Webster O'Neal Steele, 40, is charged with murder and breaking and entering. The charges were filed one day short of the five-year anniversary of Shirley Ann Pounds' death.
Pounds was found inside her home at 803 Davinci St. on Aug. 22, 2001. A Magnavox VCR, a Sony PlayStation and Pounds' 1993 Hyundai Sonata were missing from the home.
Steele, who lived two blocks from Pounds and was acquainted with her, was arrested a week later after police found the missing car on Umstead Street, and he later pleaded guilty to possession of the stolen car, police said.
He was charged with murder after investigators from the Durham Police Department's Homicide Unit recently re-opened the cold case. The arrest marks the seventh cold case homicide cleared this year by the unit.
Steele was brought to Durham Monday from the Tillery Correctional Center in Halifax County, where he is serving time for breaking and entering and possession of burglary tools.
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