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James Herman Dye, 64, faces first degree murder charges in the death of Evelyn Kay Day, who was sexually assaulted and strangled in November 1979, according to an arrest affidavit.
Dye, who lives in Wichita, Kansas, is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail awaiting extradition to Weld County, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release on Friday.
Dye could not be reached for comment, but during an interview with detectives on March 22, Dye denied knowing or killing the victim and said he had never heard of the murder, according to one. redacted affidavit filed with court.
It’s unclear if Dye has a lawyer.
Day, who was 29 at the time of his death, worked nights as a commercial lab monitor at Aims Community College in Greeley, according to an affidavit. She was last seen by a student in her car in the campus parking lot at 10 p.m. on November 26, 1979, the document said.
When he realized the next morning that Day had not returned home, her husband, Stanley Charles Day, reported her missing.
Colleagues saw Day’s car along a road around 5:30 p.m. on November 27 and discovered his body in the back. The affidavit indicated that she had been strangled with the belt of her overcoat.
Authorities gathered evidence and followed several leads, but made no arrests, according to the affidavit.
Last year, a Weld County “Cold Case” detective asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to run DNA evidence for the day’s murder through CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, according to the affidavit.
This database allows law enforcement officials and crime labs to share and search thousands of DNA profiles.
This DNA from the rape kit matched Dye, as did DNA from Day’s coat sleeve and the scratches on his nails, according to the affidavit.
The detective checked with the college and found that Dye was enrolled there as a student during the summer and fall terms of 1979 and other terms in subsequent years, according to the affidavit.
Officers questioned Dye on March 22 in Wichita, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit reads: “The defendant denied knowing the victim. The defendant denied having sex with the victim. The defendant denied ever touching the victim. The defendant denied that the victim ever touched her. The defendant denied having killed the victim. The defendant said this was the first time he had heard of the killed victim and he did not follow the investigation. “
A court date has not yet been set, the prosecutor’s office said.
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