KENT COUNTY, Mich. — After 39 years, a man wanted for a Grand Rapids murder briefly appeared in court Monday.
Ronald Davis, 68, was arrested in December in connection to the death of Burnett Frierson, who was killed back on Sept. 4, 1985.
A wallet, the contents of a man's pockets and some other personal property was the motive for the bloody killing, investigators say.
A friend hadn't heard from Frierson, 48, and that's when he was found stabbed to death in his living room.
Forensics technicians found drops of blood in several areas of Frierson's house, including his bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. But it wasn't his.
Detectives at the time sent some of that blood to a lab to get tested. No dice. Authorities put that blood sample believed to be the suspect's into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), where it laid dormant.
Investigators got a match in August 2023.
Grand Rapids Police said Davis was arrested on an unrelated felony. Michigan law now requires those facing felony charges to give a DNA sample.
Detectives now believe they have their man.
The alleged killer lived less than two miles away from where Frierson was found stabbed to death inside his home 39 years ago.
When detectives went to question Davis at his home, he initially denied any knowledge of Frierson and the crime scene, court documents detail. But after more questions, he abruptly changed his story.
Davis admitted he was there at the time of the killing, and acknowledged the reason for the murder was robbery.
Police issued a warrant and arrested Davis on Dec. 19.
“Justice for Mr. Frierson has been a long time coming,” said Chief Eric Winstrom. “GRPD never considers an unsolved murder closed. I’m thankful for the professionalism and tenacity of our detectives—then and now.”
Davis is now lodged at the Kent County Correctional Facility on a $250,000 bond. He appeared in court on Monday, when his attorney requested an adjournment to go over evidence, which was granted.
Investigators are still looking for more information on this case. If you have anything that could help police, call Grand Rapids detectives at (616) 456-3380 or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345 or www.silentobserver.org.
As of September 2020, CODIS had aided in over 520,000 investigations nationwide, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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