Spokane police arrested a 74-year-old man on Wednesday in connection with the 1986 killing of Mary Ann Turner, according to the Spokane Police Department. David Tibbett was taken into custody and booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree murder. Detectives served a search warrant at his home before the arrest, police said.
Source: KXLY 920 News Now — Spokane police arrest man in decades-old murder case, October 21, 2026
Officers found Turner, 32, dead in an alley near South Ivory Street and East Pacific Avenue on November 4, 1986, after responding at about 7:38 a.m. to a report of a person down in the roadway, police said. Investigators determined at the time that Turner had been killed. The Spokesman-Review reported that Turner had been searching for her runaway teenage daughter before she was found.
Victim: Mary Ann Turner, 32, found dead November 4, 1986, in an East Central Spokane alley. Arrest: David Tibbett, 74, on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Charge: second-degree murder (allegation). Police cite DNA evidence and early witness statements.
Police said detectives developed probable cause to charge Tibbett using DNA evidence and witness statements collected early in the investigation. No further detail about the DNA evidence was released.
The investigation into Turner's death remains ongoing, police said. The charge against Tibbett is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.