2nd Look Leads To Arrest In Slaying

TAMPA - When Penny Hammock discovered her 71-year-old mother's body four years ago, she said, the murder scene in the South Tampa apartment was like a horror film. The image doesn't go away, and Hammock's life will never be the same.

"You close your eyes, and that's what you see," Hammock said Thursday. "You're awake, and that's what you see. You get scared because you don't feel safe anymore."

Tampa police announced Thursday that the case finally has been solved. Michael Lord Owens of Minnesota has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of armed sexual battery stemming from Dorothy Mink's death Sept. 11, 2003.

In November, the department's Cold Case Squad focused on the case. Fingerprints found on a bottle of Sutter Home wine in Mink's apartment were re-examined by an automated identification system, Detective Eric Houston said.

Police identified Owens as a suspect in Mink's death after it was deemed his fingerprints were on the bottle. Investigators got a search warrant for Owens' DNA, and his mouth was swabbed to obtain a sample.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that DNA at the crime scene matched Owens' DNA, Houston said.

Arrest Surprises Family

Hammock was shocked when she learned police had a suspect. She said her family assumed there would be no justice in the case because an arrest hadn't been made in four years.

On the day she died, Mink's family called her apartment several times to confirm a dinner engagement. When she didn't answer, Hammock grew concerned and went to the apartment. Mink, a housewife from Kentucky who loved to sew quilts, didn't answer the door. Hammock went behind the apartment and found a sliding glass door partially open.

Inside, she saw Mink's body on the floor.

It later was determined that Mink had been sexually assaulted and strangled. She also was beaten and had blunt trauma to her face and head, Houston said today.

"She had four children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren - two of which she never got to see," Hammock said.

Owens, 44, is in a Minnesota state hospital serving time for a sex crime, Houston said.

Suspect Can't Explain Evidence

Houston described Mink's murder as a "brutal crime and a truly innocent victim."

Owens, a drifter with no ties to Tampa, didn't know Mink, Houston said. But three days before Mink's death, Hillsborough County deputies interviewed him about an unrelated crime in North Tampa. He was not charged in that case.

Owens had no permanent residence in 2003. Tampa police traced him that year to at least a dozen cities.

Two days ago, Houston went to Minnesota and spoke with Owens for about an hour.

"He denied knowing the victim, denied being in Tampa, denied being in the apartment," Houston said.

Owens had no explanation for fingerprint and DNA evidence, said Houston, whose Cold Case Squad has cleared 10 cases and made five arrests since it started in 2006.

Owens likely will be extradited to Tampa to stand trial for Mink's death, Houston said.

"I'm grateful, and this is a great Christmas gift," Hammock said. "But with the trial, I don't think the worst is over yet."