Portland Police

James Samuel Owens

PORTLAND, Ore. – DNA evidence last month helped Portland detectives arrest a jailed rapist for the murder of a North Portland woman in 1987.

On March 26, 66-year-old James Samuel Owens was indicted for the murder of 42-year-old Nancy Converse, who was found strangled to death in her apartment on N. Kerby.

She had lived in the apartment just over two weeks before the superintendent found her body.

Converse family

Owens was serving time in an Oregon state prison for a 1989 rape and burglary conviction. He was set for arraignment in Portland on murder charges Thursday.

Police said cold case investigators have been working on the case since 2006, finally linking Owens to the crime through DNA.