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US DNA database reveals North Carolina suspect in 1988 Orlando murder after 38 years
Orlando Police solved the cold case of the 1988 murder of Diane Matthews through a match in the National DNA Index System and arrested Willie J. Carpenter, who lived in North Carolina.
A murder committed in 1988 in Orlando, Florida, was solved 38 years later thanks to modern DNA technology and a national database. Orlando Police reopened the cold case and arrested North Carolina resident Willie J. Carpenter on a first-degree murder charge.
Diane Matthews' remains were found on September 8, 1988, at a call center where she worked in downtown Orlando. The injuries to her face were so severe that she could not be identified at first; a coworker recognized her by her hair. At the time, fingerprints and biological evidence were collected from the scene and numerous witnesses were interviewed, but DNA analysis was not a routine method.
Over time, the investigation became a cold case. The turning point came when Carpenter's DNA was entered into the National DNA Index System (CODIS). Carpenter had been registered in the system after his arrest for a sexual offense against a minor girl. Police determined that this DNA could potentially match biological evidence collected from the Matthews murder scene.
Detectives interviewed Carpenter in 2013, but the suspect denied knowing Matthews and refused to provide a DNA sample. When the investigation was revived in 2024, however, Carpenter voluntarily gave a DNA sample. Advanced testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on this sample was completed in 2025 and definitively confirmed the link between Carpenter and the crime scene.
The US Marshals Service North Carolina Regional Task Force took Willie J. Carpenter into custody on July 9, 2026. Orlando Police stated that before the arrest warrant was issued, they spent months examining evidence, consulting with prosecutors, and eliminating other potential suspects to strengthen the case. Carpenter is currently being held in North Carolina and is awaiting extradition to Florida.
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