A fugitive killed in a shootout with authorities in Ohio last month was identified Monday as the suspect in the decades-old unsolved murder of an 18-year-old woman.
New DNA evidence established proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” that James Vanest, 68, was responsible for the April 29, 1981 murder of Debra Miller, 18, the Mansfield Police Department said in a news release.
Miller, a waitress, was fatally beaten with an oven grate in her apartment, the Associated Press reported.
Vanest, who lived in the unit above Miller, was questioned at the time of the killing but never considered a suspect, the department said.
In 2021, the department reopened the case and conducted an analysis using advanced DNA techniques that linked genetic material found on “numerous” pieces of evidence to Vanest, the department said.
After an interview with a Mansfield detective that year, the investigator came away believing Vanest was trying to create an alibi by justifying the presence of his DNA at the apartment, according to the release.
During an interview with the same investigator this year, Vanest said he believed the detective was trying to build a case against him, according to the release.
Vanest declined to speak further and asked for a lawyer, the department said.
Weeks later, Vanest sold his home in Canton, roughly 65 miles east of Mansfield, bought a pickup and moved to West Virginia, the department said. After Vanest was stopped by authorities in that state and found to have two guns, he was arrested and jailed on state charges, then indicted in connection with federal firearms crimes, the department said.
Vanest posted bond and returned to Ohio, where a gunfight erupted at a Canton-area hotel on Nov. 18 when local and federal authorities tried to serve him with the indictment, according to the release.
The North Canton Police Department said Vanest, who is identified only as a fugitive in a Nov. 19 news release, barricaded himself inside a hotel room and opened fire, striking a member of the department’s SWAT unit in his arm.
Vanest was killed in the firefight, the department said.
“This is a sad and tragic case,” the Mansfield news release states. “Although the closing of this case does not bring Debra back, or replace the last 43 years, we hope her family can now have some closure.”
