In 1994, 34-year-old Dorothy Paige was stabbed and strangled to death at her Allied Drive apartment. A neighbor and acquaintance of Paige, 48-year-old Melvin Parker, was eventually arrested for the murder. However, the charge was dropped when a key witness disappeared in 1998.
Now, the Madison Police Department’s cold case team re-worked the case, and a homicide charge has once again been filed against Parker. Police Captain Jay Lengfeld says that missing witness has been located, along with others that support what police believe happened.
Parker is currently in prison for burglary and theft convictions.
Police say drug dealings between Parker and the victim are believed to have been a motive in the murder.