DNA links prison inmate to 11-year-old murder

A DNA test has linked a man already serving time for murder with an 11-year-old homicide.

Vernon White is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault in the death of 29-year-old Kenneth Williams. White was ordered held without bail.

Prosecutors say Williams and White's employer, Dree Denton, had competing drug-dealing operations.

According to prosecutors, White and two others, armed with guns and wearing masks, entered Williams' Calumet City home early on March 27, 1996. The men searched the house and found roughly $100,000 in cash, which they turned over to Denton.

During the exchange, Denton told White that he had killed Williams. White allegedly helped Denton dispose of the body.

During the robbery, White allegedly raped a woman living in the house.

A DNA sample collected from the rape was matched to White.