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August 4, 2009

DA files murder charge in 23-year-old cold case

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have filed a murder charge against an Oklahoma inmate 23 years after a woman was abducted from a local shopping mall and killed.



Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater on Tuesday said 44-year-old Kyle Richard Eckardt was charged a day earlier with killing 41-year-old Kathy Sue Engle. Engle was abducted on April 23, 1986.



Her body was found in far western Oklahoma eight days later.



Prater says authorities performed DNA analysis of evidence from Engle's vehicle, which the abductors stole. According to court documents, in July 2008, a match was made to Eckardt, and fingerprints found in the vehicle also matched those of Eckhart.



Eckardt is being held at a prison in Stringtown, Okla., on an aggravated assault and battery conviction out of Tulsa County.

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