Sketch Of 1992 Cold Case Murder Suspect Released By Police

COMUS, MD — Montgomery County Police released a composite sketch depicting a man who they believe was involved in a 25-year-old unsolved homicide of a Comus store owner.

On March 22, 1992, a customer at the Sugarloaf Mountain Market at 23800 Old Hundred Road in Comus found the owner of the market, 57-year-old James Essel, deceased inside the store. Essel had been stabbed multiple times and The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide, police said.

A DNA profile of the suspect was obtained from the blood evidence that the suspect left at the scene. The DNA profile was entered into a national database in 1992 but as of yet, there has been no match.

Detectives recently sought the services of Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia that specializes in DNA phenotyping, the process of predicting physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence.

Parabon’s Shapshot DNA Phenotyping Service produced a composite (referred to as a Snapshot composite) depicting how the suspect in this case may have looked. Individual predictions were made for the subject’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape.

The below composite shows what the suspect may have looked like as a 25-year-old man with an average body-mass index of 22. NOTE: These default values were used because age and BMI cannot be determined from DNA.

The below composite shows what the victim may look like now — at approximately 50 years of age with an average body-mass index of 23:

Authorities believe the suspect is a Native American man who would now be about 50 years old. They believe the man smoked Marlboros or Marlboro Lights and drove a black Pontiac Fiero. A witness observed the Pontiac Fiero in the parking lot of the store during the time frame of the murder.

Investigators believe Essel was stabbed to death inside the store during an apparent robbery. Evidence at the store indicated Essel struggled with the unknown male suspect and blood left by the suspect supports the theory that the suspect sustained an injury during the struggle.

With the release of the suspect composite, detectives are hoping someone will recognize the suspect and call the Police Department. Anyone with information regarding the suspect or anyone that believes he/she may have details that might advance this investigation is urged to contact the Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070. For those who wish to remain anonymous, Crime Solvers of Montgomery County is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the suspect(s). Tipsters can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Photos: Sketch, James Essel, example of a black Pontiac Fiero and Sugarloaf Mountain Market at the time of the homicide, courtesy of the Montgomery County Police Department