BOISE, Idaho — The Ada County Prosecutor's Office has officially filed murder charges in a Boise slaying that remained unsolved for 25 years.
Lee Robert Miller, 54, faces a felony charge of second-degree murder in the death of Cheryle Barratt.
Barratt, 49, was found stabbed and slashed to death in the bedroom of her 6th Street home in April 1994. Police made an arrest days after her murder, but the charges were later dropped, and the trail went cold.
But more than a decade later, as technology improved, investigators got their first break in 2006 when DNA in a different unsolved killing was processed by the Washington State Crime Lab.
The DNA results did not come back linked to a suspect's name. However, police learned that the DNA left behind by Barratt's killer was also present at a Bremerton, Washington crime scene - the apartment where 57-year-old Marilyn Hickey was killed in 1992.
The match clued in investigators at the Boise Police Department and the Bremerton Police Department that they were searching for the same person. Detectives compared notes and lists of suspect names, opting to work together.
One man turned up on each of the departments' lists of possible killers: Lee Robert Miller.
Once authorities zeroed in on Miller as a suspect, detectives learned he was living in Boise. A sample of Miller's DNA was obtained without him knowing, police say, and run through the Idaho State Crime Lab.
It was a match in both cases.
Miller was arrested in Boise Jan. 3 on murder charges in the Bremerton case, and transported to Kitsap County Jail in Washington. Prosecutors on the Boise case filed a second murder charge against Miller Friday.
Somer Donovan, who says she is Barratt's niece, provided this statement to KTVB on Friday:
"Our family would like to Thank all the Detectives involved in this case for Finding a suspect and now a charge in Cheryl [Barratt's] Murder, We referred to her as Sherri, she was fun and had such a great personality and was such an animal lover, she was there for all of the big milestones in our lives, Today we are Thankful for closure after 25 years! God Rest in Peace Aunt Sherry, we love you!! Now my father can have closure before his time here is Gone!! Thank you again for everyone involved and all of your hard work! Justice will be served!"
Miller will be extradited back to Idaho to face charges after the Washington case is complete. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.