More than 20 years after he is believed to have raped and murdered an elderly woman, Gerald Lee Austin was in a Honolulu courtroom to face justice.
The initial hearing took just minutes to conduct.
The rape and murder of then 81-year-old Edith Skinner took place in the summer of 1989.
It took more than 22 years for Gerald Lee Austin to end up in a courtroom.
That he has made his way here on murder and sexual assault charges doesn't surprise the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Skinner.
"There have been cases solved thirty years later with DNA evidence, that is the key if there is strong positive evidence if there is a DNA match,” said Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, Honolulu Medical Examiner.
The timeline of the case looks like this.
In November of 2005, some 16 years after the murder, a single unknown male's DNA Sample was obtained from the victim.
Then in June of last year Austin, a convicted felon, submitted DNA samples to state authorities.
Just days ago on January 19, 2012 a hit – an HPD criminalist confirms a DNA match between Austin and a sample found from the Skinner autopsy.
And then on January 20, 2012, Austin was interrogated by Honolulu Police where he denied knowing about the 1989 incident, saying he never knew Skinner, and never had any contact with her.
Dr. De Alwis remembers the case even after conducting thousands of autopsies.
"But that's very rewarding, and that is what is satisfying in this job mostly. Being able to decide a puzzle. And then finally to be able to bring justice,” said Dr. De Alwis.
Austin is scheduled to be back in court on Wednesday. He is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.
