DNA may link Philadelphia man accused of slashing people on trail to a cold-case killing, police say

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a man accused of slashing people with a large knife while riding a bicycle on a rail trail in Philadelphia is now a person of interest in the cold-case slaying of a medical student that occurred among a series of high-profile sexual assaults two decades ago. Forty-six-year-old Elias Diaz is charged with aggravated assault and other counts in the recent attacks on the Pennypack Park Trail. Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford Jr. said Diaz’s DNA appeared to connect him to the 2003 strangulation killing of a medical student in Fairmount Park and perhaps to other attacks there. Charges are pending final confirmation of the link. The Defender Association of Philadelphia declined comment.