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Report: Suspect in 1988 Pennsylvania murder arrested in Austin

Helen Vogt, 76, was found stabbed to death in her Erie, Pennsylvania, home more than 30 years ago.

AUSTIN, Texas — The grandson of a woman killed in Pennsylvania almost exactly 34 years ago was arrested in Austin after being charged with her murder, according to a report from KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman.

Helen Vogt, 76, was found dead in her Erie, Pennsylvania, home in 1988. She had been stabbed over 50 times with two kitchen knives and a two-pronged fork.

Investigators allege her grandson, 55-year-old Jeremy C. Brock, killed her.

The Statesman reports that authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Austin and Erie police departments, arrested Brock at his job on Monday, July 25, and booked him into the Travis County Jail. 

Brock is expected to be extradited to Pennsylvania, where he will face charges of homicide, burglary, robbery and "other related charges," the Erie County District Attorney's Office said.

The Statesman report states that when authorities arrived at Vogt's home back on July 23, 1988, they discovered a house in disarray with "blood splattered from the kitchen to the bathroom." Several of Vogt's belongings were missing.

At the time of the murder, Brock was 21 years old. The Statesman reports that he remained a suspect for years, but no charges were filed.

DNA evidence was taken from the scene and a search warrant was obtained to gather blood, saliva, hair and handprint samples from Brock in 1990. The analysis was not able to pinpoint a suspect or lead to an arrest.

Credit: Austin Police Department
Jeremy C. Brock, 55

However, samples of blood taken from Vogt's home were retested this year and police said the DNA was consistent "with a mixture of Helen Vogt and Jeremy Brock's DNA." 

Prior to her death, the Statesman reports that Vogt made changes to her will that intended to leave half of her estate to her daughter, with the rest to be split between her grandchildren, including Brock.

The Statesman reports that Brock, a San Marcos resident, was taken into custody without incident in Austin on Monday and is being held on an extradition warrant. Records show he remains in the Travis County Jail as of Thursday afternoon.

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