve 42-year-old murder mystery
India Today
39 years later, DNA helps solve murder of woman who turned down a date, authorities say
LA Times
Suspect linked to 1988 killing of 6th grader through DNA
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23-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder after three found stabbed to death in California home
The Independent
