PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A man facing charges in the brutal attack and sexual assault of a woman in a Phoenix alleyway has now been linked to a murder in the same area last summer, police say.
Luis Gustavo Prudente Tapia, 24, was arrested last week in connection with a violent assault that left a woman critically injured on Aug. 14 along 44th Street north of Oak Street. The woman suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries, and police believe she was attacked at random.
Now, police say detectives have named Tapia as a suspect in a woman’s murder that happened in the same alley, not far from the most recent attack, on June 13, 2024. Police responded and found an unresponsive woman suffering from a head injury. Margie New, 64, died at the hospital about a week later.
DNA evidence was collected during the homicide investigation, but no match was found in the system. But when DNA evidence collected after last month’s attack was run through the system, police say it matched the previous case…