Arizona authorities arrest homicide suspect from 1996 cold case

Arizona police have arrested a homicide suspect they believe is connected to a decades-old cold case from 1996.

Whiteriver resident Romeo Massey Jr., 45, was arrested by Pinetop-Lakeside Police Department officials on Wednesday.

Police believe Massey is connected to the murder of Jody Hemphill, a man who was found stabbed to death inside the Mountain Edge Tapes & CD store on November 6, 1996. 

Hemphill had been an employee of the music shop. Massey was around 18 years old at the time of the murder.

HUMAN REMAINS, BAGGED, DUMPED IN RURAL NEVADA IDENTIFIED 45 YEARS LATER

The Pinetop-Lakeside Police Department said the cold case had been reviewed “numerous times” over the years, but new evidence helped detectives progress their investigation.

“In a recent review, new evidence was obtained and analyzed, leading to the arrest of 45-year-old Whiteriver resident Romeo Massey Jr.,” police said in a statement.

PHOENIX DOUBLE MURDERER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BRUTAL CRIMES COMMITTED IN 1990

Authorities believe another person was involved in the incident. They released a composite witness sketch from 1996 showing a man wearing a baseball cap backwards. 

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Police ask anyone who may have information about the case to contact them at 928-368-8800. They also have an anonymous hotline at 1-800-782-7463.