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DNA TRAIL

Teen Named as Killer in 1987 Sex Murder of Arizona Hiker

The suspect, who is tied to another sexual assault, won’t face justice because he killed himself in 1993.

Cathy Sposito

Yavapai County Sheriff

Arizona police say they have figured out who likely murdered Arizona hiker Cathy Sposito while trying to sexually assault her in 1987. The 23-year-old’s death had long been a cold case, but detectives caught a break while investigating a 1990 attack in the same place. In that case, DNA led them to two brothers—one of whom, Brian Bennett, had a rap sheet that included sex crimes. They compared that DNA to DNA on the ratchet left at the scene of Sposito’s slaying and found it matched. Bennett, who would have been 16 at the time of the killing, died by suicide in 1993.

Read it at KVOA

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