#DNA from cigarette butts led to murder charge in 1985 stabbing

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Mugshots of Earl Wayne Wilson in 2004 (from left), 2017 and 2019
North Fork Correctional Center

DNA from cigarette butts led Oklahoma authorities to identify a suspect in a rest stop killing 35 years ago, the state’s attorney general said.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced Monday that a first-degree murder charge was filed against Earl Wilson, 55, in the September 1985 stabbing death of Paul Aikman, who was killed along Turner Turnpike in Lincoln County.

“Advances in DNA technology are allowing authorities to take another look at these difficult cases,” Hunter said in a statement. “Just because cases go cold doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t be held responsible, even after three decades.”

Agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation collected cigarette butts and latent fingerprints from the crime scene after Wilson’s murder, leading authorities to develop a DNA profile, Hunter said.

But no matches were found at the time and the case ultimately went cold, Hunter said.

That changed last year when OSBI agents found a potential match to the DNA profile during a search of the national DNA database CODIS. Investigators matched the latent print impression taken from the crime scene in 1985 to Wilson, authorities said.

“For 35 years, Paul Aikman’s family has ached not knowing who was responsible for his murder,” OSBI Director Ricky Adams said. “Thirty-five years have passed, but we have not forgotten about Paul.”

Wilson, 55, is currently in an Oklahoma prison following a sexual battery conviction, KWTV reports.

Robbery did not appear to be the motive for Aikman’s murder, as his wallet still had money in it when it was found, OSBI officials told the station.

“Today is a good day for Paul Aikman and his family,” OSBI spokeswoman Brook Arbeitman said.

Aikman’s slaying had been featured in a deck of playing cards designed by OSBI investigators to generate leads from inmates who can purchase them while incarcerated, KOKH reports.

“Cause of death appeared to be from stab wounds,” the card said of the slaying.

The murder charge against Wilson marks the fourth time an arrest has been made since the OSBI’s Cold Case Unit was launched in late 2018, the station reports.