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Detroit
Police
solve 25
year-old
homicide
case
 DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
After 25
years,
Detroit
Police
have
closed a
1987
Homicide
Cold
Case,
Chief
Ralph L.
Godbee,
Jr.,
announced
on
Wednesday
afternoon.
Rodriquez
Rayford,
51, who
already
was in
prison
on other
charges,
was
arraigned
last
week on
two
counts
of
first-degree
murder,
felony
murder
and home
invasion,
in the
case of
Joseph
and
Winfred
Ayres
Police
Chief
Ralph
Godbee
Jr.
said.
Detroit
Police
Inspector
Dwane
Blackmon
said,
"It's an
arduous
process
because...
we're
still
responsible
for
investigating
cases
that are
current
today,
so, in
order
for us
to have
the
ability
to
investigate
cases
that
occurred
previously,
we need
the
assistance
and we
need the
money."
The
family
of
Joseph
and
Winfred
Ayres
contacted
the
Detroit
Police
Department’s
Homicide
Cold
Case
Squad
and
requested
that
they
would
review
the
victim’s
case.
The
Investigators
reviewed
the case
which
indicated
that on
April
26,
1987,
around
3:45
a.m.,
patrol
officers
responded
to a 911
emergency
run to a
dwelling
located
in the
17300
block of
Bentler.
"These
officers
gave us
something
that no
one else
could:
closure,"
said
Sharon
Kwolek,
39, of
Howell,
the
victims'
granddaughter.
"Hopefully,
he's
going to
spend
the rest
of his
life in
prison."
Officers
arrived
on the
scene
and
noticed
that the
front
door was
opened.
Inside
of the
dwelling,
the
officers
observed
Joseph
Ayres,
aged 61,
and his
wife,
Winifred
Ayres,
aged 65,
lying on
the
floor in
an
unconscious
state.
Both
victims
were
conveyed
to local
hospitals
for
medical
treatment,
but died
from
their
injuries.
They
received
deep
laceration
wounds
to their
bodies.
About
two
years
ago,
family
members
called
police
and
asked
them to
review
the
evidence
again.
Sgts.
Michael
Russell
and
Barbara
Kozloff
found a
specimen
of the
killer's
blood
still
preserved
in the
department's
evidence
vault.
"He cut
himself
getting
into
their
house,
and we
knew the
blood
was his"
because
it
didn't
match
the
victims,
Kozloff
said.
DNA
testing
matched
Rayford,
and a
45-minute
interview
with him
last
week
added
more
weight
to the
case
against
him, she
said.
The
Investigators
examined
the
details
of case
and
evidence
gathered
at the
scene.
They
submitted
a sample
of DNA
evidence
to the
Michigan
State
Police
Crime
Lab.
There
was a
profile
match,
belonging
to
Defendant
Rodriquez
Rayford,
aged 51,
who is
currently
incarcerated
for
unrelated
crimes.
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