48-yr-old case solved: Canadian police identify killer in murder of teen using DNA
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The Canadian police said on Tuesday (May 23) that they have solved a 48-year-old high-profile case in Quebec. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, the rape and murder of16-year-old Sharron Prior in 1975 have been linked to aWest Virginia manFranklin Maywood Romine who died more than 40 years ago. Police inLongueuil, Quebec said that DNA evidence allowed them to be fully certain thatRomine murdered Prior in theMontreal suburb.
Romine was exhumedfrom a West Virginia cemetery in early May for DNA testing. Longueuil police say the DNA of Romine — who had a long criminal history — matches a sample found at the murder scene. He also matched a witness’ physical description of the suspect. His name did not come up in the investigation until last year.
What happened toSharron Prior?
Sharon Prior disappeared on March 29, 1975, while on her way to meet friends at a pizza parlour near her home in Montreal'sPointe-St-Charles neighbourhood.Her body was found three days later in a wooded area in Longueuil.
Over the years, law enforcement agencies investigated over 100 suspects but no arrests were made.Prior's motherYvonne, who is now in her 80s, has spent her life looking for her daughter's killer.
Franklin Maywood Romine's criminal past
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Franklin Maywood Romine ran intotrouble with the law many times. When the Longueuil police started looking through criminal records, they found an extensive history of violence and attempts by Romine to evade law enforcement by moving between West Virginia and Canada.
As per records obtained byWCHS-TV, Romine first attempted to escapefrom the West Virginia Penitentiary in 1964 and later escaped in 1967. Two years later, he already had a Canadian rap sheet.
In 1974,Romine was arrested for breaking into a house and raping a woman in West Virginia's Parkersburg. But he wasreleased on a $2,500 bond two months later and fled to Canada.
Months beforeSharron Prior was raped and murdered in 1975,Romine was captured by Canadian border officials and extradited to West Virginia, where he was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for sexual assault in the Parkersburg case.
Romine died in 1982 at the age of 36, shortly after he was released. However, officials said that they were not able to find a death certificate detailing the circumstances which caused his death. His body was returned to his mother in West Virginia. He was buried in thePutnam County, West Virginia Pine Grove Cemetery.
(With inputs from agencies)
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