Arrest is made in 1987 homicide

A man initially suspected of raping and killing an elderly Pasadena woman 20 years ago has been rearrested in connection with the case based on new DNA evidence, police said Monday.

Roger Tillman, 56, was arrested Thursday in the slaying of Mary Drew, 72, who was found dead in her room at a board-and-care facility on North Los Robles Avenue on May 6, 1987, said Pasadena Police Lt. John Dewar.

Tillman, who also lived in the building, was often seen hanging around Drew’s room, and he was later arrested in connection with her death, Dewar said. Evidence found in Tillman’s room suggested his involvement, but it was not enough to prosecute him and he was let go, authorities said.

“We just didn’t have enough,” said Police Chief Bernard K. Melekian. “Fortunately, they did take a sexual assault kit at the time.”

Using genetic evidence collected from the scene, detectives with the recently formed Unsolved Homicide Case Unit were able to match Tillman’s DNA with that found on Drew at the time of her death.

“We knew who he was because we had arrested him at the time; and because we had the assault kit, we could compare it with evidence from the body,” Melekian said.

After making the DNA match, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office issued a warrant to rearrest Tillman on murder charges. He was picked up in downtown Los Angeles near another board-and-care home where he was staying.

Dewar said authorities are now exploring whether Tillman was involved in other crimes carried out at board-and-care homes over the last two decades.

Tillman was arrested in 1997 and served two years in prison for robbery, Melekian said. But he fell off authorities’ radar and seemingly had led a quiet life since, Melekian said.

The Pasadena Police Department’s new cold case unit was formed in July when Melekian redirected two detectives to work full time on unsolved crimes.

The unit is currently reviewing more than 130 cases dating to the 1950s.

Tillman’s was the first to result in new charges and was picked by detectives because he had initially been arrested in connection with the crime and officers at the time seemed sure of his involvement.

Melekian said his department would soon announce additional arrests in other cases as a result of the new unit and DNA evidence. One of the cases, Melekian said, dates back 50 years.

Tillman’s arrest was announced the same day that Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown addressed a crowd at the DNA Awareness Forum at Cal State L.A. They explained ways in which California’s DNA data bank can be used by law enforcement officials and expanded to help solve cases.

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ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com