RENO - A Sparks man was arrested Wednesday, accused in the killing of a young girl 23 years ago.
Stephen Robert Smith, 57, was charged with the kidnap and killing of Lisa Marie Bonham.
The 6-year-old Reno girl was abducted from the playground at Idlewild Park on Sept. 3, 1977. Her clothing was found in a trash can along Interstate 80 west of Reno. Hikers found her remains about two months later in the mountains above Verdi.
Advances in DNA testing and automated access to DNA records of convicted sex offenders led to Smith's arrest, police said.
Smith was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1969 molestation of two Sparks girls and the attempted assault of a 12-year-old Reno girl.
He was paroled in November 1976 - about a year before Lisa Marie Bonham was murdered, detectives said.
Investigators are now reviewing other files to determine if Smith is a possible suspect in similar, unresolved cases.
