By Ricardo Roura
Nov 24, 2024, 18:29 PM EST
The murder of a 17-year-old Hispanic woman from Beaumont, Riverside County, was resolved more than four decades later that it occurred thanks to DNA tests that helped identify the man who committed the crime, authorities confirmed.
According to the evidence, Randolph “Randy” Williamson, who has already died, would be the person responsible for committing sexual abuse and the murder of Esther González in the winter of 1979, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office reported.
Authorities said the alleged perpetrator died in Florida a decade ago.
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According to prosecutors, the county’s Regional Homicide Cold Case Team was working on the case when a blood sample collected from Williamson during his 2014 autopsy in Broward County was processed by the forensic laboratory of the California Department of Justice.
The team is made up of Riverside County District Attorney’s Office investigatorsdetectives from the Sheriff’s Office and people from other agencies.
Authorities said the DNA recovered in the autopsy sample was compared to a semen stain collected from the young Hispanic woman’s body that was preserved. It was analyzed by a private laboratory in Texas specialized in genetic genealogy research.
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According to the District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice confirmed that Williamson’s DNA matched the DNA of the sample recovered from the young Hispanic woman’s body.
Prosecutors said Williamson He was unofficially acquitted in 1979 of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Esther Gonzálezbut he was considered the main suspect in the crime.
The Hispanic woman She was last seen alive on February 9, 1979. when he left his parents’ residence in Beaumont to go to his sister’s house, a destination he never reached.
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According to the District Attorney’s Office, the next day, an anonymous man contacted the Banning Sheriff’s Station. to report that the body of a young woman was found in the snow near Highway 243south of Poppet Flats Road.
Quickly, The victim was identified as Esther González and evidence showed that she had been the victim of a sexual attack.
Investigators focused on locating the person who reported finding the body, who was unpleasant during the phone call and He was unwilling to give details about how he made the discovery. and the reason why he was in that place.
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Just a few days later, the person was identified as Williamson. The man was questioned and agreed to take a polygraph exam, which he passed, according to prosecutors.
The agency said that at the time a DNA test was not authorized because the technology was not yet developed.
The authorities asked that if anyone has information about this crime or any other unsolved case so that they contact Riverside County investigators at ColdCaseUnit@RivcoDA.org.
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