DNA links man in Nevada to 20-year-old murder

Using new DNA technology, prosecutors have charged a man with killing and then burning the body of his high school friend in Sunset Beach more than 20 years ago.

Robert Haugen, 29, whom authorities say was a marijuana dealer, was stabbed 18 times in his apartment Oct. 24, 1988. The killer then lit Haugen’s body on fire to destroy the evidence, and fled the scene.

Blood belonging to the victim and an unknown second person was collected at the scene, authorities said, but the case went cold.

Paul Gentile Smith, 48, of Long Beach, was arrested in 2007 in Nevada on suspicion of domestic violence, and has been held without bail on a probation violation.

After his DNA was entered into a national database, it was linked in late January to the blood found in Haugen’s apartment, authorities said.

Smith was expected to be extradited soon from Nevada on charges including one felony count of murder and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.

He faces life in prison if convicted, authorities said.

— Candice Baker