Rock Hill cold case arrest after DNA, fingerprints found in 2016 slaying: Police
Almost 10 years after a 77-year-old man was found dead in his apartment “in a pool of blood,” Rock Hill police have charged a man with murder .
Paul Ray Craig Jr., 51, of Rock Hill, was arrested Tuesday in the death of Walter Marshall Faile after police said DNA and fingerprints tie him to the crime.
Faile was found in July 2016 inside his Hutchinson Street apartment by a maintenance worker who was letting an exterminator into the building, a 2016 police report reviewed by The Herald stated. Faile had cuts to his head and chest, the report stated.
He had been stabbed and beaten, Rock Hill police Lt. Michael Chavis said Wednesday.
Police: Cold case solved by DNA, fingerprints
The cold case went through periodic reviews, a Rock Hill Police Department statement said. Detectives reviewing the case found Craig left DNA evidence and fingerprints on the object believed to be used in beating Faile, the department said.
The apartments at the time were city of Rock Hill public housing for low-income residents. The crime prompted neighbors to be fearful for their safety. Police held a safety meeting for area seniors days after the killing.
Craig was denied bail during an initial court appearance and is now at the York County jail.
