California man who passed a polygraph about a sadistic killing is linked to the crime through DNA

A California antheral who passed a polygraph trial denying his engagement successful a sadistic sidesplitting astir 50 years agone has been identified arsenic the suspected murderer.

Esther Gonzalez, 17, was raped and bludgeoned to death while walking from her parent's location successful Beaumont to her sister's location successful Banning connected February 9, 1979, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said.

Her assemblage was recovered 'dumped successful a snowpack' alongside Highway 243 successful Banning the adjacent day, aft an unidentified antheral called the Sheriff's Department to study that helium had recovered a body.

Deputies said helium was 'argumentative' and declined to accidental whether the unfortunate was a antheral oregon a woman.

After 5 days of investigating, constabulary identified the caller arsenic Randolph 'Randy' Williamson, whom they asked to acquisition a polygraph test.

'He agreed and passed which, astatine the time, cleared him of immoderate wrongdoing,' the District Attorney's Office said.

Williamson, a US Marine Corps vet, past spent the adjacent 35 years surviving a mean life, yet moving to Florida, wherever helium died successful 2014.

But California detectives continued to enactment connected the acold case, and determined earlier this twelvemonth that 'although Williamson was seemingly cleared by the polygraph successful 1979, helium was ne'er cleared done DNA due to the fact that the exertion had not yet been developed.'

The interruption came past twelvemonth erstwhile acold lawsuit homicide detectives sent assorted items of grounds to Othram, Inc. successful Texas to behaviour a forensic genealogy, which they hoped could pb them to the killer.

Among the DNA samples sent to the laboratory was a humor illustration collected during Williamson's autopsy pursuing his decease successful 2014.   

That was proven to beryllium a lucifer to the semen illustration collected from Gonzalez's body, which had earlier been uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System, which catalogues DNA samples.

It is unclear whether Williamson knew Gonzalez oregon had a motive for sidesplitting her.

Police said they recovered immoderate aged battle allegations against Williamson, but helium did not person immoderate convictions for convulsive crimes and his DNA ne'er matched with immoderate of her rapes oregon murders, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Officials with the District Attorney's Office are present seeking immoderate accusation connected Williamson, Gonzalez and 'other imaginable victims.'

But they accidental they are gladsome to person recovered an reply for Gonzalez's household aft each these years.

'This sidesplitting inactive haunts them,' Jason Corey, an researcher with the DA's Office, told the LA Times. 'But Esther was ne'er forgotten by america each these years.'