Massachusetts

Truck Driver Arrested in Fla. in 1980 Colo. Killing of Mass. Woman

James Curtis Clanton
Union County Sheriff's Office

A 62-year-old truck driver has been charged in the killing of an intern working in the Denver area nearly 40 years ago.

Authorities announced the arrest of James Curtis Clanton on Monday, crediting a combination of DNA analysis and old-fashioned police work for the break in the investigation of the 1980 slaying of 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said Clanton was arrested in Union County, Florida and extradited to Colorado over the weekend. He was being held in jail and it's not clear if he has a lawyer representing him yet.

Pruszynski was from Massachusetts and had only been working as an intern at a radio station for two weeks when she was killed on Jan. 16, 1980, Spurlock said. She was found stabbed to death in a field the following day. Investigators believe she was abducted while walking home from a bus stop after work.

"This was a young girl who was just starting her life," Spurlock said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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