DNA leads to arrest in 1993 killing of Reading woman

Associated Press

READING, Pa. - DNA led to the arrest of a man in the 1993 killing of a city woman whose body was crushed underneath rocks at the base of a bridge.

Steven R. Simpson, 37, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, rape, abuse of corpse and other offenses in the slaying of Louise M. Weyandt, 35.

Fishermen found Weyandt's nude body in April 1993 and the Berks County coroner's office ruled that she died after five large rocks were rolled onto her. The boulders were rolled downhill onto Weyandt and police had to use construction equipment to remove them.

In July, police submitted DNA samples from the scene to a state police DNA database and Simpson's DNA was a match, police said.

Simpson refused to admit involvement in the slaying when he was interviewed by police in September, authorities said. He then told two inmates he killed Weyandt and they told police about the alleged admission, police said.

Simpson is in the state prison in Frackville on charges that he assaulted his girlfriend. He had previously spent time in state prison on cocaine-dealing charges.