By City News Service
Jul 16, 2021
SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 51-year-old man accused of killing his roommate in Santa Ana 25 years ago was behind bars today in the Orange County Jail.
Edgar Ortega Cervantes was extradited from Mexico on Thursday and is being held on $2 million bail pending arraignment Monday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Cervantes is accused of fatally stabbing 24-year-old Julio Franco in their apartment in the 500 block of Spruce Street on June 26, 1996, Bertagna said.
The case went cold, but in 2009, detectives submitted forensic evidence to the Orange County Crime Lab from the crime scene that allegedly links Cervantes to the killing, Bertagna said.
Genetic Genealogy Solves 1976 Rape, Murder of 19-year-old Nursing Student forensicmag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forensicmag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By City News Service
Jul 15, 2021
SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County prosecutors announced today that investigators have determined who raped and killed a 19-year-old Garden Grove nursing student 44 years ago, thanks to a DNA match made through a genealogical connection.
Terry Dean Hawkins, who died in the Orange County Jail in 1977, was deemed responsible for the rape and murder of Janet Stallcup in December 1976, according to the Orange County District Attorney s Office.
Stallcup was reported missing after she failed to show up for a party on Dec. 19, 1976. Her body was found in her car about eight days later, just 2 1/2 miles from her apartment.
Updated 5 hours ago
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A 64-year-old man was awaiting extradition Friday on charges related to the sexual assault and killing of a 79-year-old woman in her apartment 41 years ago, police said.
Andre William Lepere of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Shane Carringer. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get the latest breaking news and local stories.
Lepere is being held without bail in Otero County in New Mexico, where he s awaiting extradition hearings, Carringer said. Lepere is accused of raping and killing 79-year-old Viola Hagenkord, who died of asphyxiation, Carringer said. Lepere lived near the victim in Anaheim, but was not previously acquainted with her, Carringer said.
A 64-year-old man was awaiting extradition today on charges related to the sexual assault and killing of a 79-year-old woman in her apartment 41 years ago, police said.
Viola Hagenkord was found sexually assaulted and deceased in her Anaheim apartment, 64-year-old
Andre William Lepere of Alamogordo, New Mexico, has been arrested and charged with her murder.
On February 18, 1980, Anaheim police officers responded to Hagenkord’s apartment in the
Viola Hagenkord
Neighbors became concerned when they hadn’t seen Hagenkord for two days, which was unusual because she was well known throughout her apartment complex community. Homicide detectives investigated the case extensively and collected valuable evidence, but the case went cold.
Over the course of the following decades, other homicide detectives revisited the case, but no suspects were identified. In September 2020, cold case homicide detectives once again began to investigate Hagenkord’s murder, and collaborated with the Orange County Crime Lab and the FBI’s Orange County Violent Crime Task Force.
Man charged with murder of woman found raped, dead in Anaheim apartment 41 years ago
By Mary Stringini
Viola Hagenkord
Andre William Lepere, 64, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was charged with the 1980 murder of 71-year-old Viola Hagenkord, who died of asphyxiation. He is currently being held without bail in Otero County in New Mexico, where is awaiting extradition hearings.
Police were called to the victim s apartment in the 2500 block of West Winston Road on Feb. 18, 1980, after she was discovered dead by neighbors who became concerned when they hadn t seen her for two days, which was unusual for the small apartment complex.
Crime scene at Viola Hagenkord s apartment.
Orange County DA Lands Conviction in 1993 Cold Case
The Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office has closed a 28-year cold case after working to clear a 30-year, countywide backlog of untested sexual assault kits, it said April 14.
“Clearing the backlog of sexual assault kits has long been a priority of mine since I was a county supervisor,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a press release. “Every one of these untested sexual assault kits represents a victim who deserves justice and we are doing everything in our power to test every last kit that is capable of being tested. We will never stop fighting for justice for these victims.”