New Jersey State Police say renewed DNA testing and investigative work have identified a suspect in the 1982 killing of an East Orange man, more than four decades after the case went unsolved.

State Police identified the suspect as Larry Burney, formerly of East Orange, who died in 2005 while incarcerated at South Woods State Prison.

William Jenkins was found dead inside his apartment at 244 Halsted St. in East Orange on April 20, 1982. Police said Jenkins was lying face down next to his bed with his hands and feet bound. He had been stabbed multiple times.

The East Orange Police Department and Essex County Prosecutor's Office initially investigated the killing. In 2024, the prosecutor's office asked the State Police Cold Case Unit for assistance with the still-unsolved case.

Investigators submitted an item of evidence associated with an unknown male DNA profile to Othram, a private forensic laboratory, for testing that could be used for investigative genetic genealogy.

In June 2026, State Police and the FBI used investigative genetic genealogy to narrow the unknown DNA contributor to one of three brothers with ties to Newark, according to State Police. State Police said subsequent investigative work identified Burney as the primary suspect.

Investigators later obtained a DNA reference sample associated with Burney. State Police said a direct comparison confirmed Burney was the source of the unknown male DNA profile recovered from evidence in the Jenkins homicide investigation.

State Police did not identify the item of evidence from which the original DNA profile was recovered or say how investigators obtained the reference sample associated with Burney.

Anyone with information about Jenkins' killing can contact the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit at 1-833-4NJ-COLD or the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Anonymous tips are accepted.