The arrest of a man accused of killing a young Boston mother has solved a decades-old cold case. James Holloman has been charged with the 1988 stabbing death of Karen Taylor after DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene. People Report.
Although a check in Holloman’s name was found near Taylor’s body, authorities were unable to definitively link him to the killing until recently. A breakthrough came last year when Holloman’s DNA was collected after he spit on a sidewalk.
Investigators compared the DNA to samples found under Taylor’s fingernails, on a bloody sweatshirt and on a cigarette found near her body. The results confirmed a match, and Holloman was arrested.
Holloman, who has no prior criminal record, was taken into custody on September 19. His attorney has expressed doubts about the DNA evidence, saying it may not be conclusive after so many years.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said CBS News The case “exemplified outstanding investigative work done by detectives and prosecutors using modern criminology.”
“Most importantly, it provides Karen Taylor’s loved ones with an opportunity to see that someone has been held accountable for her death after so many years of unanswered questions,” he said.
Taylor was found dead in her apartment in Roxbury, Boston on May 27, 1988, at age 25.
According to a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Taylor’s body was found after her mother called the apartment, and Taylor’s 3-year-old daughter answered, saying her mother was “sleeping and she couldn’t wake her up,” WHDH reports.
“The mother went to Taylor’s apartment at 37 Williams Street in Roxbury, but was unable to enter the building. She went to the back and crawled through her daughter’s bedroom window, where she found her lying in a pool of blood,” the statement further said.
The autopsy revealed Taylor had been stabbed 15 times in the chest, head and neck.
