An Indianapolis man has been found guilty in a 26-year-old murder case.
Paul Reese, Sr., 69, was found guilty for the murder of Dawn Marie Stuard. The 13-year-old was beaten and strangled in March 1986.
Reese was convicted in 2010 of burglary in a case arising from the murder of Clifford Haddix, Sr. He was sentenced in December 2010, and is currently serving 20 years at the Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton, Indiana.
Sgt. Steve West is credited with bringing the cold case to a close. It was his first homicide case and since it was opened in 1986, he's never given up.
"As with any unsolved case, that is your goal to try to solve the case for the family, and at least bring some closure to them even though it won't bring a loved one back," said Sgt. West in an interview with WTHR in February 2011.
Paul Reese Sr. was a suspect in the murder from the beginning. Dawn was last seen alive with him, playing pool. They were neighbors. But investigators couldn't charge Reese back then because the evidence, at that point, was only circumstantial.
Reese, his wife and son were seen carrying a rolled-up carpet from their home and placing it in a car. Dawn's body was later found near the paper route of his wife, according to prosecutors.
In 2007, before he retired, Sgt. West resubmitted dozens of pieces of physical evidence for DNA testing which wasn't available 20 years ago. Those tests uncovered the largest part of this investigation. A sample of blood taken from the basement of the Reese home matched the DNA profile of Dawn.
Investigators say in the last couple of years, some of Reese's fellow inmates have come forward with information that Reese told them about the case.
