Fingerprint on CD Case Leads to Arrest 25 Years Later

By Jordan Reyes. Sep 21, 2026

A Cold Case Reopens

A fingerprint found on a CD case inside a stolen getaway van helped investigators make an arrest in a Charlotte homicide that had gone unsolved for 25 years, according to police records reported by People.

Alan Marquis Phifer, 43, was arrested Aug. 31 and charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the 2001 death of Cesar Gudino Gonzalez, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. The charges are allegations, and Phifer has not been convicted.

Gonzalez was 21 when he was killed. His death remained unresolved for decades before detectives returned to the physical evidence collected during the original investigation.

The 2001 Attack Left One Man Dead

Police were called to the 3700 block of North Sharon-Amity Road in Charlotte on March 24, 2001, after an assault involving several victims. Officers found three people suffering from gunshot wounds and two others who had been physically assaulted, according to CMPD.

Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene. The two other shooting victims survived after being taken to a hospital.

Investigators worked the case for years, but no arrest was made and the homicide eventually became a cold case. Police said the file remained open even as the trail grew older.

Old Evidence Produced a New Lead

The CMPD Cold Case Unit formally picked the investigation back up on Jan. 29, 2026. Less than two weeks later, detectives received a laboratory report that police said implicated Phifer.

People, citing an affidavit, reported that four fingerprints connected to the crime scene and a stolen van used after the attack were identified as belonging to Phifer. One of those prints was found on a CD case inside the recovered van.

The detail gave investigators something unusually concrete to work with: an ordinary object preserved from a crime scene that could be reevaluated with updated fingerprint analysis decades later.

CMPD said detectives continued conducting interviews and additional laboratory testing after receiving the February report.

The cold-case review also shows why preserved evidence can matter long after an investigation stalls. Items that produced no useful identification in 2001 could be compared again once newer laboratory results and updated databases became available to detectives working the case.

Detectives Obtained Arrest Warrants

On Aug. 26, cold-case detectives obtained warrants for Phifer. Five days later, members of CMPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team located and arrested him.

Police credited several partners with assisting the investigation, including the CMPD Crime Lab, DNA Labs International and a federal grant program supporting cold-case work.

CMPD said the investigation remains active and ongoing. The department has not publicly announced an arrest of a second suspect in the attack described in the original case.

People reported that it was unclear whether Phifer had retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf at the time of its report.

One Object Survived the Passage of Time

The arrest does not determine guilt. Prosecutors would still have to prove the charges in court, and the evidence cited by police will be subject to the criminal process. Any defense response will also become part of that process as the case moves forward.

What changed in 2026 was the ability of investigators to extract new value from evidence that had been preserved since 2001. The fingerprints did not disappear when the case went cold, and the CD case remained part of the record waiting to be examined again.

For Gonzalez’s case, a small object recovered from a stolen van became part of the evidence police say led them back to a suspect 25 years later.

References: People - Man Was Gunned Down in 2001 and Case Went Cold. DNA Just Led Police to a Suspect | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police - Arrest Made in 25-Year-Old Homicide Cold Case | WBTV - Man arrested 25 years after deadly triple-shooting in Charlotte