A man who has been linked to the unsolved murder of a 12-year-old Escondido girl was arrested Sunday night.

Authorities said that 31-year-old Richard Tuite was arrested for a suspected parole violation in downtown Escondido a few blocks from the Crowe family home.

Tuite was questioned in the death of Stephanie Crowe. Crowe was found stabbed to death in her bedroom in 1998. Escondido police rejected Tuite as a suspect after they decided that he was too mentally unstable to have committed the crime.

Authorities then arrested the girl's teenage brother and two friends.

Charges were dismissed against the boys after a private crime lab hired by defense attorneys found blood from Crowe on a sweatshirt belonging to Tuite, authorities said.

Tuite has lived in a San Bernardino County halfway house since leaving prison. He has denied involvement in the girl's death.