A Makiki man arrested more than two decades after the killing of an 81-year-old woman in her apartment in 1989  remains in custody on $200,000 bail after appearing before a judge this morning.

Gerald Austin, 52, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree sex assault, and is being held on $200,000 bail after his initial appearance in District Court. His preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Police arrested Austin Friday in connection with the death of  Edith Skinner in the Makua Ali’i senior citizens housing complex on Kalakaua Avenue on July 25, 1989.

Police said the resident manager found Skinner’s body in her apartment, after friends didn’t see her at breakfast and worried about her well-being because of her age.

Police said Skinner died about 2 a.m. that day and a man, described as 19 to 25 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a slim build and curly, short black hair, was seen leaving her unit about 5 a.m.

Nothing happened in the case for 17 years until police reopened it in 2006 after finding new evidence.

Police did not provide details on Saturday about the evidence, recovered through DNA technology, that led to the arrest.

A single black hair that wasn’t from Skinner and faint bruises led former Honolulu Medical Examiner Kanthi De Alwis to perform a full autopsy back in 1989 that led to the finding that Skinner had been raped and strangled.

De Alwis said the case stayed in the back of her mind because it remained unsolved. She said she was pleased police were able to get a DNA match with evidence from the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Skinner’s son Steve was working in California at the time of the death of his mother, a former Ziegfeld dancer who was born in New York City. He said in 2006 that he was initially told by detectives that there were very few leads and police were going by the word on the street. He also said he recalled his mother’s death every time there was a murder in a television show and wished there was DNA technology in 1989.

"Nothing will bring my mom back," Steve Sklnner said in 2006. "But people that do things like this need to suffer the consequences. It is an unforgiveable act."

Austin has eight previous convictions, mostly for misdemeanor offenses, such as driving without a license, drunken driving and contempt of court, according to the state Criminal Justice Data Center. He was sentenced to five years in prison for a burglary conviction in 1984.