Police solve 1989 cold case murder of Wichita woman in her home
Its been 34 years since a young Wichita woman was found sexually assaulted and murdered in her home in the Delano neighborhood.
The body of Krista Martin, 20, was found on Oct. 2, 1989, at her residence at 506 S. Osage. She had been struck in the back of the head with a blunt object, according to a Wichita Police Department cold case file.
The department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, announced a breakthrough in the case at a news conference Monday. Authorities said they had identified the man responsible for the crime as Paul Hart, a former resident of Wichita.
Hart was named the suspect in April 2023, but authorities discovered that he died in a traffic collision in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1999 at the age of 33, WPD police spokesperson Kristopher Gupilan said.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the case investigation has been completed and cleared.
“This was a case that I would have charged if the suspect was alive to charge him,” Bennett said.
Police Capt. Christian Cory said investigators at the scene of the crime collected DNA samples from the sexual assault and stored them.
DNA testing was not prevalent in 1989. Detectives conducted interviews and gathered evidence but were not able to identify a suspect, Gupilan said.
Throughout the years the investigation continued with no success. DNA evidence from the scene was sent to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center in 2009 resulting in the development of a potential suspect but again did not lead to any matches, police said.
The WPD sought the help of the FBI in 2020 to look over the DNA evidence. An investigative genetic genealogy team consisting of an FBI special agent, a WPD homicide detective and private industry genealogists identified Hart as the suspect in April 2023, Gupilan said.
Martin’s niece, Ember Moore, said she felt a sense of relief when she was informed of who murdered her aunt.
“I think I was in shock for about three days,” Moore said. “I didn’t believe that it was real.”
Moore, along with her mother, stepfather and grandfather were present at the news conference.
“I’m glad we can finally move forward and have peace knowing that Krista’s murderer is not walking around free or among us,” Moore said. “She [Martin] deserved so much more out of this life than what she ended up with.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 2:48 PM.