A partial bloody palm print has helped Columbia Police investigators solve a 6-year-old double murder investigation.
Double Murder Suspect – Kenneth Canzater, Jr. Booking Photograph: Robert Presley Detention Center Riverside California
As a result, Kenneth Canzater, Junior (DOB: 11-10-1983) of Perris, California is charged with Two Counts of Murder in the deaths of 25-year-old Candra Alston and 3-year-old Malaysia Boykin.
Police Chief Skip Holbrook says, “It’s a home run. I cannot over emphasize how important this case has been to the police department. It’s always critical and important for us to bring closure to a family. When I made the phone call last week to the family, it put a lump in my throat. This case has pulled at the heartstrings of the community.”
Last week, CPD investigators traveled to Perris California to serve arrest warrants on Canzater with the assistance of local authorities and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Force (PSWRFTF) – Team 5.
Canzater, an acquaintance of Alston is currently being housed at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, California. The USMS is making arrangements to extradite Canzater to face charges here in Columbia.
Alston family spokesperson Sharon Williams says, “Thank you God. Thank you to law enforcement officers about being vigilant for never giving up for this family because we knew that God would come to vindicate for this family.”
On January 9, 2011, the bodies of Alston and Boykin were located by a family member at Brook Pines Apartments near Broad River Road. Phone records indicated that the crime occurred two days before the discoveries.
Candra Alston (Family Photo)
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts determined that Alston was shot once in the head, while her daughter was stabbed multiple times. There was no signs of forced entry at the apartment.
“This was a truly horrific crime scene,” says Chief Holbrook.
CPD crime scene investigators photographed a primary piece of evidence, a partial bloody palm print. At the time, the print was determined to be inconclusive for testing. The blood was however, determined to be from the child.
Malaysia Boykin (Family Photo)
Investigators interviewed more than 200 people to include family, friends and known associates of Alston.
A few days later, Canzater was identified as an acquaintance and talked with CPD but denied involvement in the brutal killings.
In the fall, through a routine computer check, investigators learned that Canzater was arrested in February 2011 in Moreno Valley, California for a probation violation on a 2005 robbery conviction.
As part of the continued review of evidence, the lead CPD investigator asked SLED to review all crime scene pictures for blood splatter or stain transfer interpretations.
Holbrook says, “I cannot say enough about the work the investigators did and the tenacity they showed.”
When reviewing the pictures, a patent palm print was identified and entered into the national fingerprint database called Automated Fingerprint Identification System or AFIS. The palm print was manually compared to more than 100 individuals with no matches. Then the print was entered into to a state and national database.
SLED advised CPD that Canzater’s palm print was inconclusive. DNA testing could not include or exclude four individuals; Canzater was one of them. In February of this year, due to advancements in technology, SLED was able to retest the print which came back as a positive match to Canzater.
Working with California law enforcement officials and the USMS, CPD investigators traveled to Perris, California to search for Canzater. After being found at a motel in the city of Corona, canzater was arrested and charged with Two Counts of Murder.
The USMS is making arrangements to extradite Canzater to face his charges here in Columbia.
“Six years may be too late for us, but it’s right on time according to God,” Williams said.
All persons arrested/charged are presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty in a court of law.