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Washington D.C.'s beloved activist Dennis Dolinger was stabbed to death in his Potomac Avenue home in June 1999. After a few failed attempts, police used the "cold hit" method to link DNA from the unidentified blood found at the crime scene to Raymond Jenkins' records, as per The Cinemaholic. Jenkins had already been arrested in Virginia at the time on unrelated burglary charges.
The process of bringing Jenkins to justice was complex. He was first charged with murder in January 2000 and stood trial years later in 2006, when he was found guilty of first-degree murder, among other charges. He was then sentenced to 30 years in prison but the sentencing was overturned in 2013.
Dennis Dolinger's case is slated to feature on ID's A Body in the Basement in an upcoming episode this Wednesday, August 23, 2023. The all-new episode titled Deadly Invitation will air on the channel at 9:00 pm ET.
The official synopsis reads:
"In 1999, a killer brutally murders well-known community activist and member of the gay community Dennis Dolinger in the basement of his Washington, DC, home. With DNA technology in its infancy, the race is on to find the culprit before they strike again."
Dennis Dolinger's murderer Raymond Jenkins died in prison in August 2021
In 2015, Jenkins pleaded guilty to reduced charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree murder, receiving consecutive sentences of five years and 21 years, respectively. He was also given credit for 15 years already served, which left him with 11 more years. The inmate died in federal prison in August 2021.
Several reports have previously highlighted the fact that Dennis Dolinger's alleged stabbing death from 1999 was solved using unidentified blood evidence found at the crime scene. Police initially believed that the killer, who reportedly stabbed Dolinger 25 times in the head and the neck, was injured during a possible struggle with him and was bleeding when he fled the scene.
The sample was taken from a trail of blood starting from the basement and leading throughout the house all the way to the front yard and the sidewalk.
Dolinger's body was found in the basement of his Potomac Avenue home on June 4, 1999. The house had been ransacked and several valuable items, including gold chains, a diamond ring, and money were stolen.
According to a report by Washington Bade, police sent the DNA sample from Dolinger's house to officials across the country to find a potential suspect, using the "cold hit" method of investigation. Raymond Jenkins, who was arrested and charged with an unrelated burglary in Virginia, was then linked to the murder after the sample matched his DNA from the database.
Moreover, the outlet reported that several witnesses were able to link Jenkins to the victim. The two frequently hung out at the Dupont Circle gay bar called The Fireplace. Police suspected that the victim willingly invited Jenkins over to his house since there were no signs of a break-in.
Raymond Jenkins' trial
The Washington Post reported that Raymond Jenkins had been arrested a few weeks after Dennis Dolinger's slaying and was finally charged with first-degree murder in January 2000 while he was already serving a prison term. His attorneys tried to delay the case by challenging the admission of the DNA sample discovered at the crime scene.
In June 2006, Jenkins was found guilty of felony first-degree murder, among other charges, and sentenced to 30 years in prison later that year. However, his sentence was overturned in 2013 on technical grounds. Two years later, he finally pleaded guilty to reduced charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree murder.
The convicted murderer's new sentence included five to fifteen years for the burglary charge and 20 years to life for murder. These sentences were further suspended, leaving him with consecutive terms of five years and 21 years, respectively, as per The Cinemaholic. He was also credited for 15 years already served, which left him with 11 more years. The federal inmate died on August 30, 2021, while serving his time behind bars.
ID's A Body in the Basement will further delve into Dennis Dolinger's murder case this Wednesday at 9 pm ET.
