Arkansas Man Arrested for 1980 Murder in Washington; DNA Evidence Links Him to Crime
A potential breakthrough has emerged in a case that has remained unsolved for 44 years, thanks to a discovery involving a cigarette butt.
An elderly man has been arrested and charged with the murder of a woman that occurred over forty years ago.
A man from Clinton, Ark., Kenneth Duane Kundert, has been charged with first-degree murder in King County, Wash. The charges state that he committed and attempted to commit the crime of rape in the first or second degree. This information was obtained from charging documents by PEOPLE.
Kundert was taken into custody on August 20 and is currently being detained on behalf of other law enforcement agencies, as stated by the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office’s online inmate roster.
According to the charging documents, prosecutors have requested a bail amount of $3 million in anticipation of his extradition.
A tragic incident occurred in Kent, Wash. in 1980, where a young woman was discovered deceased in her condominium. According to the charging documents, she had suffered severe injuries to her head, was assaulted, and left partially unclothed in her home.
According to the charging documents, semen was discovered on her body and robe. The documents also mention that advancements in DNA technology allowed for the extraction of a male DNA profile from samples taken from the anal swab and the robe.
In March of 2022, the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene was analyzed with updated technology, leading investigators to identify 11 potential suspects. These included Kundert and ten individuals who were related to him, according to the charging documents.
In September 2023, investigators had focused their attention on three family members, one of whom was Kundert. An assault in Arkansas was under investigation involving the trio.
According to the charging documents, Kundert had previous work experience in Seattle and Snohomish County in 1987. Unfortunately, records beyond that year were not accessible. Additionally, he had a sibling residing only 1,200 feet from Silzel’s condominium.
However, detectives faced challenges in gathering the crucial DNA evidence required to identify him as a potential suspect. Kundert refused to provide a sample of his own accord.
During an interview with detectives regarding the assault case, he casually smoked through a pack of cigarettes and took sips from a water bottle, as stated in the charging documents. However, after smoking each cigarette, he meticulously stored the cigarette butts and the squashed water bottle in his pocket.
After developing a strong suspicion that Kundert was the perpetrator, Kent police detectives closely monitored his activities in his hometown in Arkansas.
Earlier this year, Kundert disposed of a cigarette butt in a receptacle while smoking in a Walmart parking lot. Investigators swiftly retrieved it from the trash and subsequently compared it in a laboratory to DNA found at the scene of the crime.
Online records indicate that Kundert is currently in the custody of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas, but he has not yet been extradited to Washington to face the charges.
The arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 29 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, Wash., as confirmed by Casey McNerthney of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
It remains uncertain whether he has legal representation in Washington.
