A man who was acquitted by a polygraph test of raping and murdering a teenage girl in 1979 has been linked to the suspect through newly discovered DNA evidence, authorities said.
On February 9, 1979, 17-year-old Esther Gonzalez was attacked as she walked from her home in Beaumont, California, to her sister's home in Banning, about 135 miles east of Los Angeles.
The girl's body was found the next day, dumped in a snowpack next to Highway 243, and authorities determined she had been raped and bludgeoned to death, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
An unidentified man, described by deputies at the time as “reasonable,” discovered the body and reported it to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, saying it was unclear whether it was a man or a woman.
The man, later identified as Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, was asked by sheriff's investigators to take a polygraph test, which he agreed to and passed, clearing him of any wrongdoing. Ta.
The case remained unsolved for more than 40 years, with no other leads or witnesses.
But last week, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said: press release The case was solved using forensic genealogy, ending a cold case that had lasted more than 45 years.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Homicide Team reopened the investigation in 2023.
Using a semen sample found on Gonzalez's body 44 years ago and running it through a genetic genealogy database, investigators found that the technology existed when Williamson passed a polygraph test in 1979. It turned out that because there was no such thing, he had not been arrested through DNA testing.
Williamson died in Florida in 2014, and a blood sample was taken during the autopsy, which the team used to test for a match with his DNA.
Samples were sent to the California Department of Justice.Ice was collected with the help of the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
The cold case team later confirmed that Williamson's DNA matched DNA recovered from Gonzalez's body.
said Jason Corey, lead investigator with the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. CNN The murder has been a part of Riverside County's cold case unit since its inception about five years ago, and multiple investigators have been working to solve the case.
“I can't imagine what that's like for them,” Corey told the magazine. “That whole family has been devastated for years. This continues day in and day out. As time goes on, I don't think this has ever gotten easier for them. Masu.”
“I don't know if I can say I'm glad this is over because it's still a terrible tragedy, but I hope this brings some closure,” he said.
Corley said forensic genealogy “will be a great investigative tool in the future” and will help investigators uncover clues in cold cases.
“This has many beneficial effects, not only identifying victims, but also pointing investigators to investigative clues that will help bring suspects to justice,” Coley told the outlet. spoke.
The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team asks anyone who knows Williamson or has information about the case or other potential victims to contact 951-955-277 or coldcaseunit@rivcoda.gov is recommended.
