LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A cold case involving a college student murdered more than 30 years ago has been solved — and the killer led investigators to Kentucky.

In 1987, Cathy Sposito, a 23-year-old college student, was hiking on the Thumb Butte Trail near Prescott, Arizona, on a summer day when she was attacked unprovoked.

Officials believe Bryan Scott Bennett, a 16-year-old high school junior, ambushed Sposito, hitting her in the head with a rock and a wrench and sexually assaulting her before killing her. They also believe he stabbed her in the head with the wrench and shot her in the eye with a .22 caliber gun.

Other hikers heard her scream for help, but were too late by the time they reached her, according to Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes.

Police connected Bennett to the case through DNA. In 2017, more advanced technology led investigators to a descendant of Bennett and linked him to a 1990 attack on the same trail. They then worked backwards to Sposito's case.

Investigators found Bennett had sexually assaulted three other women over the next several years, but they survived. 

Authorities believe he was responsible for a 1990 sexual assault of another woman on the same hiking trail during the same time of day as Sposito. Two months later, he allegedly locked a girl in a room at a house party and tried to sexually assault her. He was arrested, but later acquitted, according to Rhodes.

In 1993, Rhodes said Bennett allegedly kidnapped a woman at knifepoint at a post office and sexually assaulted her several times. She was rescued when police happened to pull over the car they were in. Rhodes said Bennett was arrested but never convicted of anything. 

In 1994, Bennett moved back to Kentucky where investigators discovered he died by suicide.

According to the Associated Press, authorities exhumed Bennett's body in November 2022, but it wasn't until March that investigators confirmed DNA found on the wrench used in Sposito's death belonged to him.

"Cathy, you're free. We're always going to be tied together and have a connection. She will be with me until the day I die," said Renee Sandoval, one of Bennett's victims. 

Officials said they hope other victims come forward.

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. The Associated Press also contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.