Lorraine Benson's body was found beaten and strangled at Raynes Park, Surrey, in December 1988. Given the possibility of linked offenses, a murder squad was established to work with a team already investigating a series of rapes in the Kingston area. A man's handkerchief left at a site a quarter of a mile from the murder scene was found to be stained with blood and saliva that matched that of the victim. A DNA profile was obtained from a stain of nasal mucous on the handkerchief and found to match that of a suspect later arrested for an attempted rape in the same locality. Also of forensic interest were dust marks on the exterior of a car near the crime scene; these were determined to have been made by the zippers of the victim's and defendant's coats, apparently in a struggle. The rope used for strangulation was also identified. This was the first murder solved by DNA profiling conducted by the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory and the first recorded DNA profile from nasal secretions. 3 figures and 8 references (Author abstract modified)