Man gets 23-year sentence in 1984 murder
SEATTLE - A 51-year-old man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for a 1984 murder that was finally solved last year using DNA evidence.
Norah T. Gracey, 70, a retired seamstress, was found stabbed and strangled to death in a bedroom of her Rainier Valley home on Aug. 12, 1984. But her murder remained unsolved for decades.
Daryl Spencer Hart of Federal Way was arrested in August after he was linked to the crime by a DNA test. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January.
The prosecutor asked for a 25-year sentence, and the judge handed down a prison term of 23 years, 4 months.
According to court documents, Hart was Gracey's next-door neighbor at the time of the murder, when he was 25.
Hart's mother, Queen Hart, a good friend of Gracey's, became concerned when she hadn't seen Gracey for some time.
So Queen Hart and her son, along with another neighbor, went into Gracey's house to check on her. They found her dead on the bed with blood surrounding her head.
An autopsy later determined that Gracey had been strangled and stabbed to death, according to court files.
A homicide investigation followed, but all leads were eventually exhausted, and detectives could never pin down a suspect in the killing.
In 2002, the case was reopened. Swabs taken from Gracey's body during the autopsy were submitted to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab and a male DNA profile was found. The profile was compared with a known offender database, but there were no hits.
In 2009, Daryl Hart was re-interviewed, and a DNA sample was obtained from him. The sample was tested by the crime lab, and it matched the sample collected during Gracey's autopsy, according to court papers.
Hart later came to Seattle police headquarters voluntarily and was questioned by detectives. He eventually admitted killing Gracey, according to court documents, and was placed under arrest.
Linda Bagley, Gracey's daughter-in-law, told KOMO News she was "totally shocked at what had happened and who it was."
She said Gracey probably trusted Daryl Hart because he was her neighbor and the son of her good friend.
"I think that is why he was let into the house so easily," she says.
Norah T. Gracey, 70, a retired seamstress, was found stabbed and strangled to death in a bedroom of her Rainier Valley home on Aug. 12, 1984. But her murder remained unsolved for decades.
Daryl Spencer Hart of Federal Way was arrested in August after he was linked to the crime by a DNA test. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January.
The prosecutor asked for a 25-year sentence, and the judge handed down a prison term of 23 years, 4 months.
According to court documents, Hart was Gracey's next-door neighbor at the time of the murder, when he was 25.
Hart's mother, Queen Hart, a good friend of Gracey's, became concerned when she hadn't seen Gracey for some time.
So Queen Hart and her son, along with another neighbor, went into Gracey's house to check on her. They found her dead on the bed with blood surrounding her head.
An autopsy later determined that Gracey had been strangled and stabbed to death, according to court files.
A homicide investigation followed, but all leads were eventually exhausted, and detectives could never pin down a suspect in the killing.
In 2002, the case was reopened. Swabs taken from Gracey's body during the autopsy were submitted to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab and a male DNA profile was found. The profile was compared with a known offender database, but there were no hits.
In 2009, Daryl Hart was re-interviewed, and a DNA sample was obtained from him. The sample was tested by the crime lab, and it matched the sample collected during Gracey's autopsy, according to court papers.
Hart later came to Seattle police headquarters voluntarily and was questioned by detectives. He eventually admitted killing Gracey, according to court documents, and was placed under arrest.
Linda Bagley, Gracey's daughter-in-law, told KOMO News she was "totally shocked at what had happened and who it was."
She said Gracey probably trusted Daryl Hart because he was her neighbor and the son of her good friend.
"I think that is why he was let into the house so easily," she says.