Police have announced that a man has been arrested in connection with the August 2013 murder of a 27-year-old gas station worker. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department took the 34-year-old man into custody on May 12. The initial investigation into the killing failed to produce any solid leads, so the case was assigned to the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force. The decision to arrest the man was made after technicians from the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services matched his DNA to samples collected at the murder scene.
The breakthrough in the case came after the El Dorado District Attorney’s Office released a video about the murder. Two members of the public stepped forward in 2019 after seeing it. One of them identified the masked individual who entered a South Lake Tahoe gas station and shot a man. The victim died after suffering a single gunshot wound to the chest. The masked figure did not rob the gas station, and police have yet to identify a motive for the crime.
After being processed in Las Vegas, the man was extradited to California to stand trial. He is being held at an El Dorado County detention facility. The El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force is a joint effort involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
When their clients are accused of committing serious violent crimes like murder and prosecutors are able to call on forensic experts and witnesses who can make identifications, experienced criminal defense attorneys may suggest avoiding a trial by entering into a plea agreement. Prosecutors in homicide cases are scrutinized closely, and they may be willing to offer favorable sentencing terms in return for a speedy resolution.