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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man has been charged in connection with a 25-year-old cold case homicide.
What makes this particular cold case investigation unique is that the victim was 15-months-old.
"Usually when you're going back and looking at cold cases, they're usually adults," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
Gill's office has charged Louis Duran, 53, in connection with the death of his roommate's daughter.
Duran was arrested Thursday and charged in 3rd District Court with murder, criminal homicide in the second degree, which is a first-degree felony under statutes that were in place in 1988.
The charge carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison. Duran was not booked into the Salt Lake County jail at the time, according to the sheriff's office.
The child suffered "multiple blunt force trauma," as well as multiple skull fractures and multiple injuries inflicted to her brain, and her death was classified by the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office as a homicide.
Salt Lake police detective Thomas Flores recently began looking into the case and determined it was "inappropriately closed in 1988," according to charging documents.
Flores had doctors at Primary Children's Hospital and the medical examiner's office review old documents and photographs, and it was determined the infant was "a victim of ongoing child abuse" over the last month of her life, charges stated. Bite marks on the child were also identified.
Duran, who was 28 at the time of the killing, told investigators in new interviews that the baby "was a fussy child who was sick a lot," the charges state. He then admitted to biting the infant but "otherwise said he couldn't tell the officers what happened that day."
This is really about good police work. This is about going back and following up on the old leads again. It's pulling out the old evidence and re-examining the old evidence. It's sitting down and bringing out a fresh set of eyes on the review of it.
–Sim Gill, Salt Lake County DA
Gill said another unique aspect of the case was that unlike most other cold cases, this one was not solved because of advances in DNA technology.
"I think that's one of the reasons this cases stands out a little bit," he said. "This is really about good police work. This is about going back and following up on the old leads again. It's pulling out the old evidence and re-examining the old evidence. It's sitting down and bringing out a fresh set of eyes on the review of it."
Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank, who was not on the force in 1988, also had praise for his detectives.
"I'm very proud of what we've done. We, fortunately, have very few homicides. We've only had the one this year. So our guys have time to do some work and hopefully provide a little closure," he said.
Not only has technology gotten better in the past 25 years, Burbank said, but "hopefully we've improved — the entire police department, our investigative skills and everything else. It's always our intent to review and make sure we've done the right thing in the past and continue to do the right thing in the future."
Gill agreed that the charges were not making up for any poor police work in 1988.
"I think we're smarter. Our techniques are better. Our resources are sometimes maybe a little bit different. And certainly our forensics are a little better," he said. "I don't want to say that somebody dropped the ball. It's just that sometimes cases hit dead ends. And one of the (advantages) of a cold case team is bringing in a pair of fresh eyes, looking at that evidence again and putting a new perspective on it."
Gill said cold case investigations are important to bring closure and ensure justice for victims' families.
