The Nevada Sagebrush

Click here for a photo gallery highlighting the Brianna Denison investigation.

 

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James Michael Biela, 27, of Sparks, was arrested Tuesday evening as a suspect in the abduction and murder of Brianna Denison and in connection with a Dec. 16 sexual assault near the University of Nevada, Reno, police said Wednesday.

Biela, who works in construction, is charged with open murder in the Denison case and with first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault charges with the December assault.

Denison, a 19-year-old former Reno resident, went missing from 1395 Mackay Court on Jan. 20. Her body was found Feb. 15 in an undeveloped south Reno lot.

Police also found a connection between Biela and a November 2007 sexually-motivated attack. No connection has been found in the October 2007 sexual assault at UNR, police said.

Biela became a suspect Nov. 1 after Reno police received an anonymous tip from a friend of Biela’s girlfriend. According to the tip, the girlfriend had found a pair of women’s underwear in Biela’s truck during a trip from Washington, where Biela was working.

Biela refused to give police a DNA sample. A sample was then taken from his 4-year-old son. An analysis found that the DNA of the boy’s father matched the DNA found on Denison’s body and was a partial match to the DNA found outside the house where she was abducted from.

It is unknown if Biela was working at any construction projects in the UNR area at the time of the attacks.