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Phoenix
– The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force
and Englewood, Colorado Police Department, in conjunction with the
office of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, announced today
the arrest of Roy Adkins in a cold case murder from 1976. The
31-year investigation involved the slaying of 57-year old Viola
Ginter, who was brutally strangled in her Englewood home.
Ginter’s body was
discovered by a roommate on February 15, 1976. She had spent the
night prior with several friends and acquaintances, and had left a
party with Mr. Adkins and his associate. Though the 17-year old
Adkins was a suspect in the investigation at the time, he provided
an alibi and was never charged in the case.
In 2005, Englewood
Police re-submitted evidence to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation
for advanced DNA testing, a procedure not available in 1976. The
testing matched seminal fluid found on Ginter’s person to blood
given by Adkins some 30-years prior. The new evidence provided the
Englewood Police Criminal Investigations Bureau with reason to
reopen the case.
In November, 2006,
the Capital Crimes and Homicide Assistance Unit of the Colorado
Attorney General’s Office became involved in the investigation at
the request of the Arapahoe County District Attorney. Investigators
from the Attorney General’s Office assisted Englewood police with
interviews and logistics during the investigative process.
On April 2, 2007,
U.S. Marshals, Phoenix P.D. and Englewood Detectives located and
questioned Adkins in Phoenix. The information obtained from those
interviews resulted in the issuance of an arrest warrant by the
Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office. Adkins was arrested on
April 4, 2007, by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. He will
face a charge of first degree murder and is currently being held in
the Maricopa County Jail, awaiting extradition to Colorado.
“Cases like this
demonstrate the dedication and commitment of local and state law
enforcement to keep cases from slipping through the cracks,”
commented Colorado Attorney General Suthers. “Though justice in this
case may have been delayed, it appears that it has not been denied
thanks to the hard work of Englewood PD and capital crimes
investigators in the Department of Law.”
U.S. Marshal David
Gonzales added, “It was an outstanding cooperative effort between
all the agencies involved. The arrest of Adkins shows that
persistence pays off.”
The United States
HIDTA Task Force consists of deputies and officers from the U.S.
Marshals, Department of Public Safety (DPS), Phoenix P.D., Mesa P.D.,
Maricopa County Probation Office, U.S. Postal Inspector Service,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Chandler P.D. |
