During a press conference, Lubbock Police on Tuesday announced the name of a suspect in the murder of Selena Kuykendall. Police said DNA linked investigators to Clarence Kuykendall, her husband.
Clarence died in 2008, and so no arrests are expected, police said. However, police believe that there is enough evidence that had he lived, he could have been charged.
In 2007, Selena’s body was found by a jogger in Northeast Lubbock along East Municipal Drive. She was 40 at the time of her death. She was beaten and stabbed.
Police said this closed case all came down to DNA evidence collected at the scene more than a decade ago. Without it, LPD said they might not have been able to name a suspect.
“We didn’t have any indication he was in the city, in fact he denied being in the city at all at the time of the crime,” said Stevens. “But the DNA clearly showed his involvement in the crime.”
Thanks to the evidence being re-tested by the most current detective working the case, police were able to name Kuykendall as the suspect.
“I stand before you today to say outstanding work that those crime scene officers did in 2007 and the detectives so the detecives today and the crime scene officers today can bring it to a resolution,” Stevens said.
This is not the first case where Lubbock police sent DNA evidence off to be retested. In fact, Chief Stevens said they have several unsolved cases working now that have usable DNA evidence.
CLICK HERE to see a replay of our Facebook live with Police Chief Greg Stevens.
