DNA Links Convicted Killer To 1992 SF Cold Case Murder: DA

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — For years, the murder of 45-year-old Nancy Hernandez eluded San Francisco detectives.

Hernandez had been found badly beaten and strangled to death in a utility corridor along Hang Ah Alley in May 1992, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The 45-year-old, who was homeless, had been living in the utility corridor when she was killed. Swab tests later confirmed that whoever killed Hernandez also sexually assaulted her, police said.

More than 30 years later, the San Francisco Police Department reopened the case and a crime lab entered the DNA profiles from the swab test into an index system, authorities said.

Finally, police said, they had found their suspect: Ricky Dawson.

Prosecutors say sperm cells found in Hernandez during the swab test matched Dawson, now 65, who is serving a life sentence for a separate sexual assault murder in Denver, Colorado, in 1996.

On Wednesday, prosecutors announced they had charged Dawson with Hernandez's murder. He also faces the special circumstance of a prior murder conviction for a 2004 Florida conviction of sexual assault murder, a special circumstance allegation of rape and a special circumstance allegation of sodomy.

He was extradited from Colorado and appeared in court on Monday, prosecutors said, adding that he pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied all allegations.

If found guilty, these enhancements could later be used during sentencing against Dawson.