Suspect In Rosemont Woman's Killing Arrested 40 Years Later
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Exactly forty years from the day Robin Brooks was found murdered in her Rosemont-area apartment, detectives announced that a suspect has been arrested.
The Sacramento County sheriff's and district attorney's office announced on Friday that Phillip Lee Wilson had been arrested in connection to Brooks' murder.
Brooks was 20-years-old when she was killed. A friend who went to check on her after she didn't show up to work on April 24, 1980 found Brooks' body inside her apartment; she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death.
COLD CASE ARREST: Phillip Lee Wilson, 71, has been arrested for the murder of Robin Brooks on April 24, 1980. pic.twitter.com/EGaXkUBZLA
— Sacramento Sheriff (@sacsheriff) April 24, 2020
District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert was on hand Friday to announce the arrest of Wilson. She detailed how the case had gone cold until forensic DNA was uncovered in 2004, giving a glimmer of hope that one day a suspect would be identified.
With the help of genetic genealogy - the technique that has now resulted in the arrest of suspects in several cases that had gone cold, like the Golden State Killer - Schubert said detectives were able to identify Wilson as the suspect in Brooks' killing.
Wilson, who is now 71-years-old, was arrested at his North Sacramento area home on Thursday, Schubert said. He has been booked into Sacramento County Jail and is facing a charge of murder.