AURORA | Aurora police released a composite image Monday of a man they say could be the suspect the unsolved 2004 slaying of an Aurora man.
The image, created by Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, was made using “DNA phenotyping,” a process that uses DNA from an unknown person to create a composite of what they might look like.
Police said the image shows a 25-year-old man who could be the person who killed Oakey Kite in 2004 at his Aurora home.
The image released Monday shows what the person who killed Kite could look like, police said, but they the killer could look different based on a variety of environmental factors, including smoking, environment and other details.
“It is important to note that Snapshot composites are scientific approximations of appearance based on DNA, and are not likely to be exact replicas of appearance,” police said in a statement.
This is the second time Aurora police have used Parabon’s technology to create a composite sketch of a suspect in a cold case slaying. Police last year released an image of a man they say could be the suspect in the 1984 slayings of the Bennett family, a mother and father killed along with their two young children.
Kite, who police say was killed by a person who responded to an advertisement seeking a roommate, was found dead in May 2004 in the basement of his town house at 2002 S. Helena St. Police said the suspect responded to Kite’s ad using the name Robert Cooper, which investigators believe was a fake name.
After killing Kite, the suspect used Kite’s credit card at a nearby Wells Fargo ATM but was wearing a mask and gloves when he did.
Police are asking anyone with information on the slaying to call Detective Thomas Sobieski at 303-739-6103 or email him at TSOBIESK@auroragov.org.