A Washington State man was arrested Monday and accused of the ax murder of a teen who was found dead in her bedroom more than 20 years ago.
Jeffrey Paul Premo, 52, was allegedly linked to the cold case slaying of 19-year-old Jennifer Brinkman through advanced DNA technology, including genetic genealogy, authorities say.
“The arrested suspect was one of several individuals detectives focused on through the years, and ultimately, the advancement of scientific DNA technology, including genetic genealogy, led to his arrest,” the Marysville Police Department said in a news release.
“It was evident from the beginning that a significant attack took place with Jennifer and an ax ended up causing her death,” said Marysville Police Detective Sergeant James Maples at a press conference Tuesday.
Police said Brinkman was extremely sociable and known to use telephone chat lines and dating sites.
“Through the chat line is what we believe is how she ended up meeting the suspect,” Maples said.
Police said they found a letter the suspect allegedly wrote to Brinkman in 1998 — but he denied knowing the teen.
Detective Wade Rediger said the letter was “cordial in nature but there were strong indications there had been at least meetings prior based on the verbiage of the letter,” he said at the press conference. “They talked about some personal matters both on Jennifer’s part and on the suspect’s part.”
Rediger said investigators contacted the suspect after the killing but “he denied ever knowing Jennifer having ever met Jennifer.”
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The case went cold for decades until recently when DNA advancements including genetic genealogy allowed investigators to match the suspect’s DNA to the ax found at the crime scene.
Rediger said the motive for the slaying is still unclear.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a clear answer to that,” he said. “We don’t get a clear answer to what the motive, what the situation is behind it.”
Premo was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
source: people.com
