Authorities in Sanford, Florida, claim to have located the individual responsible for the gruesome murder of a local woman 24 years ago, leaving her body in the wooded area where she had been residing.
Officers revealed on Friday that the person who had ejected her from their house the day before was none other than her own lover.
Sanford police said that the defendant, now 73 years old and incarcerated in Seminole County, had a tumultuous past with the victim, Sherry Holtz, 50.
According to police spokesman Bianca Gillett, between 1996 and 1999, there were incidences of domestic violence involving the couple, and as a result, police were called to their residence.
She didn’t go into detail about the incidents. In addition to the murder, records indicate that Durrance was involved in two DUI cases in 1999 in Seminole County. Officers claim that however, things reached a breaking point early in December 1999.
They received a call reporting the discovery of a body at 2890 South Orlando Drive, behind Aamco Transmission. Holtz had been discovered by someone gathering cans in the woods; they alerted staff at the next company, who then contacted law enforcement.
Gillett described the crime as a “brutal homicide.” Around twenty feet into the woods, Holtz was discovered lying on her back on a concrete slab.
The main cause of death was a cut to her throat, although Gillett also included blunt force trauma and strangulation as potential causes of death. The majority of Holtz’s body was exposed when her clothing was ripped off; investigators think she was sexually assaulted.
Durrance and the three roommates of the couple were questioned by authorities at the time. Officers reported that on December 2, 1999, the defendant had ejected the victim from the house. Holtz was last saw on December 3 at 2605 Park Drive in Sanford, at a tavern that was formerly known as “Uncle Nick’s Bar.”
She reportedly left between 7 and 11 p.m., according to witnesses, and police stated that comments suggested she may have gone with “two separate male persons of interest.”
Beyond that, though, authorities claimed they could find no evidence to support the information concerning the people of interest. The crime location was around 0.6 miles away from the bar, according to Gillett.
But at the time, Durrance’s alibi was said to have flaws. According to police, witnesses stated that the defendant, who stated he hadn’t seen Holtz since December 1 of that year, had left the house late on the third or early on the fourth and had returned between 2:30 and 7 a.m. on the fourth.
Before investigators reopened the investigation last year and provided fresh evidence to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the case had come to a standstill.
Read Also:Â Breakthrough in 1999 Murder of Florida Woman: Suspect Arrested
This time, the blood matched Holtz, and the police said Durrance’s DNA was found on other areas of the weapon. Although they were still of interest as of Friday, Gillett stated that the individuals of interest had been removed due to the testing.
Police claimed to have re-interviewed any witnesses who were still alive at the time, and they had discovered that Durrance had testified to seeing Holtz’s body in December 1999.
In Volusia County, officers made the defendant’s arrest on Thursday.
