SPOKANE, Wash. — The suspect in a 40-year-old Spokane murder case went before a judge for the first time on Thursday.
It took decades for police to narrow down a suspect, but new technology helped them find a DNA match. That match led investigators to 74-year-old David Tibbett.
Tibbett’s family is shocked he is being charged with murder. Neighbors who saw him being arrested on Wednesday told police they must have the wrong person.
The DNA evidence for this case, however, paints a different picture. Police held onto the evidence from the alley near South Ivory where Mary Ann Turner’s body was found in 1986. There was a microscopic amount of blood in Turner’s fingernails after the crime.
Police didn’t have the technology at the time to identify whose blood it was. Last year, Othram Labs in Texas used the fingernails to narrow down the suspect to Tibbett and two of his brothers.
In February, police say they sent Tibbett a letter for him to sign and envelope as a ruse. When Tibbett licked it and returned it to police, they were able to use that to compare the DNA at the crime scene.
According to the search warrant, the DNA under Turner’s fingernails is more than 4 million times more likely to be David Tibbett’s than anyone else’s.
“There was a determination that there was a high probability match that the DNA profiles from the fingernail clippings were from the deceased and yourself,” Commissioner Eugene Cruz said.
Tibbett was also arrested in Spokane in 1968 for sexual assault and then again in 1971 for attempted rape. He was evaluated at Western State Hospital and designated as a sexual psychopath.
Mary Ann Turner’s daughter had the prosecutor read a statement from her in court, saying Tibbett should be held in jail.
“They indicated they have been free longer than Ms. Turner was alive and in light of that, they’re asking the court to seriously consider imposing a bond amount and not agreeing to release Mr. Tibbett at this time,” said prosecuting attorney Preston mcCollam
Tibbett is currently being held on a $1 million bond. He is expected to be back in court for his arraignment on Tuesday, October 27.
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