LPD gives update on arrest in 2023 homicide at north Lincoln home

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Police provided an update Friday on an arrest in a 2023 homicide at a north Lincoln home.

In a press release, LPD said Alaric Harden, 46, was charged on suspicion of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Harden was already in the Lancaster County Jail, where he was already in custody on unrelated charges.

Capt. Ben Miller, who oversees LPD’s Criminal Investigations Unit, detailed the investigation at a media briefing.

On Dec. 19, 2023, officers were sent to a home near New Hampshire and North 12th streets on a welfare check of 76-year-old Larry Cole.

When officers arrived, the front door was barricaded and a strong odor of gas was coming from inside the home, police said.

Lincoln Fire & Rescue crews were called in and entered the home.

They found Harden and took him to a hospital for natural gas exposure, according to LPD.  Cole’s body was discovered in the living room and appeared to have been “deceased for several days.”

Police said an autopsy determined that Cole died from stab wounds to the head, neck and torso, along with “blunt force trauma” to the head.

During the investigation, the state crime lab discovered a knife next to the kitchen sink, which had both Cole’s and Harden’s DNA on it.

Miller said there was “some indication” that Cole would allow people to stay in his home, which is likely what had happened.