DNA points to Denver man's involvement in brutal rape and murder of 20-year-old soldier in 1987
The investigation into the murder of a female soldier in Colorado in 1987 has finally reached a conclusion after a suburban Denver man was arrested in relation to her death.
DNA evidence was used to create the image of what the suspect would have looked like at the time of the incident and also what he looks like now, authorities revealed on Friday.
Michael Whyte of Thornton was arrested by civilian and army investigators for the 1987 strangulation death of Darlene Krashoc, a 20-year-old soldier who was stationed at Fort Carson outside Colorado Springs.
On Thursday, June 13, 58-year-old Whyte was arrested at his home on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Krashoc's body was found behind a Colorado Springs restaurant on March 17, 1987.
As of now, online jail records haven't detailed whether he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
At the time, authorities had revealed that she was beaten, raped and strangled to death with a coat hanger and leather straps.
Her autopsy also indicated that her body might have been thrown from a moving vehicle.
Investigators' account reveals that Krashoc had gone to a nightclub the previous evening along with other soldiers from her unit, which was a maintenance company.
She was last seen leaving the club between midnight and 1 am, and her body was found by the police during a routine patrol.
According to investigators, her body had been moved to a spot behind the restaurant, but they haven't revealed where exactly she was killed.
Authorities said they have reopened the investigation twice before, once in 2004, and another time in 2011, and were able to find male DNA on several pieces of evidence.
The DNA was reanalyzed by the Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory in 2016, after which it was sent to a private company that specializes in using DNA samples to create images of what the person might look like.
One out of the two composites created by the company showed a person at about age 25 and another at about 50 to 55.
After identifying Whyte as a possible suspect, police began tracking him and recovered his DNA from a soft drinks cup they spotted him using at a fast food restaurant.
They then compared his DNA with evidence they had recovered back when the investigation was reopened in 2004 and 2011 leading to his arrest.