DNA links man to pair of unsolved slayings

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 | 3:43 p.m.

A man arrested in October after DNA linked him to a 2004 rape investigation has also been connected to two slayings, according to Metro Police.

Brandon McGuire, 42, was booked Oct. 12 on counts of sexual assault and kidnapping in a case in which a woman was raped at knifepoint at Mount Charleston, police said.

He was also suspected in the 1998 slaying of Annie Miller, but it wasn’t until earlier this month he was booked in connection with the case, police said.

McGuire has also since been linked and booked in the 1999 death of his wife, Elvia McGuire, police said. He remains at the Clark County Detention Center.

Four years ago, forensics investigators linked DNA found in the 1998 homicide and the 2004 sexual assault, police said.

In October, cold case detectives who had recently been assigned to the cases connected a name with the evidence when they processed it through a database, police said.

“This case serves as an example of the success of the cold case project, and we expect similar results in the future,” Metro said at the time.

Lawmakers in 2015 allocated $3.68 million in grant money to test about 7,500 sexual assault evidence kits that sat in vaults throughout the state dating back 30 years, the Associated Press reported.

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s office in October announced that it had secured another nearly $2 million in grants to help reduce the backlog.