Genetic evidence has linked the murder of a Virginia Tech student to a 2005 unsolved sexual assault in Fairfax City, Virginia State Police said.

Morgan Harrington's body was found in January, three months after the 20-year-old disappeared from a Metallica concert. Up until now, authorities have had few leads in Harrington's slaying, but DNA found in the case has now been linked to the Fairfax City sex assault.

In September 2005, a 26-year-old woman was walking on Rock Garden Drive on her way home from a Giant Food store, when she was grabbed from behind. The man carried the woman to a pool area and sexually assaulted her. He was last seen fleeing behind the pool heading toward Fairhaven Court.

The victim in the Fairfax City attack helped police come up with a sketch of her attacker. Authorities now hope that will help lead them to Harrington's killer as they try to determine how she might have come in contact with him at the Metallica concert.

Harrington's friends say she left early from the Oct. 17 Metallica concert held on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville. In a voicemail message, she told her friends she would find her own way home.

Police believe the person who killed Harrington needed a thorough knowledge of the farm where her body was found 10 miles southwest of Charlottesville. Her body was in a remote hayfield, and the killer would have carried her over fences, streams and generally rough terrain.

The attacker whose DNA appeared in both cases is described as a black man who in his mid-30s. He's about 6 feet tall with a medium build. At the time of the 2005 attack, he likely had scratches on his face. On that day, Sept. 24, 2005, he was wearing a black colored pullover sweater with a zipper, with a white T-shirt underneath and light colored pants.

A $150,000 reward has been offered for information that brings closure to the Harrington case. Anyone with information should call Virginia State Police at 434-352-3467 or Jefferson Area Crime Stoppers at 434-977-4000.

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com