Man was found dead almost 30 years ago, NC cops say. Now, nephew charged with murder
A man was “brutally” killed almost 30 years ago — and now his nephew is charged with murder, North Carolina officials said.
The cold case dates to May 7, 1994, when Edward Ware’s body was found after he was killed in his Reidsville home. His death went unsolved for years until DNA technology helped identify a suspect, the Reidsville Police Department and state officials said in WXII’s video from an Aug. 2 news conference.
Now, Ware’s nephew is accused in the homicide case. Police in a news release didn’t share attorney information for the man, identified as Johnny Ware.
N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein in a written statement praised investigators and the State Crime Lab for helping to make the arrest possible.
“It’s the commitment and dedication of these law enforcement officers and scientists to work this case over the years that we’re finally about to move this cold case forward in pursuit of justice for Edward Ware,” Stein wrote.
Though officials shared few details about Edward Ware’s death, they said he was well known in the Reidsville area.
Joseph Collins, a Reidsville police investigator who cited the suspect’s pending court case during the news conference, wouldn’t share how Edward Ware died or a potential motive for the killing. Officials said they found his accused killer after testing evidence with STRmix, a DNA software tool.
“This software allows us to go back and look at profiles that previously may have been developed that were not able to be interpreted at the time due to limitations on the science or the software available at the time,” Amanda Thompson, an assistant director with the State Crime Lab, said during the news conference.
Johnny Ware was in his early 20s at the time of his uncle’s death. Now, years later, he has been served an arrest warrant for first-degree murder in the death. He was served in Georgia, where he is in prison on an unrelated case, officials said.
Reidsville is roughly 25 miles northeast of Greensboro.
This story was originally published August 2, 2023 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Man was found dead almost 30 years ago, NC cops say. Now, nephew charged with murder."
