Valley man arrested in 20-year-old murder case

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Salt Lake City Police arrested a Valley man on Friday after new DNA evidence connected him to the stabbing death of a Utah teen 20 years ago.

Dan Petersen, 44, was arrested in Phoenix and is now in the County Jail. He awaits extradition to Salt Lake City for the 1986 murder of 14-year-old Tiffany Hambelton.

Petersen had long been a suspect in the case, Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank said.

New DNA tests on fingernail clippings and stains on Hambleton's shirt linked Peterson to the girl, according documents filed Friday in 3rd District Court.

Hambleton disappeared Feb. 17, 1986, after telling her mother she was going to a concert. She and Petersen were seen together the next day.

The girl, found in a ditch west of downtown Salt Lake City in March 1986, died from multiple stab wounds.

Questioned by police after her body was found, Petersen said he had been driving Hambleton to her mother's house, but when his car broke down, she decided to walk home.

Hambleton was one of four young women slain in the mid-1980s whose cases went unsolved for many years. Lisa Strong, 25, was shot and killed in May 1986; Christine Gallegos, 18, died after being shot and stabbed in May 1985; and Clara Maxwell was shot and killed in April 1986. Only Strong's murder has been solved.

The four cases made headlines again in 2003, when Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson formed a five-member commission to review how police initially investigated those crimes.

As a private attorney, Anderson had represented the families of the slain women who complained police had botched the investigations.

In late 2003, police exhumed Hambleton's body from a Salt Lake City cemetery to collect forensic evidence. Anderson said Friday that evidence was critical to making an arrest.

"Tiffany's family has been through a tremendous, continuing tragedy," Anderson said. "I hope this is a significant step in answering questions and bringing closure for Tiffany's family."

Frank Brunyer, Hambleton's grandfather, said the family is grateful for the mayor's persistence and the work of police detectives.

"It's been a nightmare for a long time," Brunyer said.