A father and stepmother have been arrested for the murder of their 5-year-old son nearly 35 years after he was killed, authorities announced.

Victor Lee Turner and Megan R. Turner (formerly known as Pamela K. Turner) were taken into custody at their Cross Hill, South Carolina, home on Wednesday and charged with the cold case murder of Justin Lee Turner, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis.

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In 2021, Justin's cold case file was reviewed to see if the evidence could be reevaluated using new technology, the sheriff said. Several pieces of evidence led to this week's arrests ... including that investigators were able to narrow down time of death based on contents in Justin's stomach and investigators used new forensic testing to "tie in the murder weapon that we believe was used to strangle Justin to clothing and fabric on his clothing at the time of his death."

Forensic analysis found that a ligature recovered from the Turners' home was likely the weapon used to strangle Justin, and when the Turners learned that evidence, including the ligature, was taken from the home, they allegedly "expressed concern and devised a plan to withhold/conceal potential evidence," the probable cause affidavit said. The Turners allegedly "uttered spontaneous incriminating statements to indicate responsibility in the death of the victim and intent to conceal physical evidence," the document said.