More than three decades after a woman was sexually assaulted at knifepoint inside her home, DNA evidence has resulted in charges being laid against a 65-year-old Alberta man.

The assault occurred in June 1992 in the community of Two Hills, a central Alberta town about 140 kilometres east of Edmonton.

RCMP said officers were called after a woman, then in her early 30s, was attacked by a stranger at her home while her children were present. 

DNA was recovered at the scene but no suspects were immediately identified, RCMP say.

Case went cold

Police continued to revisit the investigation but, as the years passed, the case grew cold, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mathew Howell said in an interview Wednesday. 

A suspect was identified in 2021 but evidence on file at the time was considered insufficient to proceed with charges, Howell said. 

A breakthrough came in 2023 when a familial match for the DNA recovered from the scene was identified by RCMP. 

RCMP said the match was identified through investigative genetic genealogy, a modern investigative technique that relies on genetic data from crime scene samples and DNA databases to identify suspects. 

Investigators pore through existing criminal databases for people who may be part of their suspect’s family.

In the Two Hills case, investigators found a profile for a relative of the accused.

“Someone within the family tree had a similar DNA to the DNA found for the suspect,” Howell said. 

“Using that investigative genetic genealogy, they were able to narrow down the suspect, which led to the arrest.” 

The partial match allowed police to obtain a warrant to compare the suspect’s DNA with the genetic material recovered from the scene in Two Hills 32 years ago.

Leonard Peter Paulencu, a 65-year-old resident of Two Hills, has been charged with sexual assault with a weapon and break and enter to commit indictable offence. 

The suspect was arrested and charged on Monday, RCMP said.

Paulencu was brought before a justice of the peace and remanded into custody. He is scheduled to appear in the St. Paul Court of Justice on Thursday. 

The accused and his victim, a woman who is now 62,  were not known to each other, Howell said. 

‘No case is really closed’

Howell said the use of DNA technology has been instrumental in resolving cold cases across the country, helping police agencies to identify victims and bringing suspects to justice, sometimes decades after a crime has occurred. 

“Investigative genetic genealogy has been a breakthrough,” he said.

“Hopefully, the more we use this technology, the more we’re able to develop it and to develop this database, the more we’ll be able to solve these crimes and, once again, give closure to that chapter of a victim’s life.” 

Howell said the case is a reminder that RCMP are committed to resolving violent crimes and there is always hope that new investigative techniques will allow police to identify a perpetrator, no matter how time has passed. 

“No case is really closed,” he said.