WKBN reporter Jeff Levkulich is being credited with helping put a murder suspect away for life.
“Through your work we were able to find the actual murder weapon in this case,” Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker told the reporter for the Youngstown, Ohio CBS affiliate.
Levkulich found the murder weapon, a knife, one day after the crime was committed.
The According to the BCI report, blood on that knife matched the victim’s DNA. It did not, however, have any DNA on it from the suspect.
Besides the knife, police found key evidence in Bufano’s cell phone which lead them to Brewer.
Warren Police Detective Wayne Mackey said they started matching names in Bufano’s contact list with people on Facebook. It eventually led them to a Starbucks coffee shop in Niles.
“She was able to provide us a name and a description,” Mackey said. “Just his first name, but we were able to find out his second name.”
Mackey said that information led them back to Brewer, as did DNA on a hat found at the crime scene. Police said they were able to get a confession out of Brewer when questioned.
“It just goes to show that you can have nothing and then all of a sudden, you have information,” Mackey said. “So more cases get solved by providing information than anything, and that is what happened in this case.”
Brewer is eligible for parole in 20 years, and prosecutors plan to object when that time comes.