A person who was cleared by a polygraph check within the rape and homicide of a teenage lady in 1979 has been linked to the sufferer with newfound DNA proof, authorities revealed.
Esther Gonzalez, 17, had been strolling from her dwelling in Beaumont, Calif., to her sister’s home in Banning, about 85 miles east of Los Angeles, on Feb. 9, 1979, when she was attacked.
The next day, the teenager’s physique was discovered dumped in a snowpack off Freeway 243, with authorities figuring out she was raped after which bludgeoned to dying, in response to the Riverside County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
An unidentified man, described by deputies on the time as “argumentative,” discovered the physique and known as the Riverside County Sheriff’s Station, saying he didn’t know if it was a male or feminine.
The person, later recognized as Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, was requested by sheriff’s investigators to take a polygraph check, which he agreed to and handed, clearing “him of any wrongdoing.”
The case went chilly for over 4 a long time with no different leads or witnesses.
Nonetheless, final week, the Riverside County District Legal professional’s Workplace stated in a press launch that the case had been solved utilizing forensic family tree, closing the over-45-year chilly case.
The chilly case murder staff of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Division renewed the investigation in 2023.
Utilizing the semen pattern discovered on Gonzalez’s physique 44 years prior and working it via genetic family tree databases, investigators realized that Williamson had by no means been cleared via DNA testing as a result of the know-how didn’t exist when he handed the polygraph check in 1979.
Williamson died in Florida in 2014, however throughout his post-mortem, a blood pattern was taken, which the staff might use to see if his DNA was a match.
The pattern was despatched to the California Division of Simplyice with the help of the Broward County Sheriff’s Workplace.
The chilly case staff then confirmed that Williamson’s DNA matched the DNA recovered from Gonzalez’s physique.
The grasp investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace, Jason Corey, instructed CNN that the homicide had been in Riverside County’s chilly case unit for the reason that unit’s launch about 5 years in the past, and a number of investigators have labored to unravel it.
“I can’t think about what it’s like for them,” Corey instructed the outlet. “That complete household has simply been devastated over time. This can be a day in and day in, time out factor. I don’t suppose that is one thing that ever bought simpler for them as time went on.”
“I don’t know in case you can say you’re glad that it’s executed, as a result of it’s nonetheless, it’s nonetheless a horrible tragedy, however I hope it may well convey them some closure,” he stated.
Corey shared that forensic family tree “can be an incredible investigative device transferring ahead sooner or later” to assist investigators generate leads for unsolved instances.
“It’s going to assist do a variety of good and never solely determine victims, however it would assist level the investigators in a course with their investigative leads that may assist convey these suspects to justice,” Corey instructed the outlet.
The Riverside County Regional Chilly Case Murder Crew encourages anybody who knew Williamson or might have details about the case or different potential victims to contact it at 951-955-277 or coldcaseunit@rivcoda.gov.
