Man sentenced for 1984 Minneapolis murder after DNA links him to crime scene decades later
MINNEAPOLIS — A 67-year-old Illinois man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 1984 murder of Robert Miller at a south Minneapolis apartment building.
Investigators were able to track down Matthew Brown last year thanks to advances in DNA technology.
Genealogical research identified a likely suspect, and in March 2023, investigators retrieved the suspect's discarded cup and made a DNA match.
In the early morning of July 17, 1984, police say Miller was murdered during a fight with an intruder. Another victim suffered a cut to her face in the incident. She and another witness reported that a man had broken into their apartment on the 3200 block of Girard Avenue South and attacked them with a knife.
Officers observed blood that did not match either victim on the kitchen floor, the back exit hallway and the back exit doorknob. Using that blood, investigators were able to develop a DNA profile that connected Brown to the murder more than three decades later.
Brown worked security at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in Moose Lake and ran a motel in nearby Cloquet for years. Most recently, he lived in Illinois.
Brown was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. He received credit for 457 days of time served.