New technology could help solve 20-year-old Tempe murder

PHOENIX — The longer a case goes on, sometimes the harder it is to track down clues to solve the crime.

Now 20 years deep in a Tempe, Arizona, homicide case, police say new DNA technology might just help solve the thing.

The Tempe Police Department said services of Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company that specializes in phenotyping, is already helping them in the murder case of Fiona Yu.

Yu, 21, was killed on Aug. 4, 1997, just after 5 p.m. inside her apartment near the cross-section of Lemon Street and Dorsey Lane. Police say an unknown suspect broke in, sexually assaulted Yu and strangled her to death.

Now police might have an idea of what the suspect looks like.

Due to phenotyping, the process of predicting physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence, trait predictions have been produced for the suspect.

“They have been very successful throughout the United States in building these composites based on the DNA that was collected at the scene,” said Liliana Duran, a Tempe police detective. “So we’re hoping that the public may recognize this person and we will get some leads or information about this crime.”

Predictions were made for the suspect’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling and face shape.

Composites were created of men believe to be 25 years old at the time.

Investigators are looking for a Hispanic male with light brown skin, brown eyes, black hair, who is now about 45 years old.

Tempe Police say they received a similar physical description in 1997 after investigating another sexual assault in the same area.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.

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