Washington Police Arrests Suspect In 1998 Cold Case Of A Teenager Found Axed To Death

A suspect in the 1998 murder of a Washington State teenager who was found axed to death inside her bedroom has been arrested on Monday with the help of DNA testing.

Washington police arrested and charged Jeffrey Paul Premo, 52, in the murder of 19-year-old Jennifer Brinkman, according to the Marysville Police Department and jail records.

Premo is being held at the Snohomish County Jail on $250,000 bail for first-degree homicide, the New York Post reported.

"The arrested suspect was one of several individuals detectives focused on through the years, and ultimately, the advancement of scientific DNA technology, including genetic genealogy, led to his arrest," the Marysville Police Department said in a news release, Fox News reported.

The body of Brinkman was discovered on March 21, 1998, by her father, who was at the time returning to his Marysville, Washington home from a vacation in California. He found that his daughter had been struck in the neck with an ax.

Although the investigators found DNA on the weapon used in killing the teenager, outdated technology hindered them from finding and arresting the suspect.

The sample was tested by Parabon NanoLabs in 2020. With the advancement of technology, investigators managed to obtain a warrant for the suspect's DNA, which he gave willingly, according to the police.

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab said the accused killer's genetic material was ultimately matched to the DNA found on the weapon.

"Solving this case has been at the top of the priority list of the Marysville Police Department for the past 24-plus years," Police Chief Erik Scairpon said in a statement Tuesday.

"We never gave up or put this on a shelf. It was continuously being investigated, with the belief that we would one day be able to bring some level of closure for the family and justice for Jennifer."

Brinkman, who was said to be very sociable, is believed to have met the suspect on a phone chat line.

In the early investigations, a letter the suspect wrote to Brinkman before her death indicated the two had met.

Meanwhile, in Premo's initial interview with the police, he denied ever knowing the victim. After he was arrested, police said, Premo invoked his constitutional rights and the police have not revealed the motive for the crime.

Police also believe the suspect has been living in the east Puget Sound area since before the murder.

"It's one of those things where it never leaves your thought process because it continues to be unsolved," Commander Robb Lamoureux said at a press conference Tuesday. Lamoureux was the first detective on the Brinkman murder and he still leads investigations with the Marysville PD.

"It wasn't until yesterday when we made the arrest and I was sitting at home thinking about it that it really hit that we've got a conclusion to this and we're finally able to put it on a shelf and have some closure not only for us as investigators who have been involved in it but the family and the community," he continued.

Brinkman's father died in 2013 and police were able to tell her mother about the updates in the case. Lamoureux said that she was emotional. "I think it was an overwhelming emotion for her to finally have an answer."