DNA identifies suspect in 1994 cold case, California cops say. He’s been dead 15 years
A 72-year-old woman was found dead in her California home in 1994, and DNA testing identified a man as a suspect in her death, authorities said.
But the suspect, Jerry Dewayne Robison of Borrego Springs, died 15 years ago, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a Monday, Oct. 17 news release.
Claire “Kay” Holman was found strangled in her home on March 21, 1994, in Borrego Springs, authorities said. Her death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner’s office and a suspect was not immediately identified.
In 2003, a DNA profile was created from evidence found at the scene and put through the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a federal database, deputies said. However, a match was not identified.
Holman’s case was then reviewed by a homicide cold case team in March 2021 to determine if they could use genetic genealogy to identify a suspect, deputies said.
The team got another DNA sample extracted from a hair strand found at the scene in April 2022. The hair strand led them to Robison as a possible suspect, deputies said.
By September, investigators confirmed Robison as the suspect, but learned he died in 2007, authorities said. He was in his 60s at the time of his death.
Police said the case is considered to be solved, according to the news release.
Borrego Springs is about 85 miles northeast of San Diego.
