A 55-year-old man has been sentenced to 48 years in prison for a 1981 murder that was solved with , authorities say.
Hector Bencomo-Hinojos pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping in the death of 32-year-old Patricia Beard. He was sentenced Monday, according to a news release Tuesday from Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office.
In 1981, Beard lived in a one-room apartment in the 500 block of East 11th Avenue. After she had not been seen for several days a family member went to check on her and found her body in her room on March 27, 1981.
into a national FBI database after a federal arrest in Pennsylvania, said DA spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.
He was extradited to Colorado and charged in 2013 — the 100th DNA cold case filed in Denver.
“The National Institute of Justice and the City of Denver has brought more rapists and murderers to justice than any other place in the world,” the news release said.
The victim was well-loved and supported by an extended family, which was present at the sentencing hearing, according to Kimbrough.
The case was prosecuted by chief deputy district attorney Dawn Weber.
