COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – Over three decades after 19-year-old Amy Hooper was found beaten and stabbed to death in her Franklin County apartment, an arrest has been made in her case.
Bruce Edward Daniels, 57, currently of Tumwater, Washington, was indicted on charges of murder and rape on Tuesday in relation to the cold case, according to Franklin County court records. A murder warrant was issued for Daniels on Dec. 4, and he was arrested the next day. He is currently in Thurston County jail in Washington.
Sometime this year, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office identified Daniels as a person of interest in the case, according to a probable cause affidavit. Law enforcement officials in Washington obtained an “item discarded” by Daniels. DNA on the object was compared with DNA recovered from Hooper’s body and it was a match, the affidavit claims.
On Monday, March 9, 1992, Hooper’s naked body was discovered face up on the floor of her apartment, located in the 4900 block of Medfield Way in Lincoln Village. She was bludgeoned and stabbed to death. The killer left behind a heart-shaped medallion with the African flag painted on it, which was used to bind her hands.