Inmate charged after DNA links him to 1997 slaying

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Nearly five years ago, Denise Castaneda, 36, was found dying in a parking lot in the 1500 block of Boren Avenue. She had been choked and raped.

Yesterday, Mark Anthony Hill, who is serving a life sentence for rape and other crimes, was charged in King County Superior Court with first-degree murder.

When Castaneda died June 3, 1997, Seattle police asked the public for help finding her killer. Last year, detectives found that DNA from her attacker matched Hill's, court documents say.

To be sure, the detectives obtained a search warrant Nov. 15 and visited Hill at the Washington State Penitentiary near Walla Walla. They obtained a sample of his blood and asked whether he recognized a photo of Castaneda.

Hill told police that he had a "photographic memory" for the women he's met, but that he had never seen or met Castaneda.

Hill had been released from prison two months before Castaneda was slain.

He is to be arraigned April 12.

Nancy Bartley can be reached at 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com.