DNA links retired Washington soldier to 1985 killings

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Newly tested DNA evidence gathered after the 1985 rape and murder of an Air Force captain’s wife matched a retired soldier who was acquitted of the charges nearly two decades ago, an investigator testified Thursday.

The Army recalled Master Sgt. Timothy B. Hennis, of Lakewood, Wash., to active duty last year to charge him in the stabbing deaths of Kathryn Eastburn and two of her young daughters. Hennis was acquitted in a civilian court in 1989, but evidence connecting him to the crimes prompted the military to pursue charges.

Jennifer Leyn, a special agent with the State Bureau of Investigation, said she tested DNA evidence last year that was gathered 20 years ago in a rape kit. The sample was degraded but it provided clear matches for both Eastburn and Hennis, she said.

Under cross-examination, Leyn said there was no documentation on how the rape kit sample had been stored or whether the swab she tested had been sealed.

Leyn testified during the second day of an Article 32 hearing, similar to a grand jury, that will determine whether military prosecutors have enough evidence to try Hennis for the crimes.

Hennis was arrested shortly after the rape and murder of Eastburn, 31, and the killings of two of her daughters – Kara Sue, 5, and Erin Nicole, 3. They were found fatally stabbed in their home near Fort Bragg in May 1985.

A third child, 22-month-old Jana Eastburn, was found unharmed in her crib. Eastburn’s husband, Air Force Capt. Gary Eastburn, was at squadron officers training school in Alabama at the time.