BROOKSVILLE, Fla. -- Thirty-five years after a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted, Hernando County Deputies have a suspect.
With the help of DNA evidence left at the scene and modern DNA technology, investigators were able to name William Nichols as the suspect.
"I think we can comfortably say that beyond a reasonable doubt that detectives solved this case," Sheriff Al Nienhuis said in a Thursday news conference.
Nichols died on Oct. 23, 1998, in Orlando. Deputies say he had a criminal history in Wisconsin that included multiple sexual offenses.
Investigators say in 1983, the 12-year-old victim was home with a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old when a strange man came to the door. The three talked to him for a few minutes before shutting the door. Deputies say the man then came back armed with a knife and entered through the garage.
Deputies say the man told the 12-year-old that if she didn't do what he said, he would harm the other two girls. The man then took the victim to a bedroom and sexually battered her.
Investigators say they submitted evidence from the scene for DNA testing in 2005, but it did not point to any suspects in any databases.
It wasn't until recently that investigators were able to use DNA Labs International and Parabon Nanolabs to connect any DNA evidence found at the scene to possible suspects.
Investigators say Parabon did a genetic genealogy analysis and gave the results to the sheriff's office. Parabon produced trait prediction like the suspect's ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color and face shape.
Investigators say Parabon's research created a profile that was consistent with the suspect's physical description.
Because Nichols died in 1998, investigators weren't able to compare his actual DNA to the evidence at the scene. However, they said a cooperating family member gave a sample to investigators.
The sheriff's office said there is a 99.99 percent change that Nichols was the person who left the evidence at the scene.
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