EX-DEATH ROW INMATE INDICTED FOR '79 MURDER.Byline: Staff and Wire Services Twenty-six years after Jill Mary Parenteau was strangled to death in her Burbank apartment, a man in jail in Orange County has been indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. in her murder and the slaying of three other women during the 1970s, prosecutors announced Monday. Rodney James Alcala, a photographer originally from Monterey Park, is accused of murdering the four women between 1977 and 1979. He is in custody awaiting his third trial in the death of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, who vanished near the Huntington Beach Pier The Huntington Beach Pier is a publicly owned pier located in Huntington Beach, California. At 1,853 feet in length, it is one of the longest public piers on the West Coast. (The longest is Oceanside Pier at 1942 feet). as she rode her bicycle to a ballet lesson. Two previous convictions were overturned on appeal, but not before Alcala spent 20 years on Death Row. DNA evidence Among the many new tools that science has provided for the analysis of forensic evidence is the powerful and controversial analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, the material that makes up the genetic code of most organisms. linked Alcala to three of the cold-case murders, prosecutors said, although such evidence was not used in the Parenteau case. Parenteau was killed on June 14, 1979, but police did not save evidence containing DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. to make a comparison. ``We feel that there is sufficient evidence (to charge Alcala with Parenteau's murder), including serology Serology The division of biological science concerned with antigen-antibody reactions in serum. It properly encompasses any of these reactions, but is often used in a limited sense to denote laboratory diagnostic tests, especially for syphilis. evidence that was obtained at the time,'' said Sandi Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
Alcala was charged with Parenteau's murder soon after it occurred, but the case was dropped because of a problem with a witness, Gibbons said. ``I thought the case was closed,'' said Jerry Parenteau, Jill's brother. Alcala will be tried in Orange County for the Los Angeles County slayings, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said. Cooley and his staff met with Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas several months ago, and that they decided ``the best place to try these cases is in Orange County, where the defendant is facing retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) on a similar murder,'' he said. ``Today's indictment is part of an effort to achieve a joint prosecution, a consolidated trial, in one of those counties,'' Cooley said. Alcala, 62, is awaiting what will be his third trial - set to begin Oct. 3 - on charges of kidnapping and killing Samsoe in July 1979. The youngster's remains were found 12 days later in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Mountains, S Calif., E and NE of Los Angeles, running c.50 mi (80 km) westward from Cajon Pass. San Antonio Peak (10,080 ft/3,072 m) is the highest of the range. Citrus fruits are raised on the southern foothills. . Alcala's convictions each time were thrown out on appeal. But in all, he spent some 20 years on Death Row in connection with the case. Defense attorney George Peters said prosecutors apparently want to try all the cases together, even though the four slayings of the women did not take place in Orange County. Peters said he would oppose a bid to consolidate the cases and move to keep the Samsoe retrial separate. Alcala already had been charged in one of the four Los Angeles County murders - the rape and bludgeoning of Georgia Wixted, a 27-year-old Malibu nurse killed on Dec. 16, 1977. The indictment, returned Sept. 9 and unsealed Monday, also accuses Alcala of the murders of Jill Barcomb, 18; Charlotte Lamb, 32; and Parenteau between November 1977 and June 1979 in areas of Los Angeles County ranging from El Segundo to Burbank. The women - who were all sexually assaulted - were strangled or beaten to death, according to prosecutors. Along with the murders, the indictment alleges the special circumstances special circumstances n. in criminal cases, particularly homicides, actions of the accused or the situation under which the crime was committed for which state statutes allow or require imposition of a more severe punishment. of torture, multiple murder, robbery, rape, burglary and oral copulation copulation /cop·u·la·tion/ (kop?u-la´shun) sexual union; the transfer of the sperm from male to female; usually applied to the mating process in nonhuman animals. cop·u·la·tion n. 1. . ``DNA is one of the major investigative tools of our time,'' Cooley said. ``The Alcala case shows that DNA evidence can stretch back into time to help prosecute murders such as these that go back nearly a quarter of a century.'' Alcala has steadfastly maintained his innocence. |
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