Kenneth Perry, 55, was charged with multiple counts of malice murder, aggravated assault, and other crimes in connection to the fatal stabbings of Pamela Sumpter, 43, and John Sumpter, 46, in their suburban Atlanta apartment in 1990. Perry was also charged with raping Pamela Sumpter. Pamela survived the attack but died of her injuries a few weeks later. The case went cold until this year when DNA from a decades-old rape kit linked Perry to the crime. The DNA from the kit matched DNA from an unprosecuted sexual assault in Michigan in 1992, where the victim identified Perry as her ex-boyfriend. After a genetic genealogy firm linked Perry’s DNA to the Sumpter case, authorities arrested him. He is being held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail.
The prosecutor’s office revealed that Pamela Sumpter provided a detailed description of Perry while hospitalized, describing him as an acquaintance of her brother’s. Authorities did a direct comparison between Perry’s DNA and the DNA from the rape kit, confirming a match. Perry’s lawyer filed a motion asking for a reasonable bond to be set for possible pretrial release, stating that Perry poses no significant threat. The prosecutor’s office in Wayne County, Michigan, where the unprosecuted sexual assault case occurred, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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