GARDENA, Calif. (KNX) — A Gardena man has been arrested in connection with the 1994 fatal stabbing of a woman in Desert Hot Springs, according to Riverside County officials.
The victim, Cheri Huss, was found dead inside her Desert Hot Springs apartment nearly 28 years ago. She had been stabbed multiple times, and bitten by her killer.
Because Huss attempted to fight off her attacker, the suspect left blood at the scene, along with saliva from bite marks left on her body, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators tried to identify a match with the suspect’s DNA profile for decades. Eventually, Huss’ case went cold.
That changed last month when a Riverside County cold case team utilized forensic genetic genealogy to identify 48-year-old Sharron Eugene Gadlin. At the time of Huss’ death, Gadlin lived in Thousand Palms, about 12 miles from the victim’s apartment.
Cold case investigators acquired a saliva sample from Gadlin in February, and four days later matched him with the profile of the person suspected of killing Huss. He was arrested on March 4 after being pulled over by police in Gardena.
Gadlin was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in lieu of $1 million bail. He faces charges related to Huss’ murder and was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Riverside County.
“I hope Cheri and her family will finally get the justice they deserve and have waited so long for,” said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. “Our cold case team of investigators will continue to use cutting edge technology to solve old murder cases across Riverside County. Our prosecutors will continue to vigorously prosecute these murderers until we get justice for their victims.”
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