VIRGINIA, Minn. - Authorities say they have arrested a 44-year-old man in connection with an 83-year-old woman's death in 1987 in northern Minnesota.
Bruce Cameron, age 44, was arraigned in St. Louis County Court Thursday on a charge of second degree murder. Prosecutors say Cameron was just 16-years-old when he stabbed, strangled and beat Leona Mary Maslowski to death after breaking into her apartment to look for alcohol.
"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Leona Maslowski," said St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin. "Justice has been a long time in the making in this case, but we are blessed to live in a community with law enforcement officers who make a tenacious commitment to following through on criminal investigations and seeing to it that perpetrators are brought to justice. This case was solved due to the excellent work of Chief Dennis Benz and the Virginia Police Department, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Special Agents and Lab Analysts."
Police say Maslowski was found beaten and stabbed to death in her Virginia apartment. According to authorities, the suspect's fingerprints and palm print were found on a door near Maslowski's body. Recent DNA processing of fingerprints pulled from a door in Maslowski's apartment identified them as Cameron's.
Investigators with the BCA and Virginia police interviewed Cameron about the murder in April. The defendant initially denied being in the room where the victim's body was found. On Tuesday, two BCA special agents confronted Cameron with the physical evidence against him.
The defendant admitted that he was most likely drunk that night. He said he came down the back stairwell to Mrs. Maslowski's residence, the door was not locked and he went into the kitchen looking for alcohol to drink. The woman confronted him. He thought she was moving toward a telephone. He said he punched her in the face, pushed her down, continued to hit her with an object from her residence and possibly choked her.
Cameron said he didn't know if a knife was involved, but that all of her injuries would have been caused by him. He said she was lying on the floor when he left and that he didn't steal anything.
A criminal complaint says Cameron told investigators he was at a party above Maslowski's apartment. According to the complaint, he said he went into her apartment to steal alcohol, and that he assaulted her after she confronted him.
