The police have recently identified the person responsible for the murder of a woman in Florida nearly 37 years ago. This breakthrough came from matching the killer's DNA with a child born from an "illicit affair" within the family, as reported by WFLA.
Teresa Lee Scalf, a 29-year-old nurse, was brutally murdered in her Lakeland, Florida, home in October 1986, as stated by the Polk County Sheriff's Office on Monday.
The authorities pinpointed her neighbor at the time, Donald Douglas, as the perpetrator. They accomplished this by utilizing blood samples found at the crime scene, which they recently linked to Douglas' son through modern DNA technology.
Surprisingly, the sample failed to produce any matches for more than three decades. To resolve this cold case, the police collaborated with Othram, Inc., a private forensic genetic genealogy lab. This partnership allowed them to narrow down the list of potential suspects. Subsequently, they followed the leads they uncovered, leading them to Douglas' son, who willingly provided a blood sample that conclusively linked Douglas to the crime.
The specifics of the "illicit" family affair remain unclear, with WFLA reporting that it involved Douglas' third cousin, who had a child. During the investigation, a detective learned of this affair while speaking with distant family members of Douglas. However, the Polk County Sheriff's Department couldn't ascertain further details about the nature of the affair.
When constructing a family tree for the case, one branch emerged, which stemmed from this affair, eventually leading investigators back to Lakeland and Douglas, according to the department.
The sheriff's department noted that the attack on Scalf had a sexual motive, and her throat had been brutally cut. During the initial stages of the investigation, there were no suspects. Scalf's family had mentioned a "stalker-like" neighbor she was concerned about before her tragic death, according to WFLA.
Although Douglas was questioned by the police following the murder, detectives were unable to establish a link between him and the case, as stated in the police statement.
Teresa Scalf's mother, Betty Scalf, discovered her daughter's lifeless body at home when she failed to show up for work, and she suspected that crucial evidence had been washed away by the rain.
It's worth noting that Teresa had an 8-year-old son who was not at home when the murder occurred, as per a cold case information page provided by the sheriff's department.
Sheriff Grady Judd reported that Douglas' son was in a state of shock upon learning of the connection to the crime. Donald Douglas, who was 33 at the time of Teresa's murder, passed away at the age of 54 in 2008, and the state attorney's office has now closed the case, deeming it solved.
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