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(CNN) — More than four decades after a young mother and her son were found dead in their Nebraska home, a forensic breakthrough has led to the arrest of a man long suspected in the cold case, according to Omaha authorities.
Abdulmalik Husain, 68, formerly known as Louis Walker, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Deroshia Matthews, 26, and her son, Kamal, 7, the Omaha Police Department said in a news release.
Husain’s attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Thomas C. Riley, declined to comment.
Police discovered the victims’ bodies on April 24, 1979, after concerned family and friends reported they hadn’t heard from them or seen them, “which was unusual,” according to the Omaha Police Department.
Investigators determined the mother had been sexually assaulted, and both victims showed signs of strangulation “consistent with a rope or cord,” a Douglas County judge said in court Thursday.
Omaha Police homicide Lt. Nicholas Andrews called the crime “heinous” and said the case remained on investigators’ radar for decades.
Husain first met Matthews at a community event in 1975, and while the two were acquainted, they were not in a relationship, Andrews told CNN. Husain was initially a person of interest, but there was not enough evidence to arrest him at the time, Andrews said.
A break in the case came in 2004, when Husain was arrested in Colorado for an unrelated burglary, authorities said.
His DNA was entered into the national Combined DNA Index System, a database containing profiles from convicted offenders, arrestees and crime scenes. The DNA matched evidence from the murder scene, according to Andrews, leading to his arrest on two counts of first-degree murder.
However, due to a clerical error, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges without prejudice, allowing for the case to be refiled if new evidence surfaced.
The case remained open, and in 2021, forensic advancements led investigators to reexamine “key evidence,” according to Andrews. The new analysis provided enough information for authorities to present the case to the Douglas County attorney, leading to Husain’s rearrest.
Husain appeared in court Thursday in front of a Douglas County judge and was denied bond, according to CNN affiliate KETV.
“There have been a lot of cold case detectives and homicide detectives from 1979 to the present who looked at it,” Andrews said. “It’s just good casework by detectives, forensics, our intel team and the county attorney’s office.”
Authorities said they have not identified a clear motive for the murders and no new witnesses have come forward. Investigators have also been unable to locate any living relatives of the Matthews family.
Husain is scheduled for a preliminary hearing within the next 60 to 90 days, according to Andrews.
The-CNN-Wire
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