An Oregon man accused in the 1994 rape and strangulation death of a Vancouver woman was formally charged Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Richard Eugene Knapp, 57, of Fairview, Ore., entered not-guilty pleas to first- and second-degree murder with sexual motivation. A trial was set for July 8. He remains in custody on $1 million bail.
Knapp, who was previously granted permission to be unshackled in court, lost his bid to be transported from the Clark County Jail to court unshackled and wear civilian clothing.
Knapp was arrested April 28 near his home in connection with the death of 26-year-old Audrey Hoellein, also known as Audrey Frasier. He was linked to the cold case based on DNA testing.
Hoellein was found dead in her bed July 17, 1994, at the Family Tree Apartments in the 8000 block of East Fourth Plain Boulevard, according to Columbian archives. An autopsy concluded she had been raped and strangled, court documents state.
Officers who responded to Hoellein’s apartment the night she was found collected DNA evidence, which was used during the initial investigation to develop several suspects. All of the suspects were later ruled out as being the source of the DNA, however, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The Vancouver Police Department enlisted the help of a genetic testing company last year to develop an improved profile of the suspected killer. In October, the company also provided a genealogy report. The DNA was compared with a member of Knapp’s family who had pointed police toward him, detectives said. Knapp was known to live in Clark County around the time of Hoellein’s death.
After months of surveillance, investigators collected DNA from a cigarette butt Knapp threw away at work, detectives said. The new evidence was sent to the
Washington State Crime Lab, which found that it matched the crime scene DNA.
