Man, 65, is arrested for 1976 rape and murder of South Carolina woman after he's arrested on firearms charge and DNA links him to cold case
A man has been charged with rape and murder in the slaying of a South Carolina woman who was killed more than 40 years ago after DNA evidence linked him to the case, authorities said.
Charles Ugvine Coleman, 65, was arrested Thursday and jailed in Fairfield County in the death of Elizabeth Ann Howell Wilson.
Wilson, 45, disappeared after working a shift at the Eureka Plant of Spring Mills, a textile mill in Chester, on March 20, 1976, officials said.
Her body and vehicle were found later in Blair, a rural community.
Charles Ugvine Coleman, 65, of Union County, South Carolina, was arrested October 22 in the killing and rape of Elizabeth Ann Howell Wilson 44 years ago, after DNA evidence allegedly linked him to the crime
Wilson had been strangled, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death, said Tommy Crosby, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
It's not known whether the suspect and victim knew each other, Crosby said, according to The State.
Crosby told news outlets Coleman was charged and booked into the Fairfield County Jail after a recent forensics 'breakthrough' led police to him.
'Whether the crime was recent or happened more than 40 years ago, we will not stop in trying to solve the case,' Mark Keel, chief of the state agency, said in a statement.
It's unclear whether Coleman has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
He made a brief appearance before a magistrate Thursday. A magistrate cannot set bond in a murder case, according to the Chester News & Reporter.
This photo of Elizabeth Ann Powell Wilson, who was killed in 1976, was uploaded to Facebook by Brittany Mobley, who says she is a great-granddaughter. 'R.I.P you’ll finally get the justice you deserve,' Mobley wrote.
The case sat fallow until 2012, when Richard Smith, then the Sheriff of Chester County, began investigating unsolved murders in the county. Wilson's was one of them.
In an evidence room, Smith found DNA related to material collected during the initial investigation.
Hoping for a DNA 'hit,' Smith submitted that evidence to SLED.
Coleman has convictions dating back to 1975, according to records. Records show that in 1977, Coleman was sentenced to 12 years in prison for Chester County convictions for assault and battery with intent to kill, housebreaking, and larceny, The State reported.
After his prison stint, Coleman was arrested several times on charges such as shoplifting, driving under the influence, and being drunk in public, according to the News & Reporter.
It wasn't until a more recent arrest that the past caught up to Coleman.
Coleman is currently on 30 months probation for April 2020 convictions in Union County on charges of using a firearm while under the influence, according to SLED and South Carolina court records.
After his arrest in that case, Coleman's DNA was uploaded to a national DNA database maintained by the FBI, reported the News & Reporter. The DNA came back with a match, police said.
'I'm so happy that my grandmother finally has closure this was her Mom,' wrote Brittany Mobley in a Facebook post. 'Ive researched this case for years and it was like it was a forgotten case. To say I’m shocked right now is a understatement.'
Later she posted a yellowing photo of her great-grandmother, writing, 'R.I.P you’ll finally get the justice you deserve.'
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