Arrest made nearly 40 years after NAU student was fatally stabbed outside her apartment

PHOENIX – Almost 40 years after a Northern Arizona University student was stabbed to death outside her Flagstaff apartment, a suspect in the cold case is in custody, authorities announced Tuesday.

Advanced forensic DNA testing led to the arrest of James Arthur Runnels Jr. for the death of 24-year-old Ina Claire Langstaff, according to the Flagstaff Police Department.

Langstaff was found stabbed to death outside her apartment in Flagstaff’s Old Town neighborhood on Nov. 7, 1987.

How did investigators crack NAU cold case?

The case went unsolved but was actively reviewed over the years. Evidence from the original investigation was eventually submitted for forensic DNA testing through the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Northern Regional Crime Lab and Bode Technology.

In 2025, DNA evidence developed through forensic testing provided the confirmation needed to establish Runnels as the long-sought suspect.

Runnels resided in Flagstaff at the time of the crime and was living in Glendale when he was arrested for first-degree murder.

The investigation isn’t over. Anyone with information that could be related to the case is asked to call the Flagstaff Police Department at 928-774-1414 or Silent Witness at 928-774-6111.

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