Man convicted in 30-year-old rape, murder

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) - A central Florida man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 30-year-old rape and murder.

The Ledger (https://goo.gl/dN55yb ) reports that Carl McCauley was sentenced Thursday after being found guilty of first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Authorities say Karen Watson’s husband found her dead body at their Lake Alfred home in March 1987.

Polk County detectives developed McCauley as a suspect in 2014 while investigating Watson’s murder as a cold case and matched his DNA to the crime scene.

McCauley testified that he had sex with Watson at the home, but she was alive when he left. Defense attorneys claimed Watson’s husband, who died in 2014, killed her after discovering the affair.

Prosecutors say the husband was about 20 miles away at the time of the killing, and DNA testing later cleared him completely.

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Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), https://www.theledger.com