Twelve years after the murder of a University of Wisconsin student, Madison police announced they charged a man for the student’s murder Friday morning.

The Madison Police Department announced charges of first-degree intentional homicide for David Kahl, 53, for the murder of UW student Brittany Zimmermann. The murder took place on April 2, 2008, on West Doty Street in Zimmermann’s downtown apartment.

Interim Chief of Madison Police Vic Wahl made the announcement in a video release this morning.

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“It’s a message that I hope will bring closure to our community and justice to a family,” Wahl said in the video release.

Zimmermann, 21, was raised in Marshville, WI, and she lived with her fiancé at the time of the murder, according to Wahl.

Wahl said the case never went cold and continued to be a priority for the MPD. Wahl said after years of conducting hundreds of interviews and going over thousands of case file pages, the MPD — in conjunction with other offices in the state — found the culprit.

Wahl said all the different entities’ work came together to find justice for Zimmermann’s death and for her family.