Sources: DNA links suspect to Ardmore murder

By MARY FLANNERY

Accused killer Jacuqin Byrd left DNA evidence in the bloody Main Line catering office where worker Sarah Boone was slain in January, police sources said.

The forensic evidence, which is trickling in from the state police crime lab in Bethlehem, links him to the murder weapons, one source said yesterday. Lower Merion police discovered a hammer, a kitchen knife and a pair of scissors - all covered in blood - near Boone's body.

The evidence against Byrd "shows he was in contact with the instruments found at the scene," the police source said. This evidence is not blood, police said. Instead it is characterized as "contact DNA, which can come from hair, skin or fluids."

Boone, 24, a graduate of Marple Newtown High and Harcum College, was attacked and killed in the basement of Cricket Catering in Ardmore on Jan. 26.

Byrd, who was arrested last month, is being held without bail in Montgomery County prison. His preliminary hearing has been postponed twice, and is now set for March 16.

A former Cricket Catering employee, Byrd, of Philip Street near Grange Avenue in Olney, said he had been working as a courier on Jan. 26 and was in Center City when the slaying occurred.

Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor charged Byrd based on cell phone records and an eyewitness who placed the 27-year-old man in Ardmore on the afternoon of the murder.

Byrd called Cricket Catering from his cell phone in the late afternoon. He told police he had called because he heard about the murder. However, according to the arrest warrant, no TV or radio had yet broadcast news of the murder at the time of his call.

Also, police recovered a copy of Boone's written memo that "Jonqine" visited the storefront looking for work. The memo was written minutes before the estimated time of her death.

The DNA contact evidence "adds to the evidence we already have," the police source said.

Police found no fingerprints at the scene and theorize the killer wore gloves, although they have not been recovered.