Massachusetts police made a spud-tacular break Friday in a decade-old cold-case murder — thanks to a sweet potato.
Authorities finally arrested a suspect Friday in the Feb. 27, 2011, shooting death of Todd Lampley, after cops found the alleged killer’s DNA on a sweet potato left at the scene, the Cape Cod Times reported.
Devarus Hampton, of Mashpee, was arraigned Monday in Barnstable District Court on charges of murder, assault, and battery with a deadly weapon, WCVB said.
Hampton, 40, pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
Lampley, 31, was declared dead after he was shot through the bedroom window of his Hyannis home.
Police found three shell casings, a black cellphone, and a sweet potato with a hole through it at the scene, ABC News reported. Investigators reportedly found Hampton’s DNA on the sweet potato.
“The sweet potato appears to be used as a silencer,” First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Elumba told the outlet.
In court, prosecutors recalled a scene in the hit HBO series “The Wire” when a sweet potato was used to mask a gunshot. The cellphone found at the scene of the shooting was also registered under the name Marlo Stanfield, one of the characters on the show.
“It’s an interesting fact pattern,” Elumba told ABC News.
At the time of the murder, Hampton was reportedly wearing a GPS tracking bracelet. Police were subsequently able to tie his GPS location to Lampley’s home, the Cape Cod Times said.
According to Elumba, Hampton’s location records also placed him at the lake where the gun used in the murder was discarded and later fished out by civilians.
Despite the apparently ample evidence against Hampton, prosecutors declined to comment on why it took 12 years to arrest him.
“I can’t make a specific comment on the delay. The evidence was assessed as of now,” Assistant District Attorney Russell Eonas told the Cape Cod Times.
Hampton’s court-appointed attorney, Edward Fogarty, told the outlet he planned to launch a “vigorous defense.”
“It is a very old case,” he continued.
“After review of whatever the Commonwealth now says they have as evidence, we’re confident it will result in his innocence.”
Though Hampton’s possible motive remains unclear, he and Lampley were familiar with each other.
During a 2010 trial, Hampton implicated Lampley in the 2007 shooting death of Jacques Sellers in Hyannis.
Hampton’s testimony, which contradicted his previous statements, was “jaw-dropping,” one attorney told the Cap Cod Times at the time.
Hampton was also charged with child rape and another, non-fatal shooting in 2008.
He is due back in Barnstable County court on April 5.
