DELRAY BEACH, FL (WPTV/CNN) - Police said they’ve made an arrest in a cold-case killing that went unsolved for two decades.
Sondra Better, 68, was working alone at Lu Shay’s Consignment Shop in Delray Beach, FL, on Aug. 24, 1998, when she was stabbed and bludgeoned to death.
Fingerprints from the crime scene were saved, and after more than 20 years, there was finally a match.
Police said the prints match those of 51-year-old Todd Barket.
Barket was undergoing a background check for a job when his fingerprints showed up in a law enforcement database.
Police arrested Barket near Tampa on Wednesday.
The break in the case was a relief for the victim’s family and for those who worked tirelessly on the case.
“I talked with the victim’s daughters today," retired Delray Beach Police Detective Robert Stevens said. "One of the daughters said that over the years, every time she heard of a DNA case where somebody was made on Ancestry DNA, she would cut the article out. And she has a complete file of all the successful DNA cases made across the country, and she was hoping one day she would get that call. And today was that day.”
In addition to the fingerprint match, police said Barket’s DNA also matched DNA from the crime scene.
Barket is being held without bond and will, at some point, face extradition back to Palm Beach County.
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