WFLA: Sarasota police make break in 30-year-old cold case

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) - Sarasota police detectives made a huge break in a 30-year-old cold case. A woman was found brutally murdered near a high school but police never tracked down the killer. Officers were able to pinpoint a suspect who wasn't even on detectives' radar back in 1988 and it wasn't hard to find him. On July 31, 1988, a jogger was traveling past a field near Booker High School and spotted a body. Police identified her as 23-year-old Judith Elaine Doherty. "Judith was the victim of an extremely violent homicide. Being beaten and then strangled to death. Judith was also sexually battered,” said SPD Detective Anthony DeFrancisco. The case turned cold, until 2009 when police sent evidence to FDLE. A lab found male DNA on her body and they identified David Stephens as a suspect. He's been serving a prison sentence in Desoto County since 1989 and was scheduled to be released in 2021. "When you test something for DNA, even though when you get the hit there's so much more. That's just the beginning, that's actually just the beginning of the investigation, there was a lot of work to do,” said Detective DeFrancisco. David Stephens, 62, already has a lengthy rap sheet, including charges of battery and sexual assault. Detectives say Doherty battled drug addiction, and sadly that's why she was in this area at the time of her death. "To lose her at that stage was agonizing. It was a life unfinished,” said sister Karen Aron. Aron remembers Judith as a loving sister and aunt who always put family first. "I believe it's the power of God and the power of prayer that brought this to be. I've been praying for years. I never gave up, I never stopped believing, I said, 'as long as there is life, there is hope,'” said Aron. Stephens remains in prison and faces additional charges of homicide and sexual battery. The case will be brought to trial.