Cold case solved 44 years later after DNA match from killer’s forgotten bag

DNA match solves 1981 Baltimore County murder 44 years later as suspect identified in cold case

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD – More than four decades after 59-year-old Samuel Allen was fatally shot in his Liberty Road home, Baltimore County detectives have identified a suspect in the long-unsolved homicide thanks to a breakthrough in DNA technology.

On August 2, 1981, police responded to the 6400 block of Liberty Road, where Allen had been shot and killed in front of his wife and daughter by an armed suspect demanding money. The masked gunman, wearing surgical gloves and carrying a cloth bag, entered the kitchen, opened fire on Allen, and robbed the family before fleeing the home with Allen’s daughter. He later released her and fled the scene after realizing he had left his bag behind.

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