GUILTY MN - Dustin Baity, 20, & Carrie Richter, 18, murdered, Minneapolis, 24 Dec 1998

Sheriff’s Sgt. Shawn Applegate of the Interstate Crime Enforcement Unit stopped driver Jason Preston, 35, of Lawndale, California, on a traffic violation Jan. 8, 2013, on Interstate 24, according to the release.. Applegate’s K-9 partner, Jett, alerted to the presence of marijuana.

Through his investigation, Sgt. Applegate recovered about $300,000 worth of stolen jewelry from the car Preston drove and found he was wanted for aggravated robbery of a mother and son in Culver City, California.

After being extradited to California, Preston underwent a DNA test linking him to the double murder of victims Dustin Baity, 20, and Carrie Richter, 18, on Christmas Eve 1998 in Minneapolis, according to the release.

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A Hennepin County Grand Jury indicted 35-year-old Jason Preston on first- and second-degree murder charges in the case. Carrie Ann Richter, 18, and Dustin Baity, 20, were murdered on Christmas Eve in 1998 in a Northeast Minneapolis home. Both had been strangled and Richter was also stabbed, according to authorities.

Investigators were able to match DNA from a blood drop at the scene to Preston.

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A 37-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murder after DNA linked him to a 1998 Minnesota cold case.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says Jason Richard Preston pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder this week for the deaths of Dustin Baity and Carrie Richter.

Four counts of first-degree murder were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Preston is expected to be sentenced to 48 years in prison on Jan. 6.

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During his plea hearing, Preston told the two families he was “truly sorry” for their loss.

“I just pray they have some closure today,” he said.

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Preston, still serving a prison sentence in the California home invasion when he was charged in the Minneapolis murders, admitted in court last November that he had been at Baity’s apartment when an argument ensued over an unpaid drug debt. In his rage, he said, he strangled Baity with a cord, but insisted that he hadn’t killed Richter, saying instead that he pinned her down while an unidentified assailant stabbed her to death — a disclosure that came as a surprise to prosecutors, who said Preston had never previously mentioned an accomplice.

Last week, Preston was sentenced to 48 years in prison.

Baity’s sister, Dawn Baity, of Minneapolis, said Friday that Preston’s sentencing brought the family some relief. But, she added, “It’s kind of bittersweet.

“You know they wouldn’t want you to be sad. You can decide to enjoy things twice as much,” once for yourself and once for them, she said.

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