Wichita Police have announced the successful resolution of a long-standing Cold Case Homicide investigation.
On October 2, 1989, 20-year-old Krista Martin was discovered dead in a residence in the 500 block of S. Osage, to the southwest of Maple & Sycamore. Initial efforts included the collection of DNA evidence, although at the time, DNA testing and CODIS systems were not available. Nonetheless, the DNA evidence was preserved.
At the time, investigators were unable to identify a suspect, but they continued to scrutinize the evidence and gather new leads during the years. DNA samples were collected from multiple individuals for comparison with the evidence from the scene, yet no match was found.
In the early 1990s, the original case detective sent evidence to the Federal Bureau of Investigation crime lab, hoping to identify a suspect, but this yielded no results, and the case remained unsolved.
In 2009, the DNA evidence was submitted to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center, resulting in the development of a potential suspect profile. This profile was uploaded to CODIS, but did not lead to any matches. Further DNA sampling from potential suspects also proved unsuccessful.
In 2020, Wichita Police, using advanced technology, again sought the assistance of the FBI to re-evaluate the DNA evidence collected in 1989.
In 2021, a team consisting of a Wichita Police Homicide Detective and an FBI Special Agent went to Alabama and Arkansas, collaborating with additional Federal Agents working in Maryland. They conducted extensive interviews and gathered additional evidence.
Last year, Wichita police joined forces with private industry genealogists to scrutinize DNA profiles and attempt to identify a suspect. Finally, this past April, a possible suspect, Paul Hart, emerged. It was discovered Hart died in a traffic collision in Memphis in March of 1999.
In June this year, a Wichita homicide detective and an FBI Special Agent traveled to Arkansas, where they collected additional DNA samples from Hart's direct relatives. They continued to conduct interviews and submitted DNA evidence for further analysis.
In collaboration with the FBI, an Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team, and the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center, Wichita investigators were able to utilize IGG techniques to confirm that Hart was the suspect in the 1989 murder of Krista Martin.
After presenting the case to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, it was determined that charges would be filed if Hart were still alive, but because he is deceased, this case is now considered cleared.