JEROME, Idaho — Jerome Police Department (JPD) announced Wednesday that a cold case homicide from 28 years ago has been officially closed, providing the victim's family with some answers.
On August 10, 1995 JPD responded to a homicide report. The victim, 84-year-old Wilma Mobley, was found dead with marks of strangulation and was attacked by an axe-like tool. At the time, in 1995, there were three possible suspects, one of which was Danny Lee Kennison. There was no conclusive evidence tying Kennison to the case, and it went cold, according to JPD.
Over the years, several agencies reviewed the case, including Idaho State Police and the FBI. In 2006, JPD brought the case to the Vidocq Society, where a minor, unproductive lead was the only thing that came of it.
It was in 2022 that Sergeant Clinton Wagner was assigned to the case. With advances in DNA science, Sergeant Wagner contacted the Idaho State Police Forensic Lab to have them review the DNA from 1995. The DNA was taken to the lab in March of 2023.
Nearly 9 months later, on Dec. 18, Idaho State Police lab technicians said they found a significant amount of a DNA profile matching Danny Lee Kennison. The DNA came from a clasp of the victim's underclothing.
Mobley and Kennison were neighbors back in 1995, with no personal relationship. Kennison had committed suicide at this house in Filer, Idaho in March of 2001, so an arrest could not be made.
With the amount of DNA matching Kennison, and the ability to exclude all other suspects from the homicide case, JPD was able to consider the case closed.
Sergeant Wagner was able to meet with the victim's family and provide them answers to this cold case.
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