DNA helps solve 1998 cold case murder of Marysville 19-year-old; suspect arrested

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - Police have arrested a man in connection to the 1998 murder of a then-19-year-old woman in Marysville. 

In late March of 1998, Jennifer Brinkman was found axed to death. Her father returned from a vacation in California and found his daughter dead inside their home in the 1900 block of Grove Street. 

The ax and murder weapon was left inside the Brinkman's home. 

Police spent the next 24 years trying to find the person suspected of killing Brinkman. They said Brinkman was spending a "considerable amount of time on telephone dating and chat lines, as well as, local library computers," which is how they believe she came to know the suspect. 

On Nov. 28, a 52-year-old Renton man was arrested in connection to Brinkman's death. 

Police say the suspect has been living and working in the east Puget Sound area since before the homicide took place. 

"The arrested suspect was one of several individuals detectives focused on through the years, and ultimately, the advancement of scientific DNA technology, including genetic genealogy, led to his arrest," Marysville Police said in a news release. 

"Solving this case has been at the top of the priority list of the Marysville Police Department for the past 24+ years," stated Police Chief, Erik Scairpon. "We never gave up, or put this on a shelf. It was continuously being investigated, with the belief that we would one day be able to bring some level of closure for the family and justice for Jennifer."

The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for first-degree murder.