Rape Kit Tested After 20 Years Leads To Reno Man's Murder Arrest

NEVADA - A rape kit that went untested for 20 years allowed a murderer to walk free. Now, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police think they have the man in custody who raped and killed 20-year old Nadia Iverson in 1997. Former Las Vegas police officer Arthur Sewall has been arrested and charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon and one count of sexual assault with a deadly weapon.

Sewall was arrested in Reno after a nine month investigation, which involved the results of the the untested rape kit, identified him as the suspect in the two decades old cold case. Police allege that he killed Iverson, who was found dead in a vacant apartment on May 8, 1997. Police say it appeared she was sexually assaulted and shot.

In 2015, Nevada received a grant from the New York Attorney General's office to address the state's backlog of untested rape kits. Iverson's rape kit was sent to lab for DNA tests in March 2016. Male DNA was identified from the rape kit in October 2016. The DNA was into the Combined DNA Index System in February 2017 matched Sewalls, a Metro press release said.

Sewall, 51, was with LVMPD from 1990-1997 before resigning in March 1997 after being arrested for sexual assault and oppression under the color of the law. Sewall was sentenced to five year in probation in 1999. Before his probation was set to expire in 2004, multiple violations were discovered and he ultimately served a year and a half in prison, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Metro detectives traveled to Reno on Jan. 11 to interview Sewall and on Jan. 12 a warrant was issued for his arrest. A Metro release said that Sewall was being transported to Clark County Detention Center from Reno. As of 11:15 on Thursday, his booking information had not been entered into CCDC's inmate database.

Images via LVMPD