Robeson deputy's decision to fingerprint man helps crack unsolved California homicide

Deputy John Blount said Thursday that he decided to fingerprint Kevin Thomas Ford in October 2015 in addition to taking him before a magistrate all because of a State Bureau of Investigation memo he had read.

"The SBI had sent us a memo that, [for] certain warrants, that we needed to start fingerprinting," Blount said. "I said, 'Well, I better make sure.' So I just fingerprinted him just in case, just to be safe than sorry."

Ford was charged with communicating threats after employees of the Primary Care of St. Pauls medical office said he had threatened them.

The fingerprints were entered into a national database, and investigators in San Diego recently matched the left ring fingerprint to one left at the scene of a rape and murder in 1987.

Grace Hayden, 79, was found dead in her home on May 20, 1987. Authorities said she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Investigators found the single fingerprint on her stove but had never been able to match it. After getting the hit on Ford's fingerprint, authorities were also able to match Ford's DNA to evidence collected from Hayden.

Ford, 62, of 3884 N.C. Highway 20 West in St. Pauls, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder. He waived extradition to California in a hearing Thursday morning and remains in the Robeson County jail until San Diego can pick him up and return him to California.

"Even after 31 years, I don't know how he could have not known that, one day, somebody would knock on his door and say, 'Time's up,'" said said Erich Hackney, an investigator with the Robeson County District Attorney's Office.

Blount shrugged off praise of going beyond the call of duty, saying he just did his job.

"[I'm happy] just knowing that somebody was brought to justice or could be brought to justice," he said. "I just hope the family gets closure by this."