Guilty plea in 28-year old Tacoma murder

DNA and a pack of cigarettes helped a Tacoma detective solve a nearly 30-year old cold case murder.

A pack of KOOL cigarettes was found outside Carol Davidson’s apartment in August 1986. Inside, the 46-year old woman was found bound, beaten and strangled to death.

Police learned that Christopher Smith smoked that brand of cigarettes when he was investigated for two previous rapes, in 1983 and 1984. Still, the case went cold.

Smith’s DNA got into the system when he was convicted in 2009 of rape and kidnapping. When the Davidson case was re-opened in 2012, a DNA hit pointed to Smith. Now 51 years old, he pleaded guilty Friday to second degree murder and faces sentencing next week.