CALGARY — Police in Calgary are crediting advancements in DNA technology for helping to crack one of the oldest cold cases in the city’s history.
James Alexander Parent, who is 52, was found guilty Wednesday of six charges, including sexual assault with a weapon, in connection with an attack on a woman in a southwest home in April 1987.
Court heard the victim was attacked by a masked man when she answered the doorbell, then tied up, beaten and sexually assaulted over a period of an hour and a half.
Det. Rene Lafrenier, speaking outside court, says a truckload of DNA would have been needed at the time of the attack to get a good sample, but investigators can now get the same evidence from the head of a pin.