A 25-year-old cold case murder of woman is solved, officials say
Investigators in Sonoma County have solved a 25-year-old cold case murder of a Union City woman by using DNA analysis, authorities said Wednesday.
In a statement, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said that DNA shows Jack Alexander Bokin killed 32-year-old Michelle Marie Veal in 1996. Bokin, who was serving a 231-year sentence for a string of violent crimes in 1997, died Dec. 4 in a California Department of Corrections medical facility, authorities said.
“Thanks to the hard work of our detectives and our law enforcement partners, we are now able to bring a measure of closure and healing to Michelle Marie Veal's family,” the Sheriff's Office said in the statement.
Authorities found Veal's body by the side of the road in the area of Stony Point Road, north of West Railroad Avenue, in an unincorporated part of the city, on July 15, 1996. She was nude and had more than one skull fracture and a broken neck, authorities said.
The investigation into her death eventually went cold until detectives last April resubmitted evidence for review to the Serological Research Institute for biological testing.
The DNA evidence submitted to the institute came back with a match to Bokin. The Department of Justice notified detectives with the Sheriff's Office on Jan. 18.
Detectives then learned he had died while in prison. Authorities said he was serving a sentence for convictions including kidnapping, kidnapping with the intent to commit rape, rape of a victim incapable of consent; rape by force or fear; and fear, mayhem, aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment and attempted murder.