Suspect in Hopkins stabbing expected to be charged

Police
This is the first homicide in Hopkins in nine years. The 27-year-old suspect is now in the Hennepin County Jail.
MPR photo/Tom Weber

A 27-year-old man is expected to be charged before noon today in the murder of a Hopkins woman.

The man is accused in last week's stabbing death of 90-year-old Irene Kunze.

Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman, says new DNA technology, called "soft touch", helped lead police to the suspect.

"Just grabbing someone, particularly if there's some motion and some friction can end up leaving some samples of tissue behind that in certain circumstances can lead to identification. That was used in this case," Freeman said.

Police said the man was visiting another resident in Kunze's apartment building the night she was murdered.

He is now in the Hennepin County Jail.

Hopkins police said he was arrested Wednesday evening, in St. Paul, without incident. The Hennepin County medical examiner's office ruled Kunze's death a homicide by sharp force injuries.

It's the first homicide in the Minneapolis suburb in nine years. Police believe they have recovered the weapon used to kill her.