N. Idaho man arrested in 1987 strangulation death of woman


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SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho man has been charged with murder after authorities say DNA evidence linked him to the 1987 strangulation killing of an 18-year-old woman in Sandpoint.

William Rey Acosta of Ponderay was charged Friday with first-degree murder in magistrate court in Bonner County.

Sandpoint Police at a news conference Friday said Acosta was living in Sandpoint at the time Tammy Bristow was found dead in her apartment.

Investigators reopened the case in 2016 and sent evidence to the Idaho State Forensic Lab. Officials say DNA evidence led to Acosta.

Acosta is scheduled to be arraigned on July 15. Acosta was being held in the Bonner County Jail on $1 million bond.

His public defender, Janet Whitney, didn't immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

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