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| DNA Clue Breaks 25-Year-Old Murder Mystery |
| By KCRA |
| Published: 03/17/2003 |
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The case of a California woman who was kidnapped, raped and murdered 25 years ago has new life thanks to DNA evidence. In November of 1978, 21-year-old Donna Hooker was at a Technicolor Photolab in north Sacramento. She was found partially and strangled to death. Hooker's murder remained a mystery until recently the state crime lab in Richmond linked semen samples from Hooker's body to the DNA of Norman Whitehorn -- an inmate already serving time at state prison for another crime. In 1962, Whitehorn was convicted of murdering a woman from Los Angeles and was reportedly just 12 hours away from the gas chamber, when he was saved by a call from the governor. He was later paroled. Authorities say he had been out for only 12 months before Hooker's murder. 'It's fair to say, if not for the DNA database, Whitehorn would not have been identified,' Deputy District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said. Hooker's family released a statement Wednesday saying, 'You can run, but you can't hide. The long arm of the law ... has been extended by the use of DNA evidence. Donna, we promised you justice 25 years ago, and now you will have it.' |
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