California police identify suspect in cold case

A suspect has been identified in a murder case in California that has been unresolved since 1988.

At a news conference Tuesday, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and Galt Police Chief Brian Kalinowski named Terry Bramble as a suspect in the murder of 79-year-old Lucille Hultgren, according to Fox 40 of Sacramento.

Terry Bramble, 32, sexually abused Hultgren inside her house before fatally stabbing and strangling her, according to Kalinowski.

The discovery was made feasible by modern DNA analysis technology, which matched DNA taken during Bramble’s 1992 sexual assault conviction, according to Schubert.

“The fingernail scrapings became the key to solving this case,” she pointed out, pointing to the DNA that matched scrapings discovered on Hultgren’s body.

According to the report, “for nearly two decades, our crime lab, the Sacramento County DA’s crime lab, worked extensively to examine, to study, and meticulously find the evidence that was necessary in this case,” she said.

According to Fox Sacramento, Kalinowski also stated that police are now looking into if Bramble is linked to any other crimes.

“We’re looking at other jurisdictions to see if there are any common cold cases out there,” he added.

Hultgren’s body was discovered in her house by members of her church, where she had been living alone since her husband died the previous year.

Bramble had spent roughly five years living beneath a bridge before dying of natural causes in 2011, according to investigators.