DNA Links Killer to Slayings
DNA evidence has linked a convicted killer serving a life term to the 1981 murder of an Albany couple in their home, police say. The murder of contractor Henry Vila and his wife, Edith, during a nighttime burglary remains the only double murder in Albany history. “We never forgot this case,” Police Lt. Bill Palmini said. Police reopened the case with help from Alameda County prosecutor Rockne Harmon, a nationally known DNA expert. Harmon said charges have not yet been filed against Charles Jackson, 62, who is serving a life sentence in Folsom for a 1982 Oakland murder. The DNA testing conclusively linked Jackson to the Vila murders, he said.
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