California Man Arrested in Connection With the 40-Year-Old Brutal Murder of Woman on Street
A man from California was taken into custody after new leads were discovered in a 40-year-old murder case, according to the District Attorney's Office. On June 27, 59-year-old Richard Moore was apprehended in Los Angeles in connection with the 1984 murder of 69-year-old Madeline Garcia on the 300 Block of Atlantic Street in Roseville, as per Placer County District Attorney's Office.
The evidence authorities collected at the time of the murder indicated that the victim had been allegedly attacked and dragged into an alley, before being murdered, Placer County District Attorney's Office added.
Garcia's body was found by a witness coming down from Atlantic Street in Roseville on the morning of September 26, 1984, Sacramento News & Review reported. The body was lying partly concealed on the ground behind the West House hotel and saloon and its condition indicated that she had been killed by repeated blows and was also sexually assaulted.
The condition of the body was so bad that the family assumed that the attacker knew her, Sacramento News & Review reported. “To me, it seemed like a murder of rage,” noted granddaughter Sharon Garcia. “And if it was rage, you had to wonder, ‘Did this person know her?’”
The victim allegedly complained to her sister about a man who frightened her early in the morning a week before her death, SFGate reported.
The body was covered with blood and bodily fluids, Sacramento News & Review reported. Police also noted a semi-spattered blood trail down Atlantic Street. The trail's pattern indicated that the attacker carried Garcia over the shoulder and kept dropping her at various points, before reaching the alley.
"She was brutally attacked," Roseville Homicide Detective James Fujitani told Sacramento News & Review. "It was such a violent attack that we found her false teeth in the gutter," he added.
In the four decades since the murder, the County District Attorney’s Investigations Unit, the Roseville Police Department, and the FBI Sacramento Field Office, all participated in the investigation, according to Placer County District Attorney's Office.
Authorities preserved the body fluids present on the scene and recently ran them through a familial DNA sifting method, which led them to Moore as their suspect, Sacramento News & Review reported. Some weeks after the murder, Moore was arrested for arson just two-and-a-half blocks from the murder scene.
Moore has pled not guilty to the charges of murder, kidnapping and rape, Placer County District Attorney's Office shared. The next court date for his trial has been set for July 22 in Department 20 at 8:30 am.
The suspect had been living under the alias “Woody” or “Woody on Fairbanks” in a Los Angeles neighborhood, at the time of arrest, Sacramento News & Review reported. He was known in his community as a helpful guy, who loved riding bikes. Some weeks ago, he had put all his efforts into searching for the owner of a lost cat.
Garcia's family which continues to keep her memory alive, had a bittersweet reaction to the development, Sacramento News & Review reported. "It’s a bittersweet moment," Terri Middlekauff, Garcia's granddaughter shared. "I can only hope my grandkids remember me the way that I remember her."
"Today has been a long time coming – justice hasn’t stopped," the district attorney told Fox. "The defendant committed a heinous crime in 1984… And anyone who can commit that kind of crime, no matter their age – no matter the time that has passed since the crime – represents a danger to our community. And it is imperative that people capable of committing these kinds of crimes do not remain free while their case is pending."