Clearwater Police have charged a 61-year-old California man with first-degree murder in the slaying of a woman 15 years ago.
Rodney Dean Manley was taken into custody on Wednesday by homicide detectives who traveled to Weaverville, Calif., where the suspect now resides.
The body of Marion Cato was found April 28, 2000, next to what was then the Rio Hotel at 1488 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. Cato, 31, died from upper body trauma.
Detectives said a fresh look at the physical evidence and exhaustive testing ultimately identified DNA from the crime scene as Manley's.
They say he lived in Pinellas County at the time and had been arrested on several occasions. Detectives said during questioning on Wednesday in California, Manley made several admissions to investigators relating to his role in this incident.
"This arrest shows what a new set of eyes and dogged determination can mean to a cold case like this," said Police Chief Dan Slaughter. "For 15 years, our suspect thought he got away with murder. Our detectives made sure that wasn't the case."
Chief Slaughter lauded the work of Detective John Margnelli, who recently was handed the Cato case as a new member of the homicide squad. Margnelli is the detective who submitted the piece of evidence to the lab.