On Monday, Jeffrey Paul Premo, 52, was arrested for the 1998 homicide of a Washington State girl. Police claim DNA tests allowed them to close the case after two decades. And charge Premo with the axe murder of Jennifer Brinkman, 19.
The Marysville Police Department (MPD) held a Tuesday press conference.
MPD Commander Robb Lamoureux was the first detective assigned to the Brinkman case. “It’s one of those things where it never leaves your thought process because it continues to be unsolved.”
Brinkman’s father died in 2013. But her mother was grateful an arrest had finally been made.
“She was extremely emotional,” Lamoureux said. “She cried and was very thankful for the work we put into it. I think it was an overwhelming emotion for her to finally have an answer.”
“It wasn’t until yesterday when we made the arrest and I was sitting at home thinking about it that it really hit that we’ve got a conclusion to this and we’re finally able to put it on a shelf and have some closure not only for us as investigators who have been involved in it but the family and the community,” the detective added.
The cold case haunts the community
Police believe the victim met her killer through the then-popular “Nightline” system where people call in and are connected to other people for possible romance.
