DNA Ties Bronx Man to 1986 Rape-Slay
A Bronx man has been matched by DNA to the horrific 1986 rape and murder of a Connecticut mother of four -- a crime for which another man wrongly did 20 years in prison, authorities said yesterday. Kevin Benefield, 45, was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court and remanded until a hearing slated for Tuesday, at which cops from Wallingford, Conn., are expected to seek his immediate extradition. Benefield's DNA is a near-perfect match to semen collected from the body of 30-year-old Barbara Pelkey, found naked and bludgeoned to death on Sept. 3, 1986, in a Wallingford office. Meridien record-journal Kevin Benefield, 1986. His arrest comes just four months after the release of Kenneth Ireland, 39, who was exonerated thanks to DNA tests that showed the semen recovered from Pelkey's body was not his. "I hope they have the right person this time so everyone can get to the end of this," said Pelkey's sister, Sharon Perono, 55. ...