After More Than 30 Years, This Cold Case Involving The Brutal Murder Of A 17-Year-Old Girl Was Solved Due To Advancements In DNA Technology

Michelle Koski, a seventeen-year-old high school student from Washington, was the victim of a heinous murder in 1990.

Her body was discovered on August 25, 1990, by a woman walking her dog in the woods, and autopsy reports revealed that Michelle had been assaulted, beaten, and strangled to death.

While the tragedy sent shock waves through the Washington community, though, Michelle’s case remained cold for over three decades.

Detective Jim Scharf and retired Detective David Heitzman spent thousands of hours working diligently on the case, but with no DNA matches in CODIS, they continued hitting dead ends.

That was until last week when Snohomish County Police finally identified a suspect– Robert A. Brooks.

Brooks was born on April 25, 1967, and was twenty-two years old at the time of Michelle’s murder. He had a criminal record and was released from prison just a few months before the tragedy.

Police believe that Brooks somehow knew Michelle, mainly since they lived only a few blocks apart.

Brooks’ connection to the case was identified through the use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy: which combines DNA testing with “traditional genealogical methods to establish the relationship between an individual and their ancestors.”

Snohomish County Police; pictured above is Michelle

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This was possible since Brooks died of natural causes on October 26, 2016. A blood sample from Brooks was collected after his passing and positively matched the DNA evidence from the crime scene.

According to police, the odds of this match being inaccurate is one in 1.2 quadrillions.

So while Brooks’ death about six years ago might not provide the same sense of justice to Michelle’s family, they and the community have at least gained some form of closure.

“After more than thirty years of searching for answers following this terrible murder, we can finally provide Michelle’s family with some answers,” said Adam Fortney, the Snohomish County Sheriff.

“Thanks to the relentless persistence of our cold case detectives, new DNA technology, and advancements in genetic genealogy, we are now able to solve cases we once thought we would never find answers to,” Sheriff Fortney continued.

To read the complete Snohomish County Police press release, visit the link here.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek

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