New DNA technology has led to an arrest in a cold case involving an eight-year-old girl who was allegedly raped, killed and left in an Indiana ditch 30 years ago.
John D. Miller, 59, has been charged with murder, child molestation and criminal confinement in the death of April Tinsley after a genetics company was able to link Miller to the DNA found on the scene.
According to a Tinsley鈥檚 body was found in a ditch on April 4, 1988 in Spencerville, Ind., about 32 kilometres from her neighbourhood in Fort Wayne. An autopsy later revealed Tinsley had been strangled to death and had signs of being sexually assaulted.
At the time, forensic investigators found DNA of an unknown male in Tinsley鈥檚 underwear, but were unable to come up with a match.
Two years later, officers were called to a barn that had been vandalized by someone claiming to be Tinsley鈥檚 murderer. The message on the barn read: 鈥淚 kill 8 year old April M Tinsley did you find her other shoe haha I will kill agin.鈥�
The investigation went quiet for another 14 years until someone claiming to be the murderer remerged in 2004. This time, police found three used condoms in three different Indiana towns with notes attached to them. Each note claimed responsibility for Tinsley鈥檚 murder.
Police were able to confirm the DNA from the condoms matched the DNA found at Tinsley鈥檚 crime scene.
In May 2018, officers contacted Parabon Nanolabs to come up with a genetic profile of the suspect. Parabon Nanolabs is a genetics company that has been credited for helping to solve several cold cases recently, including the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the man known as the 鈥淕olden State Killer.鈥�
The company was able to connect the suspect鈥檚 DNA to one of two brothers in Indiana, one of them being Miller.
On July 2, officers began surveillance of Miller鈥檚 home in Grabill, Ind. and eventually recovered three used condoms from his discarded trash, which in turn matched both the DNA found in Tinsley鈥檚 underwear and the samples from the used condoms recovered in 2004.
Once brought in to the police station on Sunday, officers asked Miller if he knew why he was being questioned and responded: 鈥淎pril Tinsley.鈥� Miller then allegedly confessed kidnapping Tinsley and bringing her to his home where he raped, strangled and killed the girl.
With files from The Associated Press
