Kristina Wesselman’s DNA record has linked 62-year-old Michael Jones to the rape and murder of the 15-year-old girl in Glen Ellyn. What makes this arrest so remarkable is that the crime took place 30 years ago back in 1985 .
In a related report by the Inquisitr , in recent times an anonymous tip helped solve a 1976 Utah cold case murder , but the police were unable to to arrest the killer.
Sheriff John Zaruba says the 1985 cold case murder had been puzzling police for quite a while.
“Since the date of the tragic murder, the case has remained open and active,” said Zaruba. “Over the last 30 years the Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit has worked hundreds of leads that have sent them across the nation and thousands of man hours have been spent to catch the killer in this horrendous crime.”
The 15-year-old girl had been walking on her way home from the grocery store on July 21, 1985 when she disappeared. Her body was found next morning in a field.
“She had been sexually assaulted and had been stabbed eight times,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said, according to WLS .
The reason that Kristina Wesselman’s DNA record became a factor is because a rape kit had been used to collect semen found inside her body. The DNA profile was entered into a national database back in 2000, but it was not until September 10, 2015 that investigators realized there was a match against repeat offender Micheal Jones. A change in Illinois law in 2002 required that convicted felons submit a DNA sample, and Jones had been charged with aggravated domestic battery during the summer of 2015.
“That law resulted in the evidence that led to the charges in this case,” Berlin said at a news conference. “Although it’s taken 30 years, we are now on our way to getting the full measure of justice that this case demands.”
According to AL , Michael Jones was charged and held without bond. Jones denies being involved in the rape and murder of Wesselman, but the man “was on parole at the time of the Wesselman slaying, having previously served more than six years in prison for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman.”
Kristina’s mother, Sandy Wesselman , said she had made a promise that she would find her daughter’s killer.
“That I would not let it go,” she said. “It’s the only thing I can do for Kristy. I watched her go out the door. I said, ‘be careful, princess. I love you.’ Those were the last words I ever said to my daughter.”
[Photo via DuPage County Sheriff’s Office]