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DC police make arrest in 1993 murder of Southeast woman

Nearly three decades after a 39-year-old woman was strangled to death in Southeast, D.C. police have arrested and charged a man with her murder.

Debra McManus, of Southeast, was found dead on Oct. 23, 1993, in a wooded area near 4th Street and Trenton Street, police said.

On Thursday, police arrested and charged 58-year-old William Ransford, of Southeast, with second degree murder in her death.



According to an autopsy, McManus died after being choked and her death was ruled a homicide.

Police didn’t offer any information about a possible motive or what lead them to charge Ransford in the murder decades after the crime.

Here’s a map of the area where the crime happened.

[google_map latitude=”38.8403″ longitude=”-77.0005″ zoom=”13″ height=”300px” location_label=”crime scene” dynamic_map=”false”]

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