Man arrested in 2004 murder of woman whose body was in car trunk

A 71-year-old Alhambra man was arrested in connection with a 2004 slaying after DNA evidence allegedly linked him to the crime.

Richard Allan Munnecke was arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of Donna Lee Kelly, 59, whose body was found in the truck of her car three weeks after she was reported missing in April 2004, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Her body was found by her daughter as she drove through Eaton Canyon in Pasadena and "smelled a foul odor emanating from the trunk," the department said in a statement. "She looked inside and found her mother's decomposed body."

Kelly had been romantically involved with Munnecke, who was married, according to authorities.

The case had gone cold until detectives recently gathered new evidence and obtained a DNA sample from Munnecke. He was being held Wednesday night in lieu of $1-million bail.

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--Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx) and Robert J. Lopez (twitter.com/LAJourno)

Photo: Richard Allan Munnecke. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department