Missouri store killing suspect linked to Tennessee murder

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Thirteen years after Sedley Alley was executed for a 1985 murder in Tennessee, his daughter is seeking DNA evidence testing of a Missouri murder suspect with ties to the same area.

Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck represents Alley's daughter, April Sedley.

Scheck told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Missouri authorities say Thomas Bruce took an avionics course in Millington, Tennessee, around the time that Suzanne Collins, a 19-year-old Marine, was killed in Millington. Bruce matches a vague suspect description distributed by police.

Bruce is jailed in St. Louis County, accused of sexually assaulting two women and killing a third in a Catholic Supply store in November.

Scheck argued Monday that she should be allowed to petition for new DNA testing on behalf of her father's estate.

Bruce's attorney declined comment.

___

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com