Arizona man to be sentenced in 1981 murder of 93-year-old woman
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/17/2013
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By: Associated Press
PHOENIX - An Arizona man convicted in the beating death of a 93-year-old woman is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in a case that went unsolved for nearly 30 years.
Authorities say the case was solved after investigators revisited DNA evidence from the crime scene.
Gary Billy Bivens pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the January 1981 death of Martha Winters during a burglary at her home in Phoenix.
Her 92-year-old sister-in-law who lived at the home also was beaten in the attack, but survived.
Authorities say investigators matched DNA found on a comb outside the Winters home with DNA from Bivens.
The no-contest plea by the 55-year-old in December spared him the possibility of the death penalty.
He now faces between 21 and 55 years in prison.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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