The murder of Krista Roxanne Martin remains one of Wichita, Kansas’s haunting cold case stories, not only because of the violence that ended her life, but also because of the long wait for answers. Krista was only 20 years old when she was killed inside her apartment in the fall of 1989. She was young, quiet, and still at the beginning of her adult life when someone attacked her in a place where she should have been safe.
Krista was last seen alive on October 1, 1989. In the early morning hours of October 2, 1989, a concerned friend found her dead inside her apartment at 506 South Osage Street in Wichita, Kansas. Investigators later determined that she had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a blunt object. Her cause of death was tied to a severe injury to the back left side of her head.
For decades, Krista’s case remained unsolved. Detectives followed leads, questioned people, preserved evidence, and waited for technology to catch up with the evidence they had. The case would eventually become an example of how old investigations can be revived through DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy. More than 30 years after Krista was killed, authorities identified Paul Hart as the suspect. By then, Hart was already dead, which meant he could never stand trial…