Florida Man Confesses to 1997 Murder, Cold Case Closed after 28 Years

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has finally closed a cold case that has haunted the community for over 25 years. Stephen Edenfield was found brutally murdered in his Tampa condo in 1997, with the word “Greed” written on his bedroom wall in blood. Despite initial investigations yielding no arrests, the case was reopened in 2022 by the sheriff’s office’s Cold Case Unit.

Working with Othram Labs, a forensic genetic genealogy company, investigators were able to develop a comprehensive DNA profile for an unknown suspect. This profile led to the identification of Brandon Gliha, who was linked to an unsolved 2005 sexual assault case in Illinois. Gliha, now 47 and living in Tampa, was arrested and confessed to Edenfield’s murder during an interview with investigators.

Gliha has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon and is currently being held in a Tampa jail. The closure of this case has brought some measure of peace to Edenfield’s family, who have been waiting for answers for nearly three decades. Sheriff Chad Chronister expressed hope that the resolution of this case would bring comfort to the family and emphasized the importance of delivering justice after such a long period of uncertainty.