www.kmjnow.com
BYLINE: Margaret Carrero
Bakersfield, CA
It is yet another validation for modern DNA analysis - a disturbing cold case murder dating back nine years in Bakersfield has been broken wide open with the arrest of a suspect.
DNA evidence has linked Michael Charles Brown, 34, to the gruesome rape and murder of Ruby Lee Jackson-Meriweather, 39, whose naked body was found brutally stabbed inside a Bakersfield home in June 2000.
The recent match has also linked Brown to a series of more recent rape cases involving at least four victims, several of whom have identified Brown as their attacker.
It is believed that Brown carried out the sexual assaults after being released from prison in late 2007 after serving several years for a grisly drunk driving accident that killed a 40-year-old man.
Lisa Green with the Kern County District Attorney's office says investigators are now looking into whether Brown could be involved in other unsolved crimes including the murders of several prostitutes throughout the county over the past 12 years.
Brown is being held without bail.
He is due back in court in November.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
"Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement"
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