COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Police say they have cracked a 28-year-old cold case and caught a woman's killer after matching a palm print found at her murder scene to an inmate in Indiana.
Cathy Glass was stabbed to death in her home in Marietta in 1991. For nearly three decades, police didn't have a suspect or much evidence other than a palm print at the home.
Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes was in Cobb County, where Glass was killed at a complex on Booth Road. Police said the killer broke into her unit and stabbed her.
Fernandes learned that police were recently able to match the print to Trent Allen Brown, 55. Brown is already serving time inside an Indiana state prison for a burglary he pleaded guilty to a year ago.
But Cobb County officials just hit Brown with four new charges, including murder, after they connected Brown to Glass' death.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Horror experience has 40-page waiver, medical check and is too scary to finish
- 2 dead when vehicle plunges 4 stories from parking garage
- Pepper spray released into congregation during sermon at New Birth church
Police always had a palm print from the scene that they believe belonged to the suspect, but were never able to match it to anyone.
"Over the years, the palm print that was located on the scene back in 1991 has been run through a number of different databases, but we know that the information coming out is only as good as what's put in," Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes said.
Two weeks ago, on Oct. 9, someone entered Brown's information into a national database and officials were able to match the palm print to him.
Holmes said she gives a lot of credit to the officers who gathered this evidence and preserved it for 28 years. She also thanked the cold case unit for continuously working the case and others.
"We never forget," Holmes said. "We are not looking at those things as files because we know that we have families out there who are still waiting for some answers. As technology adapts, we’re able to give more answers than we’ve been able to in years."
Fernandes worked to get in touch with members pf Glass' family, but they weren't up to talking about the case.
Holmes said she's glad police were able to give the family some answers.
"I'm sure there were some thoughts of, 'Is this person still around me who has violated our family in this way?' So (it's great) to at least answer those questions and bring them a name," Holmes said. "Our office is going to do everything we can to bring Trent Allen Brown to justice."