After 30 years of random notes and taunting from the killer, Indiana authorities finally caught a break in the killing of an 8-year-old girl and made an arrest based on DNA evidence similar to how investigators caught the Golden State Killer, according to news reports.
Suspect John D. Miller, 59, was arrested Sunday at his home in Grabill, Indiana, and made a court appearance Monday in Allen County on charges related to the 1988 rape and murder of April Tinsley, WANE-TV reported.
Tinsley was walking to a friend’s house in her Fort Wayne neighborhood when she was allegedly abducted and subsequently killed by Miller, authorities said.
Police used DNA from the victim and from messages and condoms Miller left at three homes in the early 2000s to match Miller and his brother's DNA in a genealogical database. Once they narrowed the suspect field down to two, it was just a matter of time before they were able to catch Miller, CNN reported. Miller's DNA was found to be a match with DNA recovered from the victim's underwear.
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When police showed up at his mobile home on Sunday and asked Miller if he knew why they were there, he reportedly said, "April Tinsley" and then confessed to the crime, according to local media reports.
Miller’s next scheduled court appearance is Thursday.
The Golden State Killer was finally caught in California in April after terrorizing the state between the mid-1970s and mid-80s. Investigators also used a genealogical database to match Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.'s DNA with evidence left at the crime scenes. DeAngelo is charged with killing 12 people and is accused of 50 rapes and more than 100 burglaries.
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