Edward Lewis Owens, 57, was charged in 2nd District Court with one count of first-degree felony murder in connection with the June 6, 1980, slaying of 24-year-old Karin Strom and an arrest warrant has been issued.
New DNA evidence processed by the Utah State Crime Lab shows Owen's blood was found on Strom's clothing, according to charging documents.
Owens was originally charged in March 2007 with the death of Karin Strom after the cold case was revived by DNA testing unavailable to investigators in 1980.
Those DNA tests linked Owens to the dead woman through biological material found under her fingernails.
The original case against Owens was thrown out after additional testing showed the material was sperm, rather than skin cells.
Defense attorney Michael Studebaker argued in court that while the sperm proved Strom and Owens may have had a sexual encounter, it did not show Owens killed the woman during a violent struggle, as prosecutors claimed.
The DNA underneath Karin Strom's fingernails matched both Strom and Owens.
After Owens walked free in December, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said he was optimistic a case against Owens would re-emerge based on a "new twist" with DNA evidence.
On Wednesday, Rawlings declined comment, other than to say the DNA evidence listed in the arrest warrant helped renew the case.
Owens, who is listed at addresses in Falls Church, Virginia and Kaysville, had not been arrested as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Studebaker said Wednesday he received a call from a member of Owens family alerting him to the charges. He said it is likely he will represent Owens again, but offered no comment on evidence brought forward in the new case.
Owens worked at the same machine shop as Strom's husband, Steve Strom, who was originally charged in his wife's death.
The case against Steve Strom was dismissed due to a lack of evidence, but he has remained under a cloud of suspicion. Police testified during a preliminary hearing for Owens in 2007 that Strom beat his wife and once poured lighter fluid over her.
Karin and Steve Strom were divorcing at the time of her death. But days before she died, she called her younger sister, Colleen Saltzgiver, to say she'd be staying at her husband's home to celebrate his birthday and their wedding anniversary.
Three men who worked with Owens in 1980 also testified at the 2007 preliminary hearing that Owens had scratches on his arms and face the day after Strom's death.
Owens told news reporters in December that he didn't know who killed Karin Strom, but thought prosecutors had charged him with murder so he would testify that Steve Strom was the killer.
