Results tagged “coldcase”

DNA evidence from a double murder 12 years ago has been linked to a suspect who is currently in a California prison. Back in September of 1997, the stabbing murders of 57-year-old Nancy Boehm and her mentally impaired 23-year-old son Shawn occurred in their North Hollywood home on the 5700 block of Riverton Avenue. Without any leads, the case remained unsolved.

Today, LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus was arraigned in court for the murder of Sherri Rae Rasmussen in 1986. Then the victim's father (pictured right) also held a press conference explaining that he told police time and time again that he thought she was one of the probable suspects. But detectives at that time had a different theory--burglars--and ignored him "repeatedly [saying] that he was watching too much TV," according to the LA Times. Looks like father was right, DNA caught up with Lazarus last week and she was arrested. "In hindsight, 20/20, we wish the investigation had gone in other directions," Deputy Chief Charlie Beck told the Times. "There will be justice in this case, but it might not come at all levels."

LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, who was profiled on the side as an art theft detective protégée in the LA Weekly's People Issue this year, was arrested this this morning for the 1986 murder of ex-boyfriend's wife, who was beaten and fatally shot. Back then, the case led nowhere, but two things today contributed to finding the alleged killer. One is the advancement of DNA and when it was tested recently, it showed it was from a female, not a man as they expected. Two, the lower murder rate apparently is allowing for detective to focus on cold cases.

A 72-year-old man suspected of raping and killing at least 30 women was arrested last month for the killing of one woman who was part of a serial spree that lasted around 15 years. John F. Thomas was matched to an old case via DNA after police began swabbing registered sex offenders. Thomas, who went to prison in 1978 for a rape in Pasadena, had two waves of rape-killings. The first was on the Westside before he was caught. After serving time, he moved to Chino and another wave began in Claremont. Through all this, Thomas was never connected or suspected by police, despite leaving 20 survivors. After he was arrested, more DNA results came in connecting him to four other deaths. Thomas would prey on older woman living alone. He would rape and strangle them and leave a pillow or blanket over their faces.

Kazuyoshi Miura, who was extradited October 10 from Saipan to Los Angeles into LAPD's custody to stand trial for the 1981 murder of his wife, was found dead in jail cell later that night. Police said it was suicide--they said they found Miurua dead after he used his shirt to hang himself-- but today his lawyer, the well known Mark Geragos, is saying it was murder.

It's good to solve a cold case and what makes this one easier to deal with is the fact that the accused criminal is already in jail. From the LAPD: "The Robbery-Homicide Division’s (RHD) Detectives, obtained a warrant for the arrest of Michael Hubert Hughes, 51-years-old, charging four counts of murder with additional charges relating to sexual assault of the four female victims. The series of crimes occurred between 1986 and 1993. Three occurred in the City of Los Angeles and one in the City of Inglewood. RHD detectives investigating the murders determined that Hughes who is serving a life sentence in a California State Prison for similar murder convictions was responsible for the additional four cases charged today."

A Word or 73: Was sad to learn of the death of Larry "Bud" Melman aka Calvert DeForest who spent over 20 years as a regular on David Letterman's shows - always able to suffer indignities and deal with situations that exceeded Punk'd and Jackass in terms of humor and sophistication by decades. Fox lostsome couple slots in the top 5 last week: American Idol got 1&2, followed by GRey's Anatomy, Deal or No...

First things first: It is a little weird seeing David Boreanaz walk around in the day time without beginning to smolder and from the first words that came out of her mouth, we were completely in love with Michaela Cronin's Angela Montenegro. We can't help it, LAist has a thing for quirky, brainy chicks that do cool things with computers. Emily Deschanel as 'Bones' is a passable heroine and it seems likely that she is going to quickly make the role her own but, despite the constant pushing of her story, it is Boreanaz who makes the impression. He is comfortable and alive as Agent Booth which gives us hope that we'll be able to forget that for 6 years he was a vampire with a soul.

So it was a quiet Saturday night of channel surfing for LAist, and we stumbled across a 2001 film, Role of a Lifetime with Scott Bakula of Enterprise and Quantum Leap and Kathryn Morris of CBS' Cold Case. The premise of this "drama" in a nutshell: A washed-up LA actor, presumed dead, turns up just as his biopic is being filmed. He auditions under another identity and -- quelle surprise -- he gets the part. Unfortunately, said actor finds out on the first day on the set that his wife is directing the picture. No worries, however, because no one recognizes him -- even without wearing the Clark Kent specs.

We're sure that someone is wrapping up a November sweeps script as we write this featuring Rush and Valens trekking to New Orleans to grab up a gang member wanted for a 12-year-old crime. That's exactly what happened last week for the LAPD Cold Case Homicide unit. Detectives Vivian Flores and Tim Marcia used DNA evidence to secure an arrest warrant for Charles Augustus Jones for the murder of Mara Robinson on June 9th, 1993. Jones has also been accused of assaulting a woman in similar fashion in 1995 but that woman survived.