Ex-roommate Bernardo Carrillo charged with murder 15 years after Lee Glass Thornton's death

SALT LAKE CITY — Police had a suspect in the murder of Lee Glass Thornton 15 years ago, but prosecutors at the time said there wasn't enough evidence to charge him.

Now, thanks to new technology, there is.

Charges filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court accuse Thornton's former roommate, Bernardo Carrillo, of killing the 56-year-old woman on or about July 13, 1994.

More than 15 years ago, Thornton's neighbor became suspicious when he hadn't seen Thornton for several days. He went to her apartment near 400 South and 800 West, where he found her lying on her bed with stab wounds to the neck, chest, stomach and hand, the charges state. Thornton was found July 25, 1994, and the State Medical Examiner's Office reported the woman had been dead for several days.

Salt Lake City police at the time were investigating Carrillo, who had been arrested three weeks before on suspicion of trying to break into Thornton's apartment.

According to murder charges against Carrillo, neighbors confirmed that the now 43-year-old man had been kicked out of Thornton's apartment and returned intoxicated on July 7. Thornton called police, and Carrillo was arrested and booked into jail.

A witness said that when Thornton and Carrillo visited him three days later, Thornton was upset with Carrillo over her missing gun. Carrillo returned a few days after the July 10 incident wearing several gold chains and a black fanny pack, which relatives of Thornton later confirmed to police belonged to her.

Another witness, identified as a prostitute in an Associated Press story in 1994, told police that when she picked up Carrillo on July 14, the day after Thornton was killed, he gave her the same black fanny pack and was wearing a brown navigator's jacket that Thornton's family members said also belonged to Thornton, according to the charges.

At the time of Thornton's death, detectives found Carrillo's fingerprints throughout the woman's apartment. However, prosecutors said there was probable cause to believe Carrillo was involved in the death but that most of the evidence was circumstantial and there was no murder weapon.

Thornton's daughter, Lisa, told the Associated Press at the time that she was furious.

"How much evidence do they need? They have his fingerprints. They have things that he stole from her," she said in August 1994.

Now, police have confirmed the charges and said they will release additional information Wednesday morning.

Salt Lake City police spokeswoman Lara Jones said there hasn't been new evidence so much as "technology has caught up" to process it.

A DNA profile obtained from Carrillo matches that of DNA located under fingernails on Thornton's hands, according to reports from Sorenson Forensics.

Also, reports from the Utah State Crime Laboratory showed that a latent print from a broken wine glass located near the woman's body at the time of her death was matched to the left thumb print of the defendant.

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com