Police Crack 41-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Anaheim Woman
BREAKTHROUGH
Using DNA technology, police have linked the killing and rape of a 79-year old Anaheim woman to Andre William Lepere, marking a significant breakthrough in the 41-year-old cold case. The Los Angeles Times reports that Lepere, 64, was arrested Friday and faces charges for first-degree murder with a special circumstance allegation of rape. The victim, Viola Hagenkord, was found dead in her apartment in February, 1980. She died of asphyxiation, but investigators couldn’t ID a suspect at the time. Police allegedly matched DNA collected at the scene with a profile on a genealogy website, similar to the way the Golden State Killer was caught. Lepere lived near Hagenkord but it’s unclear what the motive was or whether the two knew each other.