More than three a long time after a younger mom vanished from a California house – and located lifeless simply weeks later – investigators say the mysterious chilly case has lastly been cracked, because of advances in DNA know-how and facial recognition.
The 1991 kidnapping and homicide of Cindy Wanner, a Placer County mom, had gone unsolved for 35 years. Then got here a break within the case.
On Friday, James Lawhead Jr., a 64-year-old convicted intercourse offender, was arrested in connection to Wanner’s homicide. Authorities introduced the long-awaited arrest Monday, revealing that Lawhead had killed Wanner simply months after being launched from jail.
Wanner disappeared on November 25, 1991, after going to her sister’s house along with her 11-month-old little one. Hours later, Wanner’s husband arrived with their four-year-old daughter to seek out the infant alone, strapped in a excessive chair and crying. Wanner’s footwear, coat and automotive had been nonetheless there, however she was gone.
Three weeks later, a hunter discovered Warner’s physique roughly 35 miles away. Investigators decided she had been raped and strangled, and sure held captive for a time period earlier than her loss of life.
For a long time, the case stalled. But current DNA testing recognized Lawhead as a suspect. Investigators then tracked him to Bullhead City, Arizona, the place he had been residing below the identify Vincent Reynolds.
“Arguably, this is one of the most heinous, notorious cold cases we have here in Placer County,” Sheriff Wayne Woo stated at a Monday information convention.
The break within the case got here after Placer County investigators submitted proof for superior DNA testing. A separate lead got here from Arizona, the place a legislation enforcement analyst used the state’s transportation database to match Lawhead’s picture by facial recognition know-how.
“If there’s really an unsung hero in this case, there’s many, it’s an analyst from the Scottsdale, Arizona Police Department,” Woo stated. “And this analyst used the Department of Transportation database in Arizona and got a match on a photo of James Lawhead.”
Investigators found that he had been launched from jail in early 1991 after serving 11 years of a 19-year sentence for a violent 1980 assault through which he broke into a house, beat a 71-year-old lady unconscious and sexually assaulted her 11-year-old granddaughter. Wanner was killed about 10 months later.
“When he was sentenced, psychiatrists from the state classified him as a mentally-disordered sex offender who was not amenable to treatment,” Woo stated. “Yet he was still released after 11 years and kidnapped and murdered Cindy Wanner within a year of his release.”
“The justice system here in California is broken. It is probably more broken than it was then, that allowed my Lawhead to be released after only serving 11 years,” Woo added.
Lawhead later resurfaced in Placer County, the place he was arrested in 2002 for failing to register as a intercourse offender and once more in 2005 on a weapons cost. After that, authorities say, he disappeared and had modified his identify, avoiding detection for years.
“And we explored all possibilities on what could have happened,” Woo defined. “Whether he was still living under a fake identity, whether he had left the country, or whether he was even deceased.”
After three a long time, Lawhead was arrested at his Arizona house on Friday. Investigators stated they recovered a number of loaded firearms, $15,000 and a burner telephone from his house.
“Now we hope that this arrest will bring some justice and closure to Cindy Wanner’s family,” Woo stated.
Authorities additionally arrested Lawhead’s 71-year-old sister, Terry Lawhead Steele, in South Carolina on an adjunct cost. Investigators say she had denied contact along with her brother for many years, however proof confirmed she owned the Arizona house the place he was residing and had remained in communication with him.
“Although Steele had spoken with law enforcement several times over the years, including with our detectives just weeks ago, and claimed she had not heard from her brother in more than 20 years, investigators discovered James Lawhead had been living in a home she owned,” the sheriff’s workplace stated in an announcement. “Evidence also showed the two had remained in communication.”
Although an arrest has been made, the police work isn’t over but. Retired chilly case detective Troy Hillman stated he believes there could possibly be extra victims, in response to AZFamily.
“You know me personally, from what I’ve seen in my career, I’d say yes. I would say hopefully agencies go back; they develop a timeline for this guy and figure out where he’s been,” Hillman stated.
“From what I’ve read, this guy was kind of an animal to begin with,” he continued, referring to Lawhead’s prison histoery. “Typically, when they do time, they think about their craft and then they continue it, so I don’t know if you can rehab these guys. He belonged behind bars, yet evaded justice all this time.”
Authorities are actually retracing Lawhead’s actions throughout Arizona, Oregon and Washington to find out whether or not he could also be linked to different crimes or murders.
Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire stated prosecutors have filed one depend of homicide towards Lawhead, together with particular circumstances of rape and kidnapping, in addition to a separate kidnapping cost. He is being held in Arizona pending extradition to California.
“This family has suffered in anguish for 35 years,” Gire stated. “They deserve some accountability.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/california-cold-case-arrest-james-lawhead-jr-b2966498.html