Man Arrested For Rape and Murder of Woman From Over 40 Years Ago

In Columbia, SC a man has been charged with the rape and murder of a woman who was killed over 40 years ago after DNA evidence linked him to the case.

Thursday, 65-year-old Charles Ugvine Coleman was arrested and jailed in Fairfield County for the death of Elizabeth Ann Howell Wilson.

Officials say that on March 20, 1976, Wilson disappeared after working a shift at a textile mill. Her body and vehicle were found later in a rural community.

Tommy Crosby, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division said that Wilson had been strangled, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death. He told news outlets that Coleman was charged and booked into Fairfield County Jail after a recent forensics “breakthrough” led police to him.

Mark keel, chief of the state agency said in a statement, “Whether the crime was recent or happened more than 40 years ago, we will not stop in trying to solve the case.”

According to records, Coleman has convictions dating back to 1975, in 1977 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for assault and battery with intent to kill, housebreaking, and larceny in Chester County.