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Cigarette Butt Helps Investigators Solve 1991 Murder Case

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- For years, police had no suspects very and few clues in the murder of 76-year old Myrtle McGill. She was found shot to death inside her home in White Township in December of 1991.

Police say her car was stolen but it was recovered in Pittsburgh.

Inside the car police found a cigarette butt which would one day become a valuable piece of evidence.

By 2007 the cigarette butt was submitted for DNA evidence. That's when Charles Cook first became a suspect when A DNA match was found on the FBI data base.

"We obtained an arrest warrant for Charles Cook, a 61-year-old black male whose last know address was in Magnolia, Minnesota," said Cpl. John Fisanich with the Pennsylvania State Police.

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Detectives believe Cook was released from prison in Pennsylvania and was supposed to catch a bus to Philadelphia to serve his parole. Instead he caught a bus to Indiana County and did not know Myrtle McGill.

"It was a random act of violence, it was happenstance that he got off the bus in Indiana," said Indiana County District Attorney Detective Brad Shields.

Authorities believe the cigarette he left in Mrs McGill's car was the key in solving the case.

The fact that we were able to have that cigarette processed and the fact that he was in the system, if his DNA wasn't in the system we wouldn't be sitting here today," said District Attorney Patrick Dougherty.

But finding Cook would not be easy, he was transient and homeless and lived in several different states. Finally the trail took detectives to the state of Minnesota where he remains incarcerated on an assault charge.

Officials are in the process of moving him back to Pennsylvania.

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