Husband arrested in ’94 death of CIA analyst

A 1994 slaying once steeped in intrigue because the victim worked for the CIA has been solved with the arrest of the victim’s husband following a cold-case investigation by the Inglewood Police Department and the FBI, authorities said.

Andre Jackson, formerly of Los Angeles, was arrested last week in Tempe, Ariz., in connection with the killing of his wife, Marie Singleton-Jackson. Jackson, 46, is expected to be arraigned on a murder charge Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, authorities said.

Singleton-Jackson, a communications analyst with the CIA, was last seen alive Nov. 11, 1994. Her body was discovered five days later in the trunk of her 1991 Saab, which had been impounded after having been abandoned at Dockweiler State Beach. Homicide detectives made the discovery at the tow yard where the car had been taken. An autopsy revealed that the 33-year-old mother of four had died of manual strangulation, a coroner’s official said.

Inglewood police identified her husband as the prime suspect in the slaying at the time, authorities said, but had insufficient evidence to file charges. The FBI also launched a probe into her death “based on concerns that her disappearance and murder may have been linked to her position and access in the intelligence community,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The FBI ultimately concluded that her death was unrelated to her work, and both investigations fell dormant.

Years later, as part of a routine cold-case review, investigators determined that blood samples taken from the crime scene and autopsy had not undergone DNA analysis, authorities said. Investigators sent the samples to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., where analysts determined there was “male pattern DNA” present along with the victim’s DNA.

Investigators attempted to locate Jackson for testing, but were unable to find him.

Meanwhile, his son, Andre Jackson Jr., was arrested by Hawthorne police in an unrelated crime. Investigators obtained a warrant to take a blood sample for the homicide investigation. They compared the younger Jackson’s blood with the blood at the crime scene and determined that he was related to the man presumed to be his mother’s assailant.

Still unable to find Jackson, investigators turned to the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles. Task force members traced Jackson to Tempe, where he was arrested without incident.

He waived extradition and was being transported to Los Angeles.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which filed the murder charge against Jackson, declined to answer questions about his alleged motive or other aspects of the case, saying that it was against policy to discuss details of a pending matter.

Jackson is being held on $1-million bail and was expected to make his initial court appearance in the Torrance courthouse Wednesday.

Sal Hernandez, who heads the FBI office in Los Angeles, credited the Inglewood Police Department with reopening the case and developing solid leads that made it solvable.

“This sends a strong message that even cold cases are very important to law enforcement,” he said.

Inglewood Police Capt. Eve Irvine, who oversees the department’s detective bureau, said that while murder cases may go cold, they are never closed.

“The victims can’t speak for themselves,” she said. “So we try to step in and give a voice to the voiceless.”

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scott.glover@latimes.com