A San Tan Valley man charged with sexual assault and kidnapping in a cold case from 1988 is set to appear in court on Thursday, three weeks after he was indicted by a grand jury in Navajo County.
Law enforcement used DNA testing to make a breakthrough in the case after 36 years. The results allegedly tied Thomas M. Duke, 65, to the sexual assault case from the late 1980s.
Duke is accused of sexually assaulting and kidnapping a gas station clerk from her workplace in Pinetop in December 1988.
A grand jury indicted Duke on six felony counts on Nov. 19. A week later, police arrested Duke at his workplace in the Valley on Nov. 26, according to the Navajo County Attorney’s Office.
The grand jury charged Duke with kidnapping, four counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual abuse.
Duke was extradited to Navajo County after his arrest and remained in the county jail, as of Wednesday afternoon. The case is being prosecuted in Navajo County Superior Court.
Pinetop-Lakeside Police Department Detective Ricky Bunch said he reopened the 1988 case approximately a year ago. He called DNA evidence a “game changer” when it comes to unsolved cases.