DNA gives Charlottetown police new lead in 1988 homicide

High-tech analysis of evidence in Charlottetown's only unsolved homicide has given police a new lead — DNA from a woman they believe might know the killer well.

An item of clothing found at the scene of Byron Carr's killing in 1988 contained both male and female DNA, police say.

That a woman's DNA is in the clothing doesn't necessarily mean a woman was there the night Carr was killed, police say. It's more likely her DNA was on the killer's clothing because she knew him well.

"Based on the item of clothing, we feel that there was close personal relationship between both donors, we feel that if we identify  this person, there's a good chance that will lead us to the male," Charlottetown police Sgt. Brad MacConnell told CBC News this week.

"We'll take all the steps we can to find out who it does match."

The Carr case is the only unsolved homicide on the books of Charlottetown police. The case was reopened a year ago in the hopes that advances in DNA technology and other techniques would bring new evidence to light.

It appears now those hopes were well-founded.

The two samples of DNA found on the item of clothing have been put into a computer databank and are being checked against samples from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Police also hoped new people might come forward with their memories of that night in November 1988. Carr was gay, and police believe he was killed by a man he met and took home. He was found strangled to death and stabbed in his Charlottetown home.

The gay community in Charlottetown was suspicious of police in 1988.

Police now believe the current improved relationship might encourage people to come forward, and they say new leads have also been developed from new witnesses.

One further detail was also revealed this week. Carr's wallet was stolen the night he was killed. This could draw another connection to another attack two months after Carr's murder. That man's wallet was also stolen, and police think both attacks could have involved the same man.