Arrest made in 1982 murder of high school student
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — More than 30 years after a high school student was found dead in a drainage ditch west of Portland, authorities this week charged her former neighbor with aggravated murder — a case cracked through advances in DNA technology, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said.
Kenneth Lee Hicks, 49, of St. Helens, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the county jail. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday, The Oregonian reported.
Hicks was 19 when Lori Billingsley's body was found Oct. 10, 1982, in a drainage ditch in the community of Aloha. The 17-year-old had been beaten, stabbed, strangled and sexually assaulted.
Hicks was Billingsley's neighbor and the last person to see her alive, the Sheriff's Office said. Sgt. Bob Ray said Hicks was a prime suspect at the time, and detectives believed he knew more than he was telling during interviews. After more than a year of pursuing the case, detectives decided there was insufficient evidence to arrest him.
In 1991, when DNA evidence was gaining recognition as an investigative tool, the Sheriff's Office submitted evidence from the Billingsley homicide to the Oregon State Police crime lab. No profile was identified and the case grew colder.
In December 2010, Mike O'Connell, a retired sheriff's office detective, returned part-time to help solve cold cases and started working on the Billingsley homicide. DNA technology had advanced a great deal in two decades and, last April, O'Connell served a search warrant to obtain Hicks' DNA.
Hicks' DNA profile matched the DNA evidence from the homicide, Ray said.
Ray credited Detective Jim Welch, now deceased, for conducting a thorough investigation back in 1982, saying his work was invaluable to the detectives who re-examined the case.
"The DNA was just the last piece of the puzzle," Ray said.
The case was presented to a grand jury, and Hicks was indicted Tuesday. District Attorney Robert Hermann will prosecute the case he was assigned 30 years ago.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
An awesome development. I hope this murdering scumbag has been sweating it out for the last 30 years wondering if he's going to be pinched. Sometimes justice does prevail thanks to dedicated police men and women.
I am so glad that this case was never forgotten and thankful for the persistance of the WCSO investigators and the DA's office. Top notch team and they won't quit. Keep that in mind, Alvin.
Lori was a good friend in high school. Â She was a beautiful person with a great life ahead of her. Â
Ken should spend the rest of his pathetic life locked up like the animal he is. Â It is great to see justice will finally be served. Â
When I saw Lori's picture on the news Thursday night I broke down in tears remembering how tragic this was. Â I lost a great friend the night Lori was taken from us.
Thank you to the Police for not giving up on this case and getting the guy that is guilty.
Lori you have been missed all these years by your friend. Â I will keep your spirit alive by telling my new friends about a great friend I once had.
Love and miss you.
Iain
And the wonders of modern technology help resolve another mystery. Don't complain about how long this took to arrest the suspect, we rarely fund our police departments adequately as we don't want them around UNTIL something happens to US THEN we go screaming asking where are the police?
He's been FREE for 31 years....This poor girl and her family got no justice even after catching up to him now.Â
Is your glass half empty? Would you rather he had been tried and aquited due to lack of evidence, 30 years ago? Technology caught up with him.  Sometimes good things take a long time to come around.Â
Good job, all investigators for doing a good job and persisting.
Poor Lori! Robbed of life, liberty, children, grandchildren. Now, for a fair trial. If found guilty, Hicks must burn.
I'll bet his current neighbors are freaking out. "The killer next door" indeed .....
The first DNA test was done when God asked Able's blood was calling to Him. Cain was caught through DNA. God loved that idea and gave us humans the abillity to use it...
@lee986321Â Don't be an ass.
@lee986321Â If their parents didn't exist how could they?
Great, I remember this story and this creepy guy. Â Too bad he got so much prime of life living while she died after being raped by his gross fat flab of flesh.
I hope he lives at least as long in prison before he burns in hell. Â
Well done, detectives..! Â Â I imagine that no one is more frustrated than LE when a crime like that one happens and it goes "cold", because they're unable to get enough solid evidence on the suspect to prosecute and convict him/her... Â DNA has truly been a "scientific miracle" in recent years, helping to build cases for conviction and, just as importantly, proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people. Â Â
With this suspect under arrest, I hope they can now build a solid case, prosecute him and get him off the streets, hopefully, for life... It won't bring back Lori, but it may help her loved ones a little to at least know that her killer is behind bars...
Good job an  police work.  Justice  for those created in Gods image is highest level law enforcement mission just as revenue collection for  cities example parking tickets is the lowest.  Shows that nothing is hidden that will not be  revealed, just as bible says.
@RamonaÂ
You and your fantastical wishful thinking again? Really? Your persistent delusion can be remedied with logic, reason and critical thinking.Â
MONSTER
Yeah, he looks like a fat bassturd. Just wonder how many other people he told about the homicide since 1982.
@Icarus To think this obnoxious blob got to live his life free for so many years, though...it wouldn't have happened if she had been my sister.
Great job on the part of LE and not giving up. This may help the family and loved ones get some type of release or closure.
If they got Hicks' DNA last April, why did it take until now to arrest him?
@Bob6 they only subpoenaed the DNA last April, then collected it, then testing: it was low priority testing....take months to get the results.
The whole notion of police work relies upon science or somebody saying that guy there has a body in his garage. There is no such thing as investigation in either police work or new reporting....it's all just routine procedure and report writing.
@Icarus I hate to say, but people watch too much TV where DNA tests are instantaneous when in reality it takes months as you stated. Too many years as a sheriff and I will not watch any of the CSI shows because that stuff is not real and reminds me of an hour long show where the good guy's that save the universe, Sir.Â
Here is an idea ,,,, while patting yourself on the back for sovling a crime you should have solved years ago... try taking a look at a murder that happened in 1975. Still no comfort for the family other than... there is nothing we can do.. Look up Susan Wickersham, Bend, Oregon....
@rachael58Â Ma'am, it depends on your local police and if they have a 'cold-case' squad to do it. It would also hinge on if there was any DNA left behind and then having the OSP Crime Lab do the testing. Obviously you are upset and I would be to, but it appears Portland Police have the resources to go back in time and the Bend police do not would be my guess.
@boned @rachael58 Â
In the Wickersham homicide her remains were not found for 2 years, thus no suspect DNA would be left behind. Suspects were questioned, but no PC could be developed. I feel badly for the family, but some murders are very difficult to solve.
Say you have a stranger to stranger abduction/homicide. There are no witnesses and the body is found years later or not at all. Unless the suspect tells someone, what do you have in the way of evidence? A big, fat 0.
Now Lori's family can have closure on who killed their baby girl. I don't know how Kenneth was able to live with himself all these years. I bet he was somewhat relieved. If the state is lucky he might be one of those jail suicide types.
@The Resistance Apparently he had no trouble living at all, and didn't exactly turn himself in.  Obviously it didn't his appetite either.
Thank goodness for DNA evidence collection from years ago, and advancements in the DNA testing.Â
Go get'm, Mr. Hermann! He's your fella!Â
Sad, you look at the woman in the picture and you wonder what she could have done for the world, but never given the chance.
Somewhere up there, Jim Welch is exchanging high-fives with other LE going back . . . .forever.
Some cops do the job right, and they are the real heroes, over and over again.
Nice. I am hoping that this guy has been looking over his shoulder ever since that time worried that he would eventually get caught.
and then the knock on the door came.
@dkgiovencoÂ
He was pretty freaked out when they came with the warrant for the DNA. I can imagine he didn't sleep so well since then.
@dkgiovenco And then he crapped himself when they came to get him...
this bonehead saw the Q-tip and thought the cops wanted to clean his ears
Great work, and further proof that it's never too late to serve out justice. I hope this brings some closure for those who loved the victim.