Salt Lake City murder from 2018 solved with forensic evidence

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Police Department has made an arrest in the 2018 murder of Candace Samples using forensic evidence. Kidus Yohannes, 34, was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Samples on Monday. 

Homicide investigations are sometimes long and complicated but we never rest, and cases are never “cold”. We have arrested Kidus Yohannes 34, for the 2018 murder of Candace Samples. #SLC #Arrest #Homicide pic.twitter.com/FFtTaK4Knl

— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) July 19, 2021

 

Investigators report that Yohannes stabbed Samples over two dozen times near a dollar store on 300 West in Salt Lake City. KSL TV reported when police arrived at the scene Samples and another man who had been stabbed were both in “very rough shape.”

Yohannes reportedly chased Samples from the Marmalade Library in Salt Lake City thinking she had his phone. 

Though firefighters pronounced Samples dead on the scene, both she and the male were taken to a nearby hospital. The male survived the incident and was able to give testimony that pointed to Yohannes. 

“These cases take a while,” said Salt Lake City Police Sergeant Keith Horrocks. “It’s not always because we don’t have any leads, it’s a matter of making sure evidence falls into place.”

In addition to the testimony, results from the Utah State Crime Lab came back showing Samples’ DNA on Yohannes’ clothes the night of the murder. 

Before the DNA evidence came through, though they were sure Yohannes committed the murder, investigators said they did not have the forensic evidence to support their theory. 

 

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