DNA match leads to arrest in cold case

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- A 44-year-old Ferguson man was charged with first-degree murder Friday, after a Missouri crime lab matched his DNA to a sample recovered from the clothing of a rape victim murdered more than a decade ago.

Michael E. Dowell is charged with first-degree murder in the January 1991 death of 18-year-old Stephanie Hogland, whose partially naked body was found alongside a Lincoln County road.

The case remained unsolved until last month, when Dowell submitted a DNA sample at the request of his probation officer for an unrelated crime, according to a probable-cause statement. Lab technicians said the DNA matched a sample taken from Hogland's clothing in May 2000.

Dowell denied having any involvement in the rape or death, the statement said. He is being held in Lincoln County Jail. No bond has been set.