The man once known as the region’s most wanted fugitive was sentenced to 25 years for the murder of a mother of two young children.
Thirty-two-year Gary Parham Jr. was convicted earlier this year in the 1998 stabbing death of a 26-year-old Theodora Cooper in Landover.
Parham spent more than a decade on the run after the slaying and was considered one of the most dangerous fugitives from the capital region.He was captured in Florida last year when his girlfriend saw his photo on a most-wanted Web site and called authorities.
Prosecutors credited the collection of blood samples and DNA technology with solving the case.
“Without [DNA technology] this case would never have been solved and a murderer would still be loose on our streets,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey.
On Aug. 5, 1998, Cooper had been found in her apartment stabbed 13 times and slashed 26 times as she battled her attacker through several rooms of her apartment.
A blood analyst believed the attacker had been injured in the fight, and took DNA samples from the crime scene. The evidence was entered into the Maryland DNA database but found no matches there. The murder moved into the cold case files.
In December 2004, state lab officials contacted investigators: They had a DNA match to a prisoner who was serving time in a Maryland prison on armed robbery charges.
When investigators went to get the prisoner, they learned he had just been released.
As authorities continued their search, Parham allegedly raped a woman in White Oak and then watched TV and smoked PCP before leaving her home, the victim told the Washington Examiner.
Parham fled the Washington metropolitan area after learning that he was wanted for the Cooper murder, authorities said. Authorities said he then taunted police, telling them in phone calls that they had to work harder to catch him.
On Jan. 27, 2009, Miami-Dade County police raided Parham’s home on a tip from his girlfriend. Inside, they say, they found an assault rifle and a bulletproof vest. An affidavit says Parham struggled with officers and pledged to “kill a cop” before he was subdued.
