Massachusetts man arrested in 36-year-old cold case after spit on sidewalk links him to murder of woman

A 65-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested Thursday for the cold-case murder of a Boston woman in 1988, the Boston Police Department confirmed.

James Holloman was linked to the crime after DNA from his spit on a sidewalk outside his home last year matched DNA from the crime scene, Boston 25 News reported.

DNA from a possible suspect had been found underneath Karen Taylor’s fingernails and on a bloody sweatshirt and cigarette when she was found stabbed 15 times at her Roxbury home in May 1988. 

Holloman’s paycheck was also allegedly found at her home.

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“What I understood is they collected a DNA sample from the ground after he spit, and that’s how they claim to have matched all this up,” defense attorney Anthony Ellison told Boston 25. 

Holloman was wanted on a murder warrant issued by the Suffolk Superior Court for Taylor’s death when he was taken into custody by the Boston Police Department’s Fugitive Unit. 

He pleaded not guilty in court Friday, Boston 25 reported. 

On May 27, 1988, Taylor’s 3-year-old daughter answered the phone when her grandmother called, telling her that her mom was sleeping, and she couldn’t wake her up, the station reported, citing the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office. 

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Taylor’s mother later found her body at her home in a pool of her own blood. 

“This is an example of superb investigative work by detectives and prosecutors using modern criminology science, but most of all it’s an opportunity for Karen Taylor’s loved ones to see someone answer for her death after so many years of unanswered questions,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said, according to Boston 25. 

Holloman had previously claimed to officials he hadn’t seen Taylor for weeks before her murder but recently allegedly admitted to seeing her the day before her death, the station reported.