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| DNA Testing Points to Inmate in 1983 Missouri Murder |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/18/2003 |
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Twenty years after Elizabeth ''Betsy'' Cook was stabbed to death in the bedroom of her St. Louis home, DNA testing has indicated that a man in prison for another murder killed her. The discovery was the result of an FBI program to check the DNA of prison inmates against unsolved crimes. Investigators and prosecutors have known for about a year that the DNA of a man serving life for a murder in Jefferson County matches unspecified DNA evidence from the scene of the killing of Cook, 38, who played so prominent a role in the comeback of the city's Lafayette Square neighborhood that a plaque and pavilion there bear her name. Authorities have kept the development quiet for months, although they did inform some of Cook's relatives and friends, who are now growing restless. Capt. Harry Hegger, commander of the police Crimes Against Persons Division, said authorities were waiting for a court order to obtain a new saliva swab from the suspect to confirm the test. ''I would hope for this to lead to a murder charge,'' Hegger said. Hegger would not release the suspect's name, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported it is Danny Ray Kittrell, 46, serving life without parole in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City for the 1986 stabbing death of John Jaghab outside Kittrell's trailer home near Festus. The crime happened about 2 1/2 years after Cook was stabbed more than 50 times, probably with a screwdriver, on Nov. 8, 1983. The DNA match was discovered through routine check by the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS. During various stages of processing or moving prisoners from place to place, officials take saliva swabs to compare with evidence kept from unsolved cases. |
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