Arlington police identify believed killer in 1985 cold case homicide using DNA match (2024)

Arlington police announced Wednesday that the department has identified a man believed to be responsible for the 1985 homicide of Terri McAdams, a 22-year-old University of Texas at Arlington student.

DNA profiling led the FBI and Arlington police to identify Bernard Sharp as the perpetrator in McAdams’ killing, said detective Devon Coffer, who was assigned the case earlier this year.

Sharp died in November 1985 at age 29 after Arlington police said he shot and killed his wife, Denise Sharp, 28, and her friend Debra Delatori, 24, and wounded his wife’s cousin before turning the gun on himself, The Dallas Morning News reported at the time.

McAdams was found dead Feb. 14, 1985, in the apartment of her fiancé, who was away on a business trip. She had been severely beaten and there was evidence she had been sexually assaulted, Coffer said. Investigators believed the suspect entered the apartment, located in the 2500 block of Walnut Hill Circle, through a sliding glass door connected to the bedroom, Coffer said.

Coffer said police interviewed Sharp shortly after the killing because he lived nearby and had committed sexual offenses, but police said there was not enough evidence at the time to tie him to McAdams’ death.

Police said multiple items were sent to a forensic lab in 2021. This included a sexual assault kit and a cigarette butt found at the apartment, which was notable since neither McAdams nor her fiancé smoked. A DNA profile of a male suspect was created but returned no hits. Sharp died before the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, began as a pilot program of the FBI in 1990.

CODIS is an FBI-maintained database that allows police departments to upload DNA samples of offenders and victims. It allows police to compare DNA recovered from crime scenes to DNA profiles in the database to find a match.

Recently, a relative of Sharp’s returned a partial match for the DNA profile. The relative was very young at the time of McAdams’ murder and barely knew Sharp, police said. Coffer said investigators traveled out of state to interview the relative and obtained a DNA sample, which was sent to a lab at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

The DNA sample returned a genetic match for the profile of McAdams’ killer, leading police to identify Sharp as the perpetrator, Coffer said.

Chad Yarbrough, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, said investigative genetic genealogy, the method of DNA testing that led police to identify Sharp, has allowed for many breakthroughs in cold case investigations.

Investigative genetic genealogy is a process that combines unidentified crime scene DNA with genealogy research and the use of historical public records to identify unknown suspects and victims in crimes, police said.

“We are confident that Bernard Sharp committed this sexual assault and homicide of Miss McAdams,” Yarbrough said. “Investigative genetic genealogy is one of the most valuable tools that law enforcement now has. It is inspirational to do the work to provide answers to the families.”

McAdams’ two younger sisters and stepmother attended the announcement at Arlington police headquarters. Karen Hopper, McAdam’s sister, said the past 39 years have been difficult, as her family had lost hope that they would ever know who had killed McAdams.

She said the moment Coffer called her to inform her police had found a suspect was overwhelming, a mix of joy and sadness.

“I didn’t really know what to do with my emotions, because I was so excited and happy, but it brings everything back to the surface too,” Hopper said. “It was the phone call that we have all dreamed about having for almost 40 years. It was the most important phone call of my life.”

Hopper said McAdams was a “very bright light,” someone who was kind, sweet and loving to everybody.

“She was a lot of fun to be around. Very energetic and positive and happy,” Hopper said. “She was a wonderful big sister to us. She really took care of me a lot over the years. She just was an inspiration, and she was very loved by everyone who came into contact with her.”

Hopper said McAdams, originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, first attended the University of Arkansas where she met her fiancé. After he graduated and got a job in Texas, she relocated to UTA to be closer to him.

According to archived News articles, the two had planned to marry in December 1985.