Cops: Legos collected 23 years ago help solve Utah cold case

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--Police say fingerprints left on Legos 23 years ago helped solve the cold case homicide of Holladay, Utah grandmother Lucille Johnson, reports CBS affiliate KUTV.

Johnson was found dead in her home by a family member on Feb. 2, 1991. She had suffered significant trauma to her head.

While investigating detectives found Legos -- colorful interlocking toy bricks --­ on the floor of the living room, in the home entryway and in the driveway, reports KUTV.

Family members told police that Johnson would not leave her grandchildren's toys around the house, so they were collected as evidence.

An autopsy concluded Johnson died from blunt force trauma and strangulation. Detectives were never able to solve the case.

The case was reopened several months ago by the Greater Salt Lake Unified Police Department. Material from under Johnson's fingernails was sent for DNA testing. Results showed matches for John Sansing, a man who is currently in prison in Arizona for another murder committed in 1997.

Investigators then determined that fingerprints on the Legos collected in 1991 matched those of Sansing's son, who was 5-year-old at the time. Police say the boy was in the home at the time of the murder.

KUTV reports that Sansing's wife recently told detectives that Sansing admitted to her around 1991 that he killed an elderly lady in Holladay.

Formal charges were filed on Thursday by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office against John Sansing