The Beer Cans That Solved a 1996 Store Killing

Timeline

1. Feb 3, 1996

   Terence Paquette is found killed inside the Lil' Champ store where he worked the overnight shift.²⁴

2. 2003

   The case is re-examined; DNA testing excludes earlier persons of interest but no match is found.¹

3. 2019

   The Orange County Sheriff's Office asks FDLE for help; FDLE contracts Othram for genealogy-grade DNA testing.¹

4. Nov 2, 2021

   Kenneth Robert Stough Jr., 54, of Eustis, is arrested after DNA from discarded beer cans matches the crime-scene profile.²⁵

5. Aug 25, 2023

   A jury finds Stough guilty of first-degree murder with a weapon; he is sentenced to life in prison.³⁴

Key facts

Each one checked against a source.

• Investigators said the attacker's blood was found throughout the store, but it had no database match for 25 years.²
• Genetic genealogy narrowed the search to a family of brothers; Stough had worked at the store and lived nearby.²
• Detectives obtained his DNA from beer cans he threw away at a Lake County gas station.²⁵
• Stough was convicted of first-degree murder with a weapon and sentenced to life in prison.³⁴
• News outlets spell the victim's first name Terence, Terrence or Terrance; Terence Leslie Paquette is used here as reported at sentencing.⁴

Open questions

1. Investigators have not publicly detailed a motive for the 1996 robbery and killing.

Why it stands out

A 25-year-old case with the killer's blood at the scene but no database match, cracked when genetic genealogy pointed to a family and detectives collected beer cans he threw away at a gas station.