Man Linked By DNA Convicted In ‘Cold Case’ Killing

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Twenty-five years after the body of 19-year-old Tina Marie Kristynik was found in her Baton Rouge home, a man has been convicted of killing her.

An East Baton Rouge Parish jury convicted 54-year-old Vernon Kennedy of second-degree murder Friday night in Kristynik's 1985 rape and beating death.

DNA evidence from the crime scene was put into a Louisiana State Police database a day after Kristynik was killed. The case remained cold until January 2007 when authorities said they linked the DNA to Kennedy, who was then serving a life sentence in a Georgia prison for another slaying.

Kennedy now faces an automatic sentence of life in Louisiana. State District Judge Tony Marabella said he will impose the sentence Jan. 12.