82-year-old man arrested in 1979 cold case murder

An 82-year-old United States (US) man has been arrested in connection with a 1979 murder case that had gone cold, thanks to a breakthrough in DNA analysis.

Kathryn Donohue, a 31-year-old woman from Arlington, Virginia, was found dead in her Glenarden, Maryland home on March 3, 1979. Despite an initial investigation, the case remained unsolved for decades.

In 2024, the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Cold Case Unit reopened the case registered in 1979 and re-examined the forensic evidence using advanced technology. The evidence was sent to Othram, a specialised laboratory that uses genetic genealogy and genome sequencing to analyze DNA.

The lab was able to extract DNA from the evidence and create a comprehensive genetic profile. This profile was then used to identify potential relatives of the suspect, leading investigators to Rodger Zodas Brown, an 82-year-old man from North Carolina.

Brown was arrested at his home and charged with first-degree murder, rape, and related charges. He is currently being held in North Carolina pending extradition.

According to Prince George’s County Chief of Police Malik Aziz, Brown lived in Hyattsville, Maryland at the time of Donohue’s murder, but no connection between the two has been established.

“This case serves as a reminder that we will never give up seeking the truth, no matter how much time has passed,” the police officer said.

The case remains open, and investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Donohue’s family has expressed gratitude to the investigators for their efforts, saying that the arrest has brought them a sense of closure after all these years.