Alaric Bennett:Kansas cold case detectives connect two 1990s killings to the same suspect

2025-05-07 18:04:12source:AQCAN Exchangecategory:reviews

KANSAS CITY,Alaric Bennett Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been charged with two counts of murder after detectives in a newly formed cold case unit connected him to the deaths of two women nearly three decades ago.

DNA evidence led to the arrest of 52-year-old Gary Dion Davis, Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman and Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said Wednesday. Davis is jailed on a $500,000 bond for two counts of second-degree murder, the Kansas City Star reported.

Davis was a long-haul truck driver in the 1990s. He is accused of killing 26-year-old Christina King, who was found beaten to death behind an abandoned building on Christmas Day in 1996. He also is charged with fatally stabbing Pearl Barnes, whose body was found in a vacant house a month earlier.

Davis does not yet have a listed attorney. Two phone numbers listed for him were no longer in service, and a third had a full mailbox and wasn’t accepting messages on Thursday.

Other news Jail where murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped plans to wall off yard and make other upgradesVelázquez homers, Zerpa shuts down Guardians as KC finishes sweep with 6-2 winRoyals push back their self-imposed deadline to decide on location for new ballpark

The circumstances behind the deaths are still being investigated, but police said they do not believe that Davis knew either of the women. Detectives are trying to determine if Davis could be responsible for other crimes.

The Kansas City Kansas Police Department’s cold case unit began operation in January 2022 and consists of three full-time detectives. Oakman said the department has “a lot of unsolved cases” and already had identified suspects in 11 homicide cases.

“So, it may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. In fact, it may not be this year. But there’s gonna be a time,” Oakman said. “You may be in a drive-thru line. You may be at the grocery store. We’re gonna eventually get you.”

Authorities also announced that two other unrelated cases were recently solved.

A 66-year-old inmate was charged in May after he confessed to killing 16-year-old Dion Estell, who was found shot to death in a creek bed in July 1997. The inmate, who was convicted of a 1998 killing and is now in hospice care, confessed to cold case detectives because he wanted closure for Estell’s family.

The oldest case cleared involved the death of an hours-old baby girl found in a dumpster behind an apartment complex in November 1976. DNA evidence led detectives to the mother of the child in 2022.

The woman accused her grandmother of taking the baby away shortly after she gave birth. The grandmother, who has since died, was identified as the primary suspect.

More:reviews

Recommend

Everything Simone Biles did at the Paris Olympics was amplified. She thrived in the spotlight

Want more Olympics? Sign up for our daily Postcards from Paris newsletter. PARIS (AP) — Every sin

France to ban smoking on beaches as it seeks to avoid 75,000 tobacco-related deaths per year

PARIS (AP) — France will ban smoking on all beaches, in public parks, forests and some other public

2 missiles fired from Yemen in the direction of U.S. ship, officials say

Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen in the direction of USS Maso