Nearly 20-year old Texas cold case solved with advanced DNA technology

Nearly 20-year old cold case solved

The teamwork of several law enforcement officials has solved a nearly two decades old cold case out of Mills County. 41-year-old Jessie Rodriguez was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted aggravated assault. Investigators said the break in the case is thanks to new DNA technology.

MILLS COUNTY, Texas - A nearly two-decades-cold case in Mills County was solved by local law enforcement officials and new DNA technology.

In 2005, a 21-year-old woman was awoken by a man holding a knife to her throat attempting to sexually assault her. Mills County Sheriff Anthony Pool says it was a case that left the entire county shaken up.

"Doesn't happen at all, really, in this county," said Sheriff Pool.

After a brief altercation, Sheriff Pool says the suspect fled the scene, but the suspect did leave behind a single drop of blood. It was a key piece of evidence collected by the Mills County Sheriff's Office, but not much could be done with it without the proper technology. The only thing left for investigators to do with it was to upload it to the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.

The case went cold for almost two decades.

"To have something like this happen, it shocked all the residents of the county and to have it just sit there for like 20, almost 20 years just having evidence sitting here. It was a frustrating thing for everybody involved," said Sheriff Pool.

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Sheriff Pool says the Texas Rangers met with the office in 2021 and did a familial DNA search on the drop of blood. This was new technology made possible by the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, or SAKI, a federal grant for advanced DNA testing.

"They actually came back with a familial hit on it," he said.

Sheriff Pool says Former Sheriff and Lead Investigator Clint Hammonds was able to test a pair of gloves and get an exact match. The match was 41-year-old Jessie Rodriguez.

"[Rodriguez] confessed immediately right off the bat and said he was glad that he finally got caught because it's been weighing on him for the last 18 years," said Sheriff Pool.

41-year-old Jessie Rodriguez

Rodriguez was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Sheriff Pool says it was a huge win for the county. The Texas Rangers released a statement saying this could not have been done without the DNA collected by MCSO and the help of DPS Crime Lab Forensic Scientists in Waco, Garland, and Austin.

"Just makes you proud to help the public and serve your communities," said Sheriff Pool.

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The major cold case break was announced by the Texas Rangers just one day shy of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.

"We owe them at least this day to thank them, send them positive thoughts and good wishes," said Charley Wilkinson, Executive Director of Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT).

Wilkinson says every day should be Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, but because it is not, he says it is important to thank them for all they do to make sure the public is safe.

"Recognizing someone is to thank them for their service, to be polite to them as they are to you, and that's the only thing they would ever expect," he said.