Cold Case: 1990 homicide of Clarkston Teen reexamined
CLARKSTON, WA — Nearly 28 years ago, a Clarkston teen was stabbed to death in her own home. To this day her killer has never been arrested. No one knows who killed Toni Ann Tedder but local detectives have never given up, and now there’s new life into this cold case.
In 1990... Toni Tedder was just 18-years old. The Clarkston teen lived with her family on 500 block of 7th Street. But on July 28, her young life came to an end.
“Toni was asleep in her family's living room on the couch and somebody used a knife and stabbed her several times,” said Detective Sergeant Dryon Denny.
Stabbed her, police believe that a wooden handled knife used for filleting fish. The blade was six inches long. At the time, Clarkston police and detectives with the Washington State Patrol investigated. Over the years, they followed leads and conducted interviews. Reports turned into boxes of files, but no arrests have been made.
“It's still an active case for the police department.”
And now, in a small room inside Clarkston City Hall, Clarkston police detectives, and members of the Washington State Patrol Cold Case Unit are working together, giving Toni Tedder’s case fresh eyes. But they know it’s not going to be easy.
“It's tough. you know over 30 years, some people are no longer with us and reports and evidence weren't collected like they do nowadays they didn't have the technology we have nowadays so it's tough going back trying to recreate what happened 30 years ago,” said Denny.
Clarkston Police Detective Sergeant Bryon Denny said they’ll be starting from scratch, looking at each suspect, following the timeline of events, and going through each piece of evidence, hoping to find a clue that will lead them to Toni’s killer.
“If we could put all our effort into it and solve it to give the family some closure we'd love to do that for them,” said Denny.
Sergeant Denny said a few of the cold case detectives with the state patrol’s cold case team reached out to Clarkston police offering their help. If you have any information, you’re asked to call police at 758-1680.
