New DNA test leads to charges in 1989 St. Paul slaying

Ramsey County prosecutors relied on new DNA testing of blood from an old crime scene to charge an Ohio prison inmate today for a 1989 St. Paul slaying.

Larry Wayne Brigman, 57, faces a second-degree murder charge for the stabbing death of Dale Luverne Heinold. Brigman now is doing time in an Ohio prison for a separate slaying.

"This is a dramatic example of the power of DNA evidence to solve crimes and bring suspects to justice, not matter how much time has passed," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner.

The victim's sister discovered Heinold, 54, dead in his apartment on May 20, 1989. Investigators describe a gruesome crime scene with the victim strewn across his bed covered in blood. Heinold's car and some items in his apartment were missing.

Witnesses said they last saw Heinold alive in the elevator with another man. The pair was carrying a 12-pack of beer and a pizza.

The case went cold, but police reopened the investigation in June 2006 when they took blood evidence to the state crime lab for testing. Scientists ran the unknown killer's DNA through the national forensic DNA database and matched it to Brigman.

Minnesota investigators reviewed Brigman's Ohio manslaughter conviction and determined the crimes mirrored one another. The victims were killed in their homes. Their cars and other items were stolen, and the killings occurred three months apart.

Brigman was a drifter in 1989. It appears now that Heinold may have befriended Brigman, but somewhere along the way "a violent reaction was sparked and there was a brutal murder," an investigator said.