Philadelphia

DNA Link Lands New Jersey Man on Trial After 25 Years

A New Jersey man has gone on trial in the strangulation deaths of two women in north Philadelphia more than a quarter-century ago.

Fifty-four-year-old Rudolph Churchill of Paulsboro, New Jersey is charged in the March 1989 rape and murder of 19-year-old Ruby Ellis, whose body was found in an abandoned car. He's also charged in the April 1989 slaying of 33-year-old Cheryl Hanible, whose body was found in a burned-out bar.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a prosecutor on Wednesday called the two "perfect victims" — poor and in need of drugs to feed addictions.

Police said in 2014 that DNA tests linked Churchill to the slayings. But defense attorney Gina Capuano called the link tenuous, saying her client's DNA wasn't found on either body.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us