DNA links Southern California man to 1981 killings of 2 women:

A Southern California man was charged Thursday with killing two girls in 1981 after DNA proof linked him to the crimes, prosecutors introduced Thursday. Tony Garcia, 68, of Oxnard appeared in court docket however his arraignment was continued to Feb. 23, the Ventura County District Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement.

It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not he had an lawyer to talk on his behalf.

Garcia, a Navy veteran and former martial arts instructor, is accused of kidnapping, raping and strangling Rachel Zendejas, 20, in Camarillo in January 1981 and strangling 21-year-old Lisa Gondek in Oxnard in December 1981.

CBS Los Angeles spoke with Zendejas’ older brother again in 2011.

“All people’s very indignant,” mentioned her brother Roy Rodriguez. “No one has actually recovered.”

Zendejas was discovered lifeless in a carport in Camarillo and Gondek was present in bathtub after a reported condo hearth in Oxnard, authorities mentioned.

Investigators mentioned the only mother of two daughters and a pal had gone out to Huntington’s Evening Membership in Oxnard the day Zendejas was killed, CBS Los Angeles reported. Authorities imagine she was attacked as she received out of her automotive after dropping off the babysitters. 

Investigators believed Gondek was killed by the identical man after visiting the identical bar as Zendajas, simply practically a yr after the only mother was discovered lifeless, the station reported. 

Garcia lived for many years only some miles away from the crime scenes till he lastly was linked to the killings, authorities mentioned.

“The very fact is, this suspect has been hiding in plain sight, for over 40 years,” Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff mentioned at a information convention Thursday.

In 2004, investigators decided that the identical individual killed the ladies however could not discover a DNA match in a regulation enforcement database. Authorities mentioned Garcia turned a suspect in 2019 after chilly case investigators turned to genealogical DNA, which compares crime scene DNA with business databases that may embrace profiles submitted by family members of the killer.

Garcia is charged with two counts of homicide with particular allegations that they had been a number of killings and that one concerned kidnapping and rape. The District Legal professional’s Workplace hasn’t determined whether or not to hunt the demise penalty or life in jail with out parole.

“After greater than 4 many years, the lengthy arm of the regulation has introduced justice to the Gondek and Zendejas households,” mentioned Ventura County District Legal professional Erik Nasarenko.