A New Mexico man was convicted Tuesday of raping and murdering a 79-year-old grandmother within the bed room of her Anaheim residence, a 12 months after his DNA and genetic profile tied him to the decades-old chilly case slaying.
An Orange County Superior Court docket jury deliberated for round three hours earlier than discovering Andre William Lepere, now 64, responsible of first-degree homicide for the 1980 killing of Viola Hagenkord, with jurors additionally discovering true a sentencing enhancement for the slaying occurring through the fee of a rape.
He was 22 years outdated on the time.
Lepere didn’t dispute that semen collected in a rape equipment a long time in the past proved he had intercourse with the lady greater than 50 years his senior inside 24 hours of her violent dying. However Lepere testified that his sexual encounters with the aged lady had been consensual, and denied on the stand that he sexually assaulted or killed her.
Deputy District Legal professional Christopher Alex throughout closing arguments within the trial described Lepere’s story as “ridiculous” and like “one thing out of a silly letter to Penthouse.”
Hagenkord was born in 1900, swore off males after divorcing her husband earlier than the Nice Despair, and had a granddaughter who was a decade older than Lepere, the prosecutor informed jurors.
Lepere’s lawyer, Alternate Defender Lee Stonum, informed jurors that Lepere in his testimony had offered a “affordable clarification” for the presence of the DNA that served as the only real proof immediately tying him to the scene of Hagenkord’s dying. Stonum additionally famous that Lepere’s household – together with his present spouse, a stepson and a sister – all testified that Lepere wasn’t able to killing somebody.
Hagenkord moved to an residence complicated within the 2500 block of West Winton Street in Anaheim after relations who lived Orange County satisfied her that her longtime neighborhood in Milwaukee was turning into too harmful. Different residents of the complicated recalled her as a pleasant lady who favored to face exterior her residence and chat along with her neighbors and guests.
On Feb. 18, 1980, a neighbor who was frightened after not seeing Hagenkord for a number of days entered her residence and found her physique. She had been sexually assaulted, a few of her ribs had been damaged and she or he was gagged with a pillowcase, which precipitated her to asphyxiate. Knocked over furnishings and strewn garments led investigators to suspect a battle had occurred in her bed room, however there have been no indicators of pressured entry into the residence.
Investigators initially centered on different individuals who had dedicated related crimes in the identical timeframe round Southern California, however all had been eradicated as suspects. Semen in Hagenkord’s physique was collected in a rape equipment, however with DNA testing in its infancy, the case went chilly.
Within the early 2000s, crime lab technicians went again to the rape equipment and created a DNA profile of the suspect from the semen. Then, in 2021, superior genetic testing tied the DNA to Lepere.
Lepere, whose sister lived on the identical complicated as Hagenkord on the time of her killing, had not emerged as a suspect through the preliminary investigation. Anaheim detectives after the DNA hit discovered Lepere had a historical past of home violence throughout his first marriage, which was falling aside on the time of Hagenkord’s killing.
Since leaving Southern California within the Nineteen Eighties, Lepere had lived a quiet life as a plumber and truck driver in varied elements of the nation, together with Washington, Wyoming and Arizona. He was arrested final 12 months in New Mexico.
Lepere testified throughout his trial that he had two consensual sexual encounters with Hagenkord, which he claimed she initiated after telling him she felt lonely. Lepere mentioned he regretted the primary encounter, however nonetheless agreed to a second. Days later, Lepere mentioned, he discovered of Hagenkord’s killing whereas returning a software to somebody who lived on the complicated.
Lepere’s lawyer argued that DNA not belonging to Lepere was discovered on the pillowcase used to gag Hagenkord, and described for the jury different potential suspects, together with a person who months after the rape and killing was caught climbing into an residence window on the identical complicated and inserting his hand over a sleeping lady’s mouth.
The prosecutor countered that with the intention to consider Lepere, jurors must settle for that inside a day of Hagenkord seducing and having intercourse with Lepere, one other man would have needed to come alongside to rape and kill Hagenkord in the identical mattress in the identical residence with out leaving any of his semen.
Lepere dropped his head and shook it barely after the decision was learn late Tuesday morning. He's scheduled to return to court docket for sentencing on March 13, when he faces a probable sentence of life in jail with out the potential for parole.