Phoenix police make arrest in case that had been unsolved for 42 years
Apr 10, 2020, 6:00 PM | Updated: Apr 11, 2020, 9:38 pm
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department on Friday announced it made an arrest in a cold case from more than 40 years ago.
Glenn Williams, 62, was arrested on first-degree murder and sexual assault charges stemming from an incident that happened on June 10, 1978.
Williams was initially arrested for the murder of 23-year-old Fernando Calleros and sexual assault of a woman near 32nd Street and Broadway Road in January 1979.
Charges against Williams were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence, Phoenix police said in a press release.
The case sat still until it was reexamined by the Phoenix Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Squad in 2019.
The unit was able to use new technology and previous evidence to link Williams to the attack, police said.
“42 years ago, those detectives did a great job obtaining, and packaging, and maintaining it,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said of the evidence in the release. “The scientists were able to use the evidence, test it with today’s technology, and it identified Williams as the suspect in this brutal attack.”
Detectives are asking anyone who may have information concerning the investigation to contact the Phoenix Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-948-6377.