A suspect has been identified in the 1998 cold case murder of a woman while she was working at a hospital just outside Washington, D.C., authorities announced Monday.
The suspected killer, Baari Shabazz, died in 2019 at age 69, police said at a press conference. Investigators believe he killed Sherry Crandall at Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cleverly, Md., nearly 28 years ago.
Crandall, 50 years old at the time, was working as a patient coordinator at the hospital. She was found dead by an after-hours maintenance worker on Jan. 13, 1989. Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Investigators found a male DNA profile at the scene, but couldn’t match it to any information they had on file at the time. They eventually teamed up with Othram, a Texas-based DNA lab, a few years ago and finally matched the profile to Shabazz, who previously went by Edward Barry Watts, according to authorities.
Shabazz lived less than a mile from the hospital at the time of the murder. He had a lengthy criminal record, including a conviction for attempting to rape a pregnant woman in 1972, police said.
Prince George’s County Police Det. Bernie Nelson was the lead investigator on the case. He spoke at Monday’s press conference despite retiring seven months ago.
“When I finally got the news, it was kind of an empty feeling because of all the work that went into this and to find out it’s…someone I knew I couldn’t confront and someone who couldn’t be brought to justice and be punished,” he said.