A judge ordered a Tennessee man to stand trial for murder in the 1990 slaying of a sailor in Point Loma in which the man’s DNA links him to the crime scene.

Brian Scott Koehl, now 52, was 19 years old and was a sailor in San Diego when he allegedly killed Larry Joe Breen, 32, who was stationed aboard the USS Fox CG-33 at the time.

After hearing testimony for 1 1/2 days in a preliminary hearing, San Diego Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz found there was enough evidence to justify a murder trial March 3 and set it for July 11.

A surprise witness included the best man at Koehl’s wedding who said that Koehl confessed to him in 1992 to killing a gay sailor “who came on to me.” The witness, Douglas Jones, testified “he said he stabbed him 19 times…(and) made sure he was dead.”

“Half of me was shocked. Half of me was didn’t want to believe it,” said Jones, who added that Koehl told him he wiped his fingerprints off everything.

Jones said Koehl brought up the subject by saying “I killed somebody” while they were both drinking at a bar and were outside at the time.

“He said the blood was slippery and the knife cut his hand,” said Jones, who added that Koehl said he stole Breen’s car afterward.

Jones said he eventually told his wife at the time and they attempted to report the homicide, which Jones thought occurred in San Francisco.

Breen was found without clothing and deceased in the backyard of a home at the corner of Nimitz Boulevard and Locust Street on May 25, 1990. He was stabbed twice in the neck and lost a lot of blood.

A retired pathologist for San Diego County, Dr. Leena Jariwala, testified from a wheelchair and she also looked at her report that she wrote in 1990 after she conducted the autopsy.

Jariwala said the two neck wounds caused Breen’s death and said “the death would be very quick” because of the “extensive injury to the blood vessels.”

She told attorneys she remembered the case, adding “I went to the scene.” Someone asked her age and she replied “75 plus.”

Criminalist David Cornacchia testified Koehl’s DNA was found on empty beer bottles in Breen’s home along with a blood stain on the wall. Also, Koehl’s DNA was found on the inside of Breen’s jeans, a sock, and a white T-shirt at the scene, said Cornacchia.

Detective Lori Adams testified a bare footprint preserved in Breen’s shower was saved and it matches the left foot of Koehl that was taken after he was arrested in Knoxville, Tenn.

Adams said NCIS agents helped in the investigation by retrieving a cup used by Koehl in Tenn. that he had thrown away at an Arby’s restaurant. Adams also said other suspects were eliminated over the years in DNA tests.

Adams said an investigative lead came from a genealogy website. Apparently, someone in Koehl’s family submitted their DNA to a public genealogy website.

“Mr. Breen was running for his life,” said Deputy District Attorney Lisa Fox. “There were numerous wounds all over his body. The DNA links this defendant to this crime.”

Koehl’s attorney, Alicia Freeze, told the judge “there is no one who independently can say what happened 33 years ago.” She described the “shoddy investigation in 1990” by police doesn’t show who the killer is, adding her client’s fingerprints were not found at the crime scene.

“The court feels the evidence presented far exceeds the burden (by the prosecutor),” said Katz, who added that Jones was “a very compelling witness.”

After Koehl was ordered to stand trial, the prosecutor asked the judge to remand him to jail without bail, saying the $500,000 bond he is on is insufficient.

“He has been 33 years on the run. There is no greater flight risk than that,” said Fox.

Freeze asked the judge to allow Koehl to remain free on bond, saying he has made all his court appearances, was cooperative and has “a life in Knoxville” where he lives with his wife.

Katz agreed that Koehl should remain free on $500,000 bond, but ordered Koehl to have no contact with Jones.

Koehl pleaded not guilty at the end of the hearing and waived his right to have a speedy trial.