Auburn Man Arrested For 1993 Murder In Alaska
An Auburn resident is accused of the brutal murder of a college student in Alaska in 1993.
Stephen H. Downs was linked to the rape and murder of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie through DNA evidence, a police spokesman police told the Sun Journal. Downs works as a nurse and was arrested in the parking lot of the Fireside Inn.
The Sergie murder is one of the most famous cold cases in Alaska. Downs was a student at the University Of Alaska Fairbanks from 1992 to 1996. It was in April of 1993 that custodians discovered Sergie's body in a women's bathroom in the dormitory where Downs lived. She was a former student of the university who was in town on personal business, and visiting friends on campus. Sergie had been sexually assaulted, stabbed multiple times, and shot in the back of the head before being placed in the tub.
DNA found on her body was uploaded to a national DNA index system, which is how police ultimately tracked Downs to Maine. He was arrested without incident this week in Auburn.