(WHDH) — Investigators used discarded beer cans to link a murder suspect to a 1996 cold case in Orange County, Florida, authorities said.
On February 3, 1996, deputies discovered the body of Terence Paquette in the bathroom of the Lil’ Champ convenience store, where he worked as a store manager, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
He had been stabbed 73 times in what Det. Brian Savelli described as a “very gruesome, violent scene.”
The case remained unsolved for more than 20 years until Savelli decided to reexamine it in 2019.
Using a DNA sample from a bloodstain on a freezer, the sheriff’s office says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was able to determine that the blood came from one of three brothers.
“Once we were able to identify potential persons of interest, we then looked into their life and seen where they were in ’96,” he said.
Savelli discovered that Stough had previously worked at the convenience store and lived in an apartment across the street from Paquette in 1996, according to the sheriff’s office.
In order to place Stough at the crime scene, investigators needed a sample of his DNA.
A GPS tracker led Savelli to a gas station in Lake County, where he reportedly watched Stough throw away several beer cans.
The discarded cans were swabbed for DNA, which turned out to be a match to the DNA found at the crime scene, the sheriff’s office said.
Stough was placed under arrest on a charge of first-degree murder.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says this is the first homicide case they have solved using genetic genealogy.
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