How a man's spit outside his house led to his arrest in a murder case after 36 years

A 65-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a murder that dates back over three decades, just for spitting outside his home. DNA from James Holloman's saliva led to his arrest for the murder of a woman in 1988. Although police found a check with Holloman's name near Karen Taylor's body, they were unable to link him to the crime through forensic evidence at the time, CBS reported.

Last year, Holloman spat on the sidewalk outside his Boston home. Authorities collected his saliva and sent it for DNA analysis. The results matched DNA found under Taylor's fingernails, as well as DNA from a sweatshirt and cigarette found near her body, according to officials who spoke to WCVB.

Boston police arrested Holloman on Sept. 19. Holloman, who has no prior criminal record, is scheduled to appear in court next on Oct. 29.

Even decades after Taylor's death, Holloman's defense attorney expressed doubts about the reliability of the DNA evidence. He questioned the accuracy of the match.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden praised investigators and prosecutors for their outstanding work and attributed the breakthrough in the unsolved murder case to modern forensics.

“But most of all, it is an opportunity for Karen Taylor's family to see someone take responsibility for her death after so many years of unanswered questions,” he added.

What happened 36 years ago?

On May 27, 1988, Karen Taylor was found dead in her apartment in Roxbury, Boston. She was just 25 years old at the time.

Her body was discovered after her mother called the apartment and the woman's 3-year-old daughter answered the phone and told her grandmother that her mother “was sleeping and she couldn't wake her,” the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said in a statement to WHDH.

Taylor's mother rushed to her daughter's apartment on Williams Street in Roxbury but was unable to enter the building. She then climbed through a window into Taylor's first-floor bedroom, where she found her daughter lying facedown in a pool of blood.

The autopsy revealed that Taylor had been stabbed 15 times and suffered fatal wounds to his chest, head and neck.