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Cold Cases Eyed After Arrest In '88 Death
Topic Started: Mar 22 2009, 07:48 AM (990 Views)
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Cold cases eyed after arrest in '88 death
Mississippi man linked to slaying through use of DNA evidence
Earlesha Butler • Hattiesburg American • March 22, 2009

For years, Kenneth Lee Knight lived an isolated life in south Forrest County.

But when Florida investigators linked Knight, of 848 J.B. Horne Road, to a 21-year-old slaying using DNA evidence, his March 6 arrest sounded an alarm among investigators in Mississippi and Florida.

Knight, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the 1988 killing of Sandra Espinoza in Perry, Fla., southeast of Tallahassee.

Espinoza's body was found in a ditch just off U.S. 19 near the Georgia-Florida border.

If convicted, Knight could be sentenced to death.

Authorities say Knight's criminal history has led them to suspect his involvement in a string of murders in the Southeast.

"I certainly think that's a big potential," said Capt. Ron Rice of the Taylor County Sheriff's Office, who is leading the Espinoza murder investigation.

District Attorney Jon Mark Weathers and his investigators are looking into two cold cases from Forrest and Perry counties. Weathers said he was informed of the cases by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

He said he could not release any information about the slayings until he receives case files from the agencies that investigated the murders.

"We just felt like there's some similarities, (and) it's worth looking at," Weathers said.

Rice said the decision to reopen Espinoza's case was part of a cold-case review.

"Prior to his being identified by a DNA match, we were unaware of his existence," Rice said. "I went back and was just looking at some unsolved homicides. In 1988, DNA testing was not available to our agency."

He said evidence collected in Espinoza's murder matched a DNA sample of Knight, who admitted killing Rose Marie Arnette, 41, of Memphis in 1996.

Investigators said Knight, then a trucker, confessed to strangling Arnette at an Arkansas truck stop. Investigators said satellite tracking of Knight's truck linked him to Arnette's murder.

Knight pleaded guilty in August 1998 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released on parole in 2003.

But those close to him say that was a mistake.

"I don't know why they ever let him out of Arkansas," said Knight's father, Leroy Knight of Forrest County.

He said Knight began to get into trouble as a young adult.

"He was already on drugs long before I knew," he said.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090...20353/1001/news
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