ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. (AP): Authorities in southern Indiana have arrested a man in connection with the 2006 slaying of an 81-year-old World War II veteran.

Monroe County sheriff's detectives on Thursday arrested 33-year-old Andrew Bryan Cooper on preliminary counts of murder and other charges. He was being held without bond Friday in the Monroe County Jail in Bloomington.

The Herald-Times reports investigators believe Cooper beat and strangled Ellettsville resident James Cowden, whose body was found inside his truck in October 2006. The truck's engine was running and the windshield wipers were on.

Police say they also suspect a 41-year-old man who is serving sentence on child molesting charges at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.

Investigators say DNA evidence links both men to the crime.