DETROIT – More than 16 years after 84-year-old Helen Klocek was murdered, her killer has been sentenced to life in prison.
Klocek was killed in March of 1999. Her white Ford Escort was found two days later three miles from where she was found.
A fire was started but it didn't burn much of the car. Police found a glove in the backseat which became a key piece of evidence. A witness helped with a sketch, but the case went cold after that.
However, a month later Nosakhare Onumonu was arrested for armed robbery in Dearborn Heights. In 2008, DNA from the glove was sent for testing. In 2011, Onumonu's DNA was entered into the system. It matched the DNA found on the glove.
Detroit investigators went to work. Murder charges were filed later in 2001. Onumonu was convicted of murder and premeditated murder this past month. He was sentenced to the mandatory life in prison this week.
Right after he was sentenced, the judge made a point to say how brutal the murder was and how, in part, it couldn't have been solved without a witness coming forward.
The judge said Detroit needs more people like that.