Wednesday 18 May 2022 08:58 PM DNA on decades-old fingernails identify murderer of widow raped, strangled and ... trends now
Fingernail scrapings from the elderly victim of a 1988 sex killing have been used to identify her murderer - 11 years after he died.
The genetic material of Terry Leroy Bramble, who died of natural causes in 2011, was discovered on the body of 79 year-old Lucille Hultgren, according to Galt Police Chief Brian Kalinowski, leading authorities to brand him the killer.
Bramble, who was 32 at the time of the killinh, had a history of sexual assault, Kalinowski said Tuesday.
Bramble's DNA, collected during 1992 after being convicted of rape in San Joaquin County, matched DNA found in fingernail scrapings collected from Hultgren's body, helping detectives solve the 34-year-old cold case, said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.
'The fingernail scrapings became the key to solving this case,' she said.
Schubert said that it wasn't until last year that she ran into a retired detective who told her about the case that her office decided to reopen the case.
Schubert said DNA testing has advanced so much that a very small amount of genetic material is needed to get a DNA profile.
At the time of the attack, forensic scientists required a sample the size of a quarter to pinpoint a suspect, but can now do the same job with a minute speck of genetic material.
Lucille Hultgren, pictured here, was 79 years old and living alone when she was stabbed, raped and strangled by Terry Leroy Bramble, a serial sex offender
Terry Leroy Bramble, pictured here, was 32 when he raped, strangled and stabbed Hultgren in her bedroom. He died in 2011 of a heart aliment while he was living under a bridge on Highway 99
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert (center right) and Galt Police Chief Brian Kalinowski discuss solving the three-decade old cold case of the death of 79-year-old Lucille Hultgren, pictured above.
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