A man who was shot dead last month as US authorities attempted to serve him an indictment on federal gun charges has been identified as the killer of an 18-year-old Ohio woman in a case that had gone unsolved for 43 years, police announced, the AP reports.

Mansfield Police Chief Jason Bammann said the cold case of Debra Lee Miller, a local waitress beaten to death with an oven grate in her apartment on April 29, 1981, was reopened in 2021 to account for advances in DNA technology and forensic investigative techniques.

“They examined the case as if it had happened yesterday, through an entirely new lens,” Bammann said at a news conference. “Their findings were staggering."

The chief said a “firm DNA profile” of James Vanest, at the time Miller’s 26-year-old upstairs neighbor, emerged from evidence left from the room. Vanest had been questioned but never identified as a suspect during the initial investigation, which became mired in allegations of potential police misconduct.

Miller’s case was reopened several times during the ensuing years. This time, Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher said the DNA evidence against Vanest was strong enough that her office was preparing a case against him for the killing to take to a grand jury.

But the case was never able to be presented.

Police had found Vanest living in Canton, about 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) east of Mansfield, in November 2021 and re-interviewed him about Miller’s killing. He had admitted to lying to investigators during his first interview in 1981 and investigators sensed this time that he was trying to create an alibi to account for his DNA being present in Miller’s apartment, Bammann said.

Mansfield Police Detective Terry Butler sought a second interview in spring 2024, but Vanest refused to speak and requested an attorney. Authorities said he subsequently sold his house in Canton, bought a pickup truck and trailer and fled to West Virginia. He left several firearms at his Canton home and was stopped in West Virginia with two more. He was arrested on state charges and released on bond.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took over his case and later indicted him on the federal gun charges. On November 18, US Marshals and Canton-area SWAT officers attempted to serve Vanest with that indictment at a North Canton motel where he was holed up.

“It is our understanding that when confronted by Marshals and the Canton Regional SWAT team, Mr. Vanest pointed a gun at them and barricaded himself inside the hotel,” Bammann said. “After a short shootout, one Canton SWAT member was shot in the arm, and Mr. Vanest was fatally shot.”

The chief said the department considers the case closed.