On August 22, 2022, Pennsylvania State Police announced that Scott Allen Grim was the lead suspect in the October 23, 1988 murder of 26-year-old Anna Kane in Perry Township, Pennsylvania. The case has been cleared by exception, as Grim died in 2018 at the age of 58 from natural causes.
Kane had been and strangled to death. Her body was then dumped along the Ontelaunee Trail. She had three children, and was known to sometimes in engage in sex work to support herself.
A DNA profile of the male suspect was collected from Kane’s clothing, but a match was not found in CODIS. In February of 1990, a newspaper called the Reading Eagle had put out a call for information about Kane’s murder. In response, they received a letter from an anonymous source that contained several specific details of Kane’s murder that were not known to the public. Saliva found on the letter’s envelope was tested, and it was found to have the same DNA profile as that found at the crime scene.
The FGG investigation was conducted by Parabon Nanolabs in partnership with the Pennsylvania State Police. The final conformation was made using tissues obtained from Grim, although police have not yet disclosed the source of those tissues.
Police have stated that Grim had a previous arrest in 2002 for criminal harassment for a series of threatening letters he had sent to a former business partner.
Sources:
Lenthang, Merlene. “DNA from Letter Sent to Local Newspaper Helps Solve 34-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Pennsylvania Mom.” NBC News, August 22, 2022. Accessed May 7, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dna-letter-helps-solve-34-year-old-cold-case-murder-pa-mom-rcna44185.
Miller, Jax. “1988 Murder Suspect ID’d After Licking Envelope and Sending Letter to Local Newspaper About the Homicide.” Oxygen, August 23, 2022. Accessed May 7, 2023. https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/scott-grim-named-suspect-in-1988-pennsylvania-murder-of-anna-kane.
Rejret, Ann. “State Police Identify Suspect in 1988 Berks County Homicide.” Lancaster Online, August 18, 2022. Accessed May 7, 2023. https://lancasteronline.com/news/regional/state-police-identify-suspect-in-1988-berks-county-homicide/article_fb1963f6-1f32-11ed-9c7e-8b5b32754a3d.html.