Arraignment delayed in 20-year-old Pacific Beach murder

An inmate’s undisclosed medical condition Tuesday prompted his scheduled arraignment to be postponed on charges he killed an 83- year-old man in Pacific Beach more than 20 years ago during an apparent robbery.

Howard Dean Jamison, 51, was arrested Aug. 24 in Milford, Conn., after DNA evidence allegedly tied him to the slaying of Ewing C. Scroggs at his home at 4890 Mission Blvd.

Jamison was in medical isolation Tuesday and will be arraigned Friday, court officials said.

Scroggs was found dead by his relatives on Dec. 10, 1989. Neighbors had not seen the man in days, said San Diego police homicide Lt. Terry McManus.

Scroggs’ body was found in a rear bedroom and bore signs of a brutal attack, the lieutenant said. The house had been ransacked, and several items belonging to the victim were missing.

Twice over the past 20 years, members of San Diego’s Cold Case Homicide Team reviewed the files and submitted evidence for analysis and comparison, McManus said.

In April, the FBI matched DNA evidence collected in Connecticut in connection with an unrelated crime to a sample found at the scene of the Scroggs slaying.

Police records confirmed Jamison was arrested in San Diego on Dec. 11, 1989, one day after Scroggs’ body was discovered. McManus said at the time that Jamison was arrested for being a fugitive from Connecticut.