DNA evidence linked a suspect this week to a fatal beating of a woman whose body was found in northern California four decades ago, authorities said.
On Monday, Alfredo Carretero Jr. of Lakeport, California, was arrested. He was charged with murder in the death of Noelle Russo, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputies found Russo’s battered and naked body on June 27, 1983, in an unincorporated area of Rohnert Park, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
Over the decades, detectives investigating the case collected a “significant amount of evidence” and identified persons of interest, but there were no arrests, according to the sheriff’s office.
Noelle Russo.Sonoma Sheriff
Between 2010 and earlier this year, investigators sent evidence for DNA analysis to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and the Serological Research Institute, the sheriff’s office said.
Carretero, 65, was described as one of the original persons of interest in the case. He was identified as the suspect in Russo’s slaying based on “DNA and other evidence,” the sheriff’s office said.
He was booked into the jail and was being held on no bail, the sheriff’s office said.
Carretero is being represented by a public defender. His attorney could not be immediately reached Friday afternoon.
Rohnert Park is about 50 miles north of San Francisco.
