DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – In a surprising turn of events, a Florida man’s pursuit of a new job inadvertently led to his arrest in connection with a 1998 cold case murder. Todd Barket, 51, was apprehended on Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sondra Better, as announced by the Delray Beach Police Department.
Sondra Better, 68, was working at a consignment shop in August 1998 when she was brutally stabbed and bludgeoned to death, according to reports from the Sun-Sentinel. The case remained unsolved for over two decades.
“Our detectives worked years trying to find the killer in this case,” Acting Delray Beach Police Chief Javaro Sims stated during a news conference. “We had fingerprints, we had blood, we even had a possible description from a witness. But the person responsible for this heinous case seemed to just disappear.”
However, the break in the case came in January when Barket applied for a job with a fire and water cleanup company. As part of the application process, he underwent a background check, which included submitting his fingerprints. These fingerprints matched those recovered from the 1998 crime scene and stored in a national database.
Following the fingerprint match, detectives and agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began tracking Barket. Investigators then obtained Barket’s DNA – the method of which was not disclosed – and matched it to DNA evidence from the original crime scene on Tuesday.
At the time of the murder, Barket was 29 years old and matched the description provided by witnesses after the slaying, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Police indicated that Barket had managed to evade authorities for so long due to his lack of prior contact with law enforcement.
“He has had no contact with law enforcement, getting arrested or anything,” Capt. John Crane-Baker said. “He had a minimal criminal history, mostly traffic citations. So he flew under the radar, even for 26 years before this occurred. It was quite surprising.”
“It took us 20 years,” Sims said. “20 years is a long time to want and ask for justice for a loved one.”
Barket was held without bond. The motive behind the murder remains unclear.
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