Accident – Death – Obituary News :
Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 30-Year-Old Cold Case in Phoenix
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A man has been given life in prison after he pleaded guilty to a 30-year-old cold case involving a violent murder and sexual assault that took place in Mesa, Arizona.
Thomas David Cox, 60, was identified as a suspect three decades later due to advances in DNA testing technology that linked him to the crimes.
“One of the most agonizing aspects of cold cases is the long uncertainty endured by victims and their families,” stated Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. “This defendant committed these offenses in such a cruel manner and then went on to have a full life while the victim’s young life was halted. It’s only appropriate that this defendant spend the rest of his life in prison.”
On October 16, 1989, the Mesa Police Department conducted a welfare check on a 22-year-old woman after she failed to show up for work. Officers discovered her in her apartment, where she had been beaten and strangled with an electrical cord.
Tragically, on November 23, 1990, a single mother was sexually assaulted in the same apartment complex. It wasn’t until 2002 that the Mesa Police Department Crime Lab connected the DNA from both incidents.
It wasn’t until recently, 20 years after the DNA samples were connected, that Thomas David Cox was finally identified as the suspect. Officials were able to use advanced DNA testing thanks to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which was established under former President Barack Obama in 2015.
Cox pleaded guilty on February 2 of this year to one count of first-degree premeditated murder and one count of aggravated assault. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of being released after 25 years.
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