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Man gets life for 2003 Council Bluffs slaying

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August 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) ā€” A 37-year-old man has given life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing another man more than 11 years ago in Council Bluffs. The Daily Nonpareil says James Harris was sentenced Wednesday. A Pottawattamie County jury convicted Harris on July 1 of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he stabbed to death Nelson Alvarez-Hernandez during a robbery on July 31, 2003.

The case went cold until police used DNA results to tie Thomas Sanchez, of La Vista, Nebraska, to the case and arrest him in January. That led police back to Harris, who police say had long been a suspect. Harris was arrested in March. Charges against Sanchez were dropped on June 24.