GALT, Calif. (AP) — A suspect in a 1988 sexual assault and killing of a 79-year-old girl in a small Northern California neighborhood has been recognized because of superior DNA testing carried out on scrapings from the sufferer’s fingernails, authorities mentioned Tuesday.
Terry Leroy Bramble was 32 years previous when he sexually assaulted, stabbed and strangled Lucille Hultgren inside her residence, Galt Police Chief Brian Kalinowski mentioned.
Bramble was homeless and a registered intercourse offender when he died in 2011 of pure causes whereas dwelling below a bridge on Freeway 99 in Galt, Kalinowski mentioned.
Bramble’s DNA, collected throughout a 1992 sexual assault conviction in San Joaquin County, matched DNA present in fingernail scrapings collected from Hultgren’s physique, serving to detectives clear up the 34-year-old chilly case, mentioned Sacramento County District Legal professional Anne Marie Schubert.
“The fingernail scrapings turned the important thing to fixing this case,” she mentioned.
Schubert mentioned DNA testing has superior a lot {that a} very small quantity of genetic materials is required to get a DNA profile.
Prior to now, a DNA pattern needed to be the dimensions of 1 / 4 to have the ability to get a profile, however “now it’s lower than a billionth of a measurement of a Candy’n Low bundle,” Schubert mentioned.
On Could 23, 1988, two buddies who had gone to Hultgren’s residence to examine on her after she didn’t attend church the day earlier than discovered her lifeless in her bed room and referred to as police, Kalinowski mentioned.
A mom of two grownup kids, Hultgren lived alone after her husband’s demise the earlier 12 months, Kalinowski mentioned.
The coroner at the moment mentioned Hultgren had died two to 5 days earlier than her physique was found and that the reason for demise was stab wounds to the chest and strangulation, Kalinowski mentioned.
Hultgren’s killing was the one chilly case within the city of 25,000 individuals 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Sacramento, authorities mentioned.
Authorities mentioned the motive for Hultgren’s killing continues to be unknown.
