| Advertisement |
Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A Texas man has been arrested for the cold case murder of Mary Jane Thompson, prosecutors said Friday. Edward Morgan, 60, was arrested Friday and charged with capital murder for the death of 21-year-old Thompson on Feb. 13, 1984, Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement.
Advertisement
Thompson was found dead with signs of sexual assault behind a warehouse off Irving Boulevard in Dallas two days after her disappearance, prosecutors said. Her killer was never arrested.
The young woman had held two jobs while attempting to become a model, working at a florist shop and a restaurant, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Prosecutors said the case was reopened in 2009 and Morgan was identified as a suspect using forensic genetic genealogy analysis and his DNA later matched swaps taken from Thompson's body.
Homicide investigators had collaborated during the investigation with the FBI and a team from the county district attorney's office dedicated to processing sexual assault kits.
Leighton D'Antoni, chief of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, praised the results of the "collaborative effort" in a statement.
"I look forward to working with all our local law enforcement agencies to utilize the advancements in forensic testing techniques to identify, arrest, and prosecute the most dangerous predators hiding among us," he said.
Morgan remains in custody at the Dallas County Jail after his bond was set at $500,000, jail records show.
