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Panhandle man arrested 18 years after Arizona slaying

CRESTVIEW - DNA evidence links a Florida Panhandle man to an Arizona woman's murder 18 years ago, investigators say.

Tyrone James Kessler, 39, of Crestview, was awaiting extradition Monday after being arrested at his home Saturday on a first-degree murder charge in the killing of Katherine Young. He was being held in the Okaloosa County Jail under $1-million bail Monday.

The victim had been sexually assaulted and died from strangulation and blunt-force trauma, Pima County, Ariz., investigators said. Her body was found May 27, 1987, in her Tucson, Ariz., apartment.

A sample of Kessler's DNA matched DNA evidence found at the crime scene, investigators said.

The case was reopened by Pima's Cold Case Homicide Unit last year. Kessler had lived in the same townhouse complex as Young when she was killed. Police interviewed him 18 years ago but were unable then to tie him to her death.

Kessler was interviewed again a few months ago after the case was reopened, said Keith St. John, a county attorney's investigator and member of the cold case unit.

"Thirty people were reinterviewed and eliminated before we got to Mr. Kessler," he said.

Authorities were unsure when Kessler would be returned to Arizona, saying that depended on whether he will fight extradition. Jail records did not indicate whether he had a lawyer and the Public Defender's Office has a policy against commenting on pending cases.

"Our working theory is that this is a sex-motivated homicide," St. John said.

Young had moved into the townhouse complex about five days before she was killed. Sometime later Kessler moved to Crestview with his girlfriend. In 1988, he was arrested for possession of marijuana, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years of probation, according to court records.

Kessler later moved to Colorado and California but returned to Crestview about a year-and-a-half ago to rejoin his girlfriend, said Pima County sheriff's Detective James Gamber.

[Last modified June 21, 2005, 02:30:30]