ARLINGTON, Texas —The Arlington Police Department has announced an arrest in a 1991 cold case murder, due in part to the work of college students, CBS News reported.
Janie Perkins, 63, was arrested and charged with capital murder – terroristic threat in the death of Cynthia Gonzalez on Nov. 8, according to the report. Gonzalez was reported missing on Sept. 17, 1991. Her body was found five days later. She was shot five times.
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The new lead in the case came about after students in a criminology class at the University of Texas at Arlington reviewed cold cases. As part of a class launched at the beginning of the fall semester in partnership with the police department, the students were placed in small groups and given cold cases to examine.
The group of students reviewing Gonzalez’s case raised questions about Perkins after finding that she never gave an alibi for the time of the murder and had failed polygraph tests, according to the report. She had also made statements indicating she was glad Gonzalez was dead.
Polygraph tests are not admissible in court and Perkins denied her involvement during the initial investigation.
Arlington detectives were able to reopen the case, and after doing so, learned that witnesses came forward who claimed Perkins told them she was involved in the murder, according to the report.
“When we launched our cold case partnership with UTA, we always hoped we’d get an outcome like this one day,” Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said. “I don’t think any of us expected that lightning would strike the first time. I want to sincerely thank the students for their work and dedication to this case. I also want to thank UTA faculty for embracing this program. We hope this is just the first of more to come.”
