DNA evidence confirms identity of suspect in a 1979 cold case
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team announced Wednesday that they have confirmed the identity of the rapist and killer in a cold case.
In a press release, the case dated back to February of 1979 when the body of 17-year-old Esther Gonzalez was found "dumped in a snowpack off Highway 243 near Banning," which authorites determined that Gonzalez was raped and bludgeoned to death.
The press release says Gonzalez was walking from her parents' house in Beaumont to her his sister's house in Banning when she was attacked and killed, and was found by an unidentified man, which deputies reported him at the time as argumentative, and called the Riverside County Sheriff's Station in Banning.
Five days after that, the press release said investigators identified the caller as Lewis Randolph "Randy" Williamson, and asked Williamson to take a polygraph test, which Williamson agreed and passed, clearing him of wrongdoing at that time.
The press release said after that, investigators worked on the case for over 45 years and they uploaded a semen sample from the crime scene into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
A year ago, the press release said members of the cold case homicide team sent items of evidence to Othram, Inc. in Texas, where they initiated a "Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy investigation, in hopes of developing additional leads."
But earlier this year, the press release said a crime analyst assigned to the team determined that while Williamson was cleared by the polygraph in 1979, he wasn't cleared through DNA "because the techonology had not yet been developed."
However, according to the press release, Williamson died in Florida 10 years ago, but a blood sample was collected during his autopsy, and with the help from the Broward County Sheriff's Office (BCSO), the sample was sent to the California Department of Justice (DOJ), where they recently confirmed that Williamson's DNA matched the DNA recovered from Gonzalez's body.
If anyone knew Williamson, or may have information about Gonzalez's case or other potential victims, they are to call the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team at (951) 955-2777 or email: ColdCaseUnit@RivcoDA.org.
