A New Hampshire man charged with raping and killing a Boston woman nearly three decades ago has pleaded not guilty.
James Paige, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and formerly of Boston, was held without bail at his arraignment Thursday on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the September 1987 slaying of 19-year-old Dora Brimage.
Paige was only indicted last month after modern DNA testing techniques not available in 1987 tied him to the death.
Prosecutors say the now 50-year-old Paige gave Brimage a ride after she left a party in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Her body was found in a vacant building under renovation.
Paige's attorney said contact between his client and the victim was "fleeting, if any," and called into doubt the DNA evidence.