A cigarette butt has cracked a decades-old cold case involving the murder and death of Boeing trainer Dorothy Silzel, who was killed 44 years back in her Kent, Washington, house. Kenneth Kundert, 65, was arrested this week in relation with Silzel’s suicide, according to the New York Post.
Silzel, 30, was discovered dead on the second floor of her house in February 1980 during a security check. She was last seen dead on February 23rd of that year.
DNA evidence leads to arrest
According to the Seattle Times, a medical examiner determined that Silzel had been sexually assaulted, suffered blunt force trauma to the nose, and died from strangling. At the time, DNA samples were taken from the crime scene, but DNA technology was never developed enough to detect the criminal.
A criminal historian uploaded a DNA report to two data in March 2022, which left the situation unsolved for more than 40 years.
11 potential first cousin defendants, according to the report, could be found. In September, Kent government narrowed the search to Kundert and requested assistance from an Arkansas coroner’s office for his Genome.
Suspect apprehended
The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office had previously questioned Kundert about another rape case and conducted an interview with him. During this meeting, Kundert smoked cigars but kept the butts in his pocket.
In March, Kent officers followed Kundert to a Walmart parking lot, where he discarded an all-white cigar. Three all-white cigarettesbutts were recovered from the debris, and one of them matched Silzel’s DNA.
” There was no known link between the suspect and the victim”, according to reports.
But, a relative of Kundert lived near Silzel’s room at the time of the shooting. Kundert, next 20, was also known to have worked in Washington around 1987.
Kundert is being held on$ 3 million bail and was detained on August 20 by Van Buren judge representatives.
He is anticipated to be sent back to Washington at a later time. When Karl is brought back to the West Coast, according to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson,” He may face death fees.”
