Keri Coles for Oak Bay B次元官网网址

Caleb Hutton for the Daily Herald

A SeaTac man appeared in a Snohomish County courtroom Tuesday to plead not guilty to the 1987 murders of a young Victoria-area couple.

As family members of the victims watched, William Earl Talbott II, 55, unshackled and wearing a white dress shirt and blue tie, entered the plea before Superior Court Judge Millie Judge.

Talbott is charged with the aggravated murders of Jay Cook, 20, and Tanya van Cuylenborg, 18. The Oak Bay High School sweethearts were killed 30 years ago during a road trip from Victoria to Seattle.

Cold for 30 years, the case had a breakthough last month when DNA samples from the scene where van Cuylenborg was killed led to a first-degree murder charge for Talbott on May 17.

Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Cook hopped on the Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles on Nov.18, 1987, for a quick trip to Seattle. They never came home. Their bodies were found a few days later B次元官网网址� van CuylenborgB次元官网网址檚 on a rural road in Skagit County, sexually assaulted and shot in the back of the head, CookB次元官网网址檚 further south in Snohomish County near High Bridge and Monroe Prison, beaten and strangled.

While the DNA evidence was enough to charge Talbott with van CuylenborgB次元官网网址檚 death, detectives continued to gather and process evidence and interview witnesses related to the investigation of CookB次元官网网址檚 murder.

Talbott is now charged with both.

On Friday, the second count of aggravated first-degree murder was filed against William Talbott II in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Talbott was 24-years-old at the time of the alleged crime and lived in the Woodinville area of Washington State. His parentsB次元官网网址� home was approximately 10 km from where CookB次元官网网址檚 body was found.

Former friends of Talbott have come forward to say they knew him when he was a delivery driver in Seattle in 1987. One of TalbottB次元官网网址檚 routes at the time went along Sixth Avenue S. in SoDo B次元官网网址� a destination van Cuylenborg and Cook had in mind when they disappeared, according to the charges.

Another friend had been a roommate in 1987, until Talbott lost his job and moved back to his parentsB次元官网网址� home off Woodinville-Duvall Road. The man recalled seeing a van B次元官网网址� the same style of distinctive bronze Ford Club Wagon that was taken by the killer B次元官网网址� at the Talbott home that year, according to the charges.

After the slayings, Van CuylenborgB次元官网网址檚 Minolta camera was missing.

TalbottB次元官网网址檚 friend said they were avid about photography. Earlier in 1987, he and Talbott had driven about six miles from the parentsB次元官网网址� home to High Bridge to snap photos. They walked along the river until they reached a vantage point where they could see the Monroe prison. They took a photo. Talbott told him to hang onto the picture.

He kept it for more than 30 years. This year he dug it out and handed it over to a detective.

New DNA technology led to a breakthrough. A genealogist, CeCe Moore, worked with experts at Parabon NanoLabs to build a family tree for the suspect, based on the genetic evidence recovered from the crime scene. They used data that had been uploaded by distant cousins to public genealogy websites. They pinpointed a suspect B次元官网网址� Talbott.

Police kept him under surveillance until a paper cup fell from his truck in Seattle in early May. A swab of DNA from the cup came back as a match to the evidence. Before then, Talbott had never been considered a suspect. Days later he was in handcuffs.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.

TalbottB次元官网网址檚 next hearing was set for July 18.

With files from Caleb Hutton, reporting from Everett, WA.

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