Honolulu police used DNA to identify and arrest a 52-year-old man in a cold case involving the alleged sexual assault and murder of 81-year-old Edith Skinner in 1989.

Police said the resident manager at the Makua Ali’i senior citizens housing complex in Honolulu found Skinner’s body in her apartment on July 25, 1989.

Friends said that they had not seen her at breakfast and were worried due to her age. A witness told police that a man was seen leaving the apartment at about 5:00 a.m.

An autopsy found she was sexually assaulted and murdered. 

Police reopened the case in 2006 after telling Skinner’s son that they had found new evidence. Police put out a CrimeStoppers bulletin asking the public for help in solving the killing.

Through DNA technology, the suspect was identified and arrested at noon Friday, police said.

The man, of a Kinau Street address, was booked for investigation of first-degree sexual assault and second-degree murder.

"Nothing will bring my mom back," the victim’s son, Steve Skinner said in 2006. "But people that do things like this need to suffer the consequences. It is an unforgivable act.