Jury Convicts Man In 30-Year-Old Murder Case
DENVER (AP) - A 54-year-old man has been convicted of fatally stabbing a woman in Denver three decades ago.
A jury convicted Roderick Elias of first-degree murder Friday after a two-week trial. The victim was 22-year-old Kristen Swanson, who was killed in October 1980. Her body was found in a car outside a disco where she worked.
Swanson died from a single stab wound to the heart. Authorities say a man matching Elias' description was seen leaning into the car the night before Swanson was killed.
The Denver DA's Cold Case Review Project reviewed the case at the urging of a friend of Swanson's. A DNA match was found and Elias was arrested last year in Topeka , Kan. He faces life in prison without parole.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
