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Last updated on Saturday, June 15, 2013
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The man who confessed to killing a 16-year-old girl in 1989 is now on his way to prison.
It was a cold case until police linked evidence to the victim's family friend Rodney Denk.
When the mother of murder victim Amy Weidner addressed the court Friday morning, several of her relatives cried in court.
Amy Weidner died during a burglary at their Indianapolis home in 1989. The burglar stumbled across the 16-year-old and killed her so there would be no witnesses to his crime.
Investigators now say the bloody palm print left at the crime scene belongs to Rodney Denk. They also have matched up DNA to the 41-year-old.
The victim's family packed the courtroom to witness his plea agreement of 50 years for murder and 15 years for sexual assault.
The victim's mother says Denk was like family to them.
Denk became even more of a suspect last year when investigators tried to talk to him and he refused, left town and ignored their phone calls.
Prosecutors say after 24 years this case also gives hope to other cold cases.
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