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Ex-Boyfriend Recharged in 1995 Murder of MPD Officer After Cold-Case Breakthrough

Prosecutors relied on fresh DNA evidence with new witness accounts to overturn the original burglary claim

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This handout photo released by the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. shows Denna Fredericka Campbell, who was an officer for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. She was killed in 1995. (Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. via AP)
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Overview

  • Amir Jalil Ali, formerly known as Kenneth Burnell Wonsom, was arrested on August 5 and charged with first-degree murder in the September 1995 killing of Officer Denna Fredericka Campbell.
  • He is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center while a bond hearing is pending.
  • Investigators uncovered DNA linking Ali under Campbell’s fingernails and found no signs of forced entry, concluding she was shot with her own service weapon.
  • Cold-case detectives combined fresh witness interviews with modern forensic techniques over the past year to reconstruct evidence that was dismissed in 1995.
  • Campbell, a four-year MPD veteran once commended for rescuing van crash victims, had warned colleagues that she feared her boyfriend and planned to leave him.