Investigators in Placer County were able to identify the guy who killed a 69-year-old woman in Roseville 40 years ago. He lives in Southern California and is accused of the crime.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office said in a news statement that Richard Raymond Moore, 59, was arrested early Thursday morning in Los Angeles on suspicion of murder in the death of Madeline Garcia in 1984.
The District Attorney’s Office says that evidence found at the crime scene suggests Garcia was struck and dragged into an alley behind the 300 Block of Atlantic Street in Roseville, where she was killed.
Police officers from Roseville, Minnesota, followed up on all known leads, but the murder investigation became a “cold case” and no one was caught for 40 years. A lot of the police agents and detectives who first looked into the murder have since left their jobs.
The Police Department and the Investigations Unit of the District Attorney’s Office worked on the case for years to find a suspect. They looked through all the evidence that was available and sent samples to forensic labs to be tested for proof.
Prosecutors said that Moore was identified as the person responsible for Garcia’s death using new forensic methods. The District Attorney’s Office did not say what kind of evidence was tested and studied that led them to connect the suspect to the crime or how Garcia died.
Records from the Placer Superior Court show that officials charged Moore with murder on Tuesday for the death on September 26, 1984. Moore is charged with murder with an extra charge that he did the crime while being kidnapped. Tuesday was also the day the court issued an arrest warrant for Moore with no bail.
The District Attorney’s Office says that Moore was arrested in Los Angeles, where he lives, with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department. Moore will be sent to Placer County, where he will be charged with murder in connection with Garcia’s death.
Moore was still being held at the Los Angeles County Jail on Thursday afternoon. According to jail records, Moore was taken around 5:30 a.m. Thursday and booked several hours later.