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DNA On Cigarette Butts Leads To Arrest In 1978 Murder

News Channel 8 photo by JIM HOCKETT

On Oct. 20, 1978, John Allaman Jr. was found dead and his home on Bird Key was ransacked.

By JACKIE BARRON

jbarron@wfla.com

Published: March 30, 2009

Updated: 03/30/2009 10:12 pm

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JOHN ALLAMAN JR.

KEN AURINGER

SARASOTA - A 1978 murder is history … more than three decades after the crime.

On Oct. 20, 1978, Sarasota police believe Bird Key resident and community leader John Allaman Jr. did what he had become known for, offering help to a hitchhiker.

It proved his final gesture of goodwill.

Police later found Allaman dead. He had been repeatedly stabbed and his home ransacked.

Nearly 31 years later, the cold case landed in the hands of 31-year-old detective Pat Robinson.

To solve the case Robinson enlisted the help of veteran forensics technician Jocelyn Masten. Together they processed each suspected fingerprint using new software. Much of the work was done on their own time.

During the latest investigation, 30-year-old cigarette butts were pulled from evidence bags to be tested. At the time of the murder, detectives wanted to compare cigarette brands with suspects. But today those butts carry a genetic fingerprint, DNA.

And for Sarasota police, new eyes on the old evidence paid off.

For the first time today, Robinson talked about the case after making an arrest in California.

Last week Robinson and a partner flew to California where the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office had spent days watching suspect Ken Auringer, 60, in a remote area of the state.

"At this point we have well over a dozen fingerprints linking him [Auringer] to the interior of the Allaman residence," Robinson said during a press conference Monday. "There was a DNA sample recovered from cigarette butts near Mr. Allaman's body at the time."

Robinson said results from Florida Department of Law Enforcement testing on the cigarette butts match Auringer's DNA.

Auringer was found living in a trailer park.

He described Auringer as a drifter with a history of drug arrests, and that Auringer "was relatively surprised" by the arrest.

At the press conference Allaman's son, John Allaman III, who was a 19-year-old college student at the time of the murder, talked about the case and closure.

"Regrettably, my 18-year-old son has been denied knowing the love of his grandfather," he said. "We hope this case validates the increased investment in law enforcement manpower. … We hope other families finding themselves in a similar situation know that it is never too late to find justice."

Reporter Jackie Barron can be reached at (813) 221-5708.

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