The Portland Police Department announced today it has closed a 30-year-old homicide cold case.
Seventy-three-year-old Maude Holden died from smoke inhalation caused by a fire in her apartment building in 1994 that was later ruled an arson.
Thanks to new witness testimony in recent years, Lt. Nick Goodman said the department was able to pinpoint Vicki McMahan as the suspect.
Even though McMahan died two years ago, before the case could be brought to court, Goodman said he hopes it can bring some closure for the victim's family.
"Most of the people that we talk to that go through cold cases say it's like being stabbed and then being stitched, and you always have that scar there," he said.
Goodman said this case posed particular challenges, because of the lack of physical evidence.
"Arsons are hard to investigate," he said. "This isn't like a gun you can track or a knife that you can measure."
Goodman said the department has linked McMahan to a dozen arsons from the late 1980s through the mid-90s.
