Texas College Sleuths Crack a Cold Case on First Try
Janie Perkins (Tarrant County Jail via CBS News)
Criminology students in Texas have scored a remarkable success, helping police secure an arrest in a decades-old murder case on their very first attempt.
The Arlington Police Department announced Monday that 63-year-old Janie Perkins had been arrested in connection with the 1991 murder of 25-year-old Cynthia Gonzalez, reports NBC News. The breakthrough came after students in the University of Texas at Arlington’s criminology department began reviewing the cold case file, eventually zeroing in on Perkins, according to KERA News.
“When we launched our cold case partnership with UTA, we always hoped for an outcome like this,” said Police Chief Al Jones. “I don’t think any of us expected lightning to strike the first time.”
Gonzalez, who worked as an adult entertainer, was last seen leaving her home to meet a client. Her body was discovered five days later in rural Johnson County, shot multiple times. Although Perkins had been a person of interest—reportedly lacking an alibi, failing two polygraph tests, and having expressed animosity toward Gonzalez—no charges were filed at the time. The case went cold partly because the department lacks a dedicated cold case unit and could only revisit old cases when resources allowed. Even a 2024 review by a homicide detective yielded no new leads.
The UTA students, who had access to case files but not physical evidence, discovered that Perkins and Gonzalez had shared a romantic partner. That partner had left Perkins for Gonzalez just weeks before the murder. Perkins had previously told police she was glad Gonzalez was dead and had contemplated harming her. After the students’ review, police revisited the case and uncovered witness statements indicating Perkins admitted involvement and knew details of the crime not released to the public. These statements aligned with existing evidence.
Perkins was arrested on November 6 and now faces a capital murder charge. Gonzalez’s daughter, who was six when her mother was killed, expressed gratitude for the students’ efforts, saying she is “so grateful for this program and so proud of these students at UTA.”
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