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Suspect in 1996 sexual assault dies awaiting trial

Suspect in 1996 sexual assault dies awaiting trial

The man charged last year in the 1996 sexual assault of a New Westminster grandmother has died while awaiting trial at a pretrial centre, New Westminster police announced Wednesday.

James Gray, 48, was arrested and charged last year after police used DNA evidence to link him to the attack on 79-year-old Dorothy Darnel. Darnel was viciously attacked as she lay sleeping in her home during the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 1996.

Last week, the NWPD received notification that Mr. Gray had died while in custody at a pretrial centre, said a statement released by police.

The B.C. Coroners Service said it is still in the early stages of investigating the death and has yet to release any information on how Gray died.

"It is unfortunate that Mr. Gray will not face these matters in a court of law," said Sgt. Jeff Scott. "However we are satisfied with the hard work of many investigators which advanced this file to a stage where we were able to arrest and charge Mr. Gray for the attack on Ms. Darnell back in 1996."

The break in the case came in March of 2016, when police found a DNA link between a suspect from 1996 and a recent break and enter in Coquitlam, leading to the arrest of Gray.