Franklin County deputies use DNA evidence to make arrest in 1991 Urbancrest killing
Franklin County Sheriff's office deputies used DNA evidence to charge a man in connection with a 1991 rape and killing of a woman in Urbancrest and said he was connected to another homicide five years later.
Robert Edwards, 67, of Columbus, was arrested and charged Friday with aggravated murder in connection with the murder of Alma Renee Lake, who was 30 at the time of her death.
On June 3, 1991, at approximately 10 a.m., two passersby found Lake’s body lying nude in the grass on the northwest corner of Olive and Craig streets in Urbancrest, with visible marks around her neck, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s office. According to charging documents, Lake was strangled, bound and had signs of sexual assault.
The charging documents say another murder in Licking County was consistent with Lake’s death.
On Nov. 11, 1996, 36-year-old Michelle Dawson-Pass, was discovered dead and nude near a field in a remote area of Granville. She was last seen walking south on Kelton Avenue heading to a friend's house.
DNA evidence collected at both scenes connected the same person to both killings, according to charging documents. In March 2021, investigators used familial DNA evidence to connect Edwards to both crimes.
In an interview with investigators, Edwards denied knowing the victims, but a DNA sample was obtained by search warrant. When tested by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), the sample confirmed a direct match between Edwards and the DNA left on the victims.
Edwards' DNA not in national database, officials say
During a news conference Monday at which family members of the two victims were present, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said Edwards' arrest demonstrates the persistence of law enforcement.
"I can't imagine what it is like for a family to go 30-plus years not knowing what happened to their loved one," he said. "Today, at least we can bring some closure."
Rick Minerd, chief of investigations at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, said during Monday's event that one of the challenges of the case against Edwards was that his DNA was not found in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the FBI's national database.
DNA is uploaded to the database when someone is convicted of a felony, or arrested and charged with one, explained Diane Gehres, laboratory manager and CODIS technical leader of BCI.
"In Ohio, we have about 800,000 offenders. Nationwide, I think it's over 14 million offenders and arrestees," she said.
Edwards could be connected to other cold cases, both in Ohio and elsewhere, Minerd said.
Progress made on other cold cases
Roger Davis, special agent in charge of special investigations at BCI, compared working cold cases to used jigsaw puzzles.
"First, we've got to identify if all the pieces are there. Then we have to look at (whether) we can put them all back together," he said.
Since the creation of the agency's cold case unit about two years ago, Davis said progress has been made on more than two dozen cases.
"We're still involved on a multitude of levels on numerous cases," he said.
'She was the fun aunt'
Regina Dawson was 17 when her mother, Michelle, was killed and described her as a funny, God-fearing woman who enjoyed dancing. She also was known as a spoiler.
"All my cousins loved her to death. She was the fun aunt, the favorite aunt."
Dispatch reporter Monroe Trombly contributed to this report.
Cole Behrens is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety and breaking news. You can reach him at CBehrens@dispatch.com or find him on Twitter at
@Colebehr_report
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: DNA evidence links Columbus man to 1990s homicides
