A just lately retired truck driver who traveled throughout the nation for many years has been charged in a California lady’s dying, simply weeks after he was arrested in Texas for one more lady’s killing, prosecutors stated.
Douglas Thomas, 67, was charged Friday within the dying of Sherri Herrera, a 30-year-old mom of 4 who was discovered on a freeway on-ramp in March 1993, the Riverside County, California, district legal professional’s workplace stated in a information launch.
Herrera was final seen alive just a few days earlier than her physique was discovered, the discharge stated.
The workplace additionally filed a particular circumstance allegation of homicide throughout the fee of a rape, based on the information launch.
It's unclear if Thomas has authorized illustration. All through greater than 40 years working as a truck driver, Thomas traveled extensively, the discharge added.
Simply weeks earlier than the district legal professional’s announcement, authorities in Texas arrested Thomas on the suspicion of homicide for the April 1992 killing of a lady present in Titus County.
“Thomas was related by authorities to that homicide by a DNA match to proof from that crime scene,” the district legal professional’s workplace stated.
Thomas was taken into custody in Texas in late Might underneath a $2 million bond on a homicide warrant for the April 1992 killing, based on CNN affiliate KWTX, which cited a search warrant affidavit filed by a Texas Ranger.
The girl’s physique was discovered close to a relaxation space alongside a freeway and an investigation confirmed she was strangled “with a tool made from wire and rope,” based on the affiliate. There was additionally proof of sexual assault, the affiliate reported.
Investigators from the 2 totally different states had been capable of make the reference to the assistance of forensic family tree: An investigator with the district legal professional’s workplace in California uploaded DNA profile from the scene of Herrera’s killing in 2002 and roughly 5 years later, there was a match connecting the killings within the two states, KWTX reported.
After forensic family tree investigations from each circumstances, the Riverside investigator contacted the Texas Ranger on the case, informing him of a number of individuals in Texas who had been “in the appropriate genetic vary for comparability,” the station stated.
Authorities took a DNA pattern from Thomas in late April and the outcomes matched the suspect profile, based on KWTX.
Whereas he was in custody in Texas, investigators from California traveled to Texas and interviewed Thomas about Herrera’s killing, the information launch stated.
Thomas stays in custody in Texas, the place he can be prosecuted for the 1992 homicide, the discharge stated. The Riverside County district legal professional’s workplace will then request he be extradited to California to be prosecuted for Herrera’s dying.
The-CNN-Wire
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