DNA ties slain would-be rapist to 1990 California killing

By Larry Altman,The Daily Breeze

TORRANCE, Calif. - Kevin T. Kemp's blood sample sat in a coroner's office refrigerator, pretty much forgotten.

But 23 years after the fluid was drawn from Kemp's dead body, Torrance police have used the sample to solve a murder in Venice that was long ago put on the "cold case" shelf.

Discovering the blood in April, detectives and Sheriff's Department crime lab officials examined the sample to determine its DNA code to see if it matched any other crimes.

Kemp's DNA revealed that he killed a man in Venice in 1990, just three weeks before a Torrance woman shot him to death when he attacked her in front of her home, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

Kemp's blood matched the forensic evidence found on the Venice victim's body, allowing Los Angeles police detectives to close another case, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

The 33-year-old Hawthorne man died Sept. 8, 1990, shortly after he ambushed the 28-year-old woman in an apparent attempt to rape her.

Police at the time said Kemp randomly attacked the woman in her driveway, wrapping a canvas strap around her neck. He tried to drag her toward his car, but she fought back.

Kicking and screaming as she scraped along the ground with the strap tugging at her neck, the woman reached into her purse, where a .22-caliber handgun was concealed inside.

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DNA ties slain would-be rapist to 1990 California killing