DNA test confirms match of victim's blood on killer's shoes

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A Joplin man serving a life sentence for killing a neighbor when he was 15 got the DNA test he said would prove his innocence, but the results weren't what he wanted.

Joseph Dayringer, 34, was convicted in 1987 of first-degree murder for the brutal stabbing death of Joyce Holland, a 26-year-old who lived in a second-story apartment above the one where Dayringer lived with his mother.

Dayringer first requested DNA testing early last year, but was told the Joplin Police Department couldn't find the evidence necessary for such a test. After the evidence was found, Circuit Judge Jon Dermott ordered the tests be conducted at Missouri Southern State University Regional Crime Lab.

The results of that testing, released Thursday in documents filed in Jasper County Circuit Court, showed a positive match of blood on Dayringer's shoes and the DNA of the victim.

Dayringer's conviction was upheld.

Holland was found dead on the kitchen floor of her apartment on April 11, 1986, having been stabbed 39 times in the head, neck, chest and arms.

Though he was 15 when he was arrested, Dayringer was tried as an adult. He was convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

, and in 1988 the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.

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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com