metro police
Johnny Blake Peterson
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021 | 8:25 p.m.
Metro Police are attributing a second decades-old homicide to a man who died many years ago.
Police announced Monday that DNA evidence linked Johnny Blake Peterson to the 1983 sexual assault and killing of 22-year-old Diana Hanson.
According to police, they received additional information linking Hanson’s death to Peterson after they identified him as the person who abducted, raped and killed 16-year-old Kim Bryant in 1979.
Police Lt. Ray Spencer said DNA recovered from Hanson’s body then confirmed Peterson’s involvement.
Peterson died in 1993.
Spencer said detectives now are searching other cold cases for links to Peterson.
