A year after being indicted in the rape and murder of a 71-year-old, Michael Lord Owens finally appeared in a Hillsborough County courtroom today.
Owens, 45, made an initial appearance before Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich. The judge set Owens's arraignment for Jan. 6.
Owens is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of armed sexual battery in the Sept. 11, 2003 death of Dorothy Mink. Mink's body was found by her daughter in her south Tampa apartment.
The case went unsolved until last year when the Tampa Police Department Cold Case Squad reexamined a bottle of Sutter Home wine found in Mink's apartment. Newer technology identified the prints as Owens, police said. Later DNA evidence also linked Owens to the crime scene.
Owens was serving time in a Minnesota hospital for sex offenders, police said, and local authorities had to wait while he was extradited.
Police said Mink was beaten in her head and face; had broken ribs; a bruised throat; and rips and tears over most of her body.
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