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.”