Man Charged In Stabbing Death Of Teenage Girl Nine Years Ago

KENNEWICK - A Pasco man has been charged in the 1989 slaying of a Kennewick girl who was stabbed to death in her home.

"When they told me, I felt joy and sorrow at the same time," said Linda Harm, whose daughter, Laurie Jean Harm, 16, died nine years ago.

Jose Rodriguez Medrano, 27, was charged Friday with first-degree murder. He was already in the Franklin County Jail, awaiting sentencing for a rape conviction.

Court records say Medrano admitted in a Thursday interview that he had stabbed the teenager. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow.

The case was never officially closed, and solid police work and recent advances in DNA technology finally cracked the case, said Kennewick Police Chief Marc Harden.

The case broke wide open after Medrano was arrested for rape last summer. Franklin County sheriff's investigators sent a sample of Medrano's blood to the crime lab as part of their rape investigation.

Court records show the DNA profile of Medrano's blood sample matched that of blood collected nine years ago from the driveway and sliding door at the Harm family home.