Suspect charged in 1988 cold case murder in Florida

Digital Content Producer

A suspect is facing charges in Florida in the murder of Diane Matthews, 38 years later.

The Orlando Police Department has charged Willie Carpenter with first-degree murder.

Through new technology and modern DNA testing, detectives were able to establish probable cause, OPD said.

Carpenter was arrested on Thursday, July 9, by U.S. Marshals in North Carolina. He is waiting to be extradited to Orlando, police said.

Matthews was found murdered in September 1988 inside the answering service where she worked in downtown Orlando.

Her injuries were so severe that police were unable to identify her by her appearance, but instead identified her by her hair.

Detectives collected DNA and other evidence from the scene at the time. However, DNA technology was not routinely used in criminal investigations, police said.

Detectives preserved the evidence and continued to pursue leads for years, but no suspect was identified, and the case eventually went cold.

Carpenter was arrested in North Carolina in an unrelated case two decades later, and Carpenter’s DNA was identified as a potential match to the DNA collected in Matthews’ case.

Detectives interviewed Carpenter in 2013, during which he denied knowing Matthews and declined to provide a DNA sample, police said.

He was interviewed again in 2024 and provided a DNA sample, which police said allowed investigators to conduct additional testing with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Detectives sought an arrest warrant for Carpenter this year, and he was arrested.