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LAPD Announce 2nd Arrest in 1975 Murder of Elderly Woman
Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr
The Los Angeles Police Department have released details about a second arrest made in the murder of an elderly Venice woman that went unsolved for 33 years. The murder case of 80-year-old Alice Lewis, found dead in her home on December 18, 1975, was re-opened in 2009, following the submission of biological evidence for testing via methods not yet available during the original investigation.This DNA evidence linked Dennis Vasquez to the crime, who had been 17 years old at the time of Lewis' murder. Vasquez was arrested in 2009, however the LAPD soon determined he did not act alone.
Using forensic evidence, the detectives working the once cold case linked Kevin Michael Shanahan, then 15, to the crime, and to Vasquez. In 1975, the teens both knew each other, and lived near the victim.
Shanahan was arrested on December 12th, and is in custody in Olmstead, Minnesota pending extradition to Los Angeles County.
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