DNA links man to killings of 2 Las Vegas women in the 1990s: "It's been a long, long 28 years"
A cold case review using DNA evidence collected from the bodies of two Las Vegas women who were sexually attacked and strangled in the 1990s points to a man who died six years ago as their killer, police in Las Vegas said Monday.
Eddie George Snowden Jr. "was the person who sexually assaulted and murdered" Lori Ann Perera, 31, in 1992, and Pearl Wilson Ingram, 35, in 1994, Las Vegas homicide Lt. Jason Johansson told reporters.
Because Snowden died in February 2017 at age 80 due to natural causes, Johansson said no arrests will be made in either case.
Still, Ingram's younger sister, Teresa Board, told reporters that word that her sister's assailant had been identified by authorities brought "much needed closure" to her family.
"It's been a long, long 28 years," Board said, pausing amid sobs as she recalled that her sister's body was found partially disrobed in a dumpster behind a supermarket not far from where Johansson said Snowden used to live.
Board said her sister, who was known as "Pinky," had a son who now lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
"She didn't get to become a grandmother, and that's not fair," Board said.
Perera's nude body was found two years earlier in the same area where Snowden lived, bearing signs that her wrists and ankles were bound and she was beaten, Johansson said. Both women died of strangulation, the police lieutenant said.
In 2007, case reviews of Perera's murder revealed evidence of sperm in a DNA swab taken during her autopsy, which was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a criminal justice DNA database, CBS affiliate KLAS-TV reported.
In 2012, reviews of Pearl's murder revealed more evidence from a sexual assault kit that was taken at the time of her discovery, the station reported. This DNA evidence was also uploaded into the CODIS system when investigators learned both murders were linked to the same suspect.
In 2022, testing identified Snowden as a possible suspect, police said in a news release.
Board credited police for revisiting the case and Snowden's family for providing DNA samples that investigators matched using forensic testing with funding from a philanthropic group called the Vegas Justice League.
"Any other families out there going through what we've gone through, keep hope alive, keep God first," Board said. "You, too, can have closure."
Johansson said detectives learned that Snowden lived previously in Fresno, California, and other cities including Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Madera, Merced, Woodland and Watsonville. He credited police in Fresno with helping the investigation.
