The Sacramento Police Department has arrested 57-year-old Robert Blockton for the 1980 murder of Charles Redmond.

On November 3, 1980, at 5:30 a.m., Charles Redmond was found stabbed to death at Miller Park.  Witnesses reported seeing Robert Blockton with the victim hours before the murder took place.  At that time, homicide detectives identified Robert Blockton as a possible suspect.  Redmond and Blockton were known to associate with each other.   Detectives put together a case and in 1981, arrested Blockton for murder.  The charges were eventually dropped and Robert Blockton was released.

This investigation remained unsolved and inactive until 2007 when Cold Case Homicide Detectives began the process of reviewing the investigative file.  Detectives discovered several pieces of evidence taken from the victim during the autopsy that had never been processed for DNA.  These items were submitted to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Crime Lab for analysis.  Criminalists were able to harvest a partial DNA profile belonging to the possible suspect.

In 2010, detectives learned that Robert Blockton was in-custody on unrelated charges.  Detectives contacted him and obtained a DNA sample.  The DNA profile found on the victim and the DNA sample obtained from Robert Blockton were compared and found to be a match.

Armed with this new information, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Robert Blockton.  Blockton was arrested earlier today, at his home, in the 7000 block of Greenhaven Drive, and later booked into the Sacramento County Jail for murder.