TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - Prosecutors say it was DNA evidence that helped lead to a guilty plea in a Lucas County cold rape and murder dating back more than 30 years.
Prosecutors say Janean Brown left the Copper Lantern Bar in Whitehouse and went to a friend's house on November 18, 1983. While walking home from that friend's house, they say she got into Andrew Gustafson's van. They say Brown knew Gustafson.
Brown was found beaten and raped with her throat slashed along Archbold-Whitehouse Road outside of Whitehouse the following morning.
On Monday, more than 30 years after the horrific crime, someone was finally brought to justice. Andrew Gustafson pleaded guilty to rape and involuntary manslaughter. Gustafson was sentence to 5 years for the rape and 10 years for the involuntary manslaughter charge. A judge ordered Gustafson to serve the sentences consecutively, meaning he will serve 15 years total. Gustafson was given credit for 565 days served.
Prosecutors say it was Brown's DNA, found on a cigarette butt in Gustafson's van, which cracked the case more than three decades later.
