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The Hopkins Police Department said the man was arrested Wednesday evening in St. Paul without incident. He was tied to the crime scene by new “soft touch” DNA evidence.
The man was held in the Hennepin County Jail on Thursday, but had not been formally charged.
Hopkins Police Chief Craig Reid said this was first time the technology has been used to identify a suspect in a Hennepin County case.
He said the technology enables crime scene technicians to recover traces of skin left on clothing to develop a DNA profile.
Before soft touch technology, he said detectives needed to collect blood or saliva samples to develop DNA profiles.
The soft touch “is an amazing development. A great thing for police work,” Reid said.
He would not discuss a possible motive or other details about the crime until the case is resolved.
In this case, DNA samples collected at the Hopkins woman’s apartment were analyzed by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Crime Lab. Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said DNA was found that didn’t belong to Kunze.
He said several people of interest were interviewed and their DNA samples taken.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said, “It was a very difficult crime scene and superb police work.”
Freeman said he expected his office to file charges against the suspect by noon today.
Hopkins police released a criminal history of the suspect. Among other convictions, the suspect was convicted in 2001 of first-degree aggravated robbery and released from prison on March 6.
The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office ruled Kunze’s death last week a homicide by sharp force injuries. It’s the first homicide in the Minneapolis suburb in nine years.
