DNA Across State Lines: How a 1992 Chinatown Cold Case Exposed a Multi-State Serial Killer

In May 1992, the body of unhoused 45-year-old Nancy Hernandez was found beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled in a utility corridor off Hang Ah Alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown. More than three decades later, DNA evidence linked the crime to Ricky Dawson, a man already convicted or connected to similar sexual-assault murders in Florida, Colorado, and Washington. This episode examines the Hernandez case, the pattern of violence that stretched across four states, and how modern forensic work finally brought charges in the California cold case.