Seminole Grand Jury issues indictment in 1986 cold case homicide

Detectives said they were able to match crime scene evidence to Emitt's DNA, through a national data base.

June 14, 2019

LAKE MARY, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - An over three-decades-long homicide cold case out of Florida has been put to rest, after authorities said DNA evidence recently led investigators to a suspect in Tennessee.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office in May obtained an arrest warrant for 50-year-old Danny Lynn Emitt, of Knoxville, in the death of 38-year-old Eveline Aguilar.

Aguilar was found stabbed to death inside her Winter Park apartment on July 14, 1986. Deputies arrived on scene to discover the front door cracked open.

"As part of the crime scene investigation, deputies discovered that a glass pane had been removed from a window, allowing it to be unlocked," noted Todd Brown, spokesman with the State Attorney 18th Judicial Circuit. 

At the time, Emitt was not identified as a suspect. However, evidence left behind -- including palm prints from an interior window sill and bodily fluids, gave investigators a break in the case.

Detectives said they were able to match crime scene evidence to Emitt's DNA, through a national data base. Along with the DNA, they said that the palm print from the window sill belonged to Emitt.

Emitt was indicted by a Seminole County Criminal Grand Jury on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, and burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery. He is being held in Tennessee without bond, awaiting extradition back to Seminole County.

If convicted, Emitt could face the death penalty.