Ex-Pasco officer arrested in 1986 slaying

SPOKANE — Spokane police have arrested a former Pasco police officer in connection with a cold case homicide that occurred in 1986.

Detectives took 51-year-old Richard Aguirre into custody Tuesday after a court hearing in the Tri-Cities. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on one count of first-degree murder.

Spokane police last month identified Aguirre through a DNA match as a suspect in the killing of 27-year-old Ruby Doss.

Police collected DNA samples from the Doss murder scene, but did not get a match until recently when Aguirre’s DNA was entered into the system as part of a rape investigation.

Aguirre has pleaded not guilty in Franklin County to charges he raped a woman in Pasco in November.

Police say Aguirre was linked to the homicide case after he voluntarily submitted DNA during the rape investigation.

According to court documents, detectives believe Aguirre and Doss got into a fight after a sexual encounter on the night of the slaying, KREM-TV reported. Authorities allege Aguirre hit Doss twice on the back of the head then strangled her.

Aguirre’s attorney, Scott Johnson, told the Tri-City Herald that Aguirre may have had an encounter with Doss but that he is not connected to her killing.