A Los Angeles man has been charged in the cold case murder of 23-year-old Claudia Guevara, whose body was found in a drainage ditch along a parkway nearly three decades ago, according to authorities.
The major development in the case was announced by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday, February 9, days ahead of the 30th anniversary of Guevara’s disappearance.
DNA evidence tied to Brian Walton, 63, who “did not know Guevara,” has implicated him in Guevara’s sexual assault and stabbing death in February 1996, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
Walton is now facing a murder charge, “with the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a rape and murder during the commission of sodomy,” according to the office.
It was not currently clear whether Walton had retained legal representation or entered a plea.
The case against Walton dates back to February 20, 1996, when Guevara’s older brother reported her missing after she did not return to her home in Temple City, where he had been living with her, the district attorney’s office said.
She vanished after two people Guevara worked with dropped her off at a bus stop in El Monte that day, according to prosecutors.
A day later, Guevara’s nude body was located not far from El Monte, the district attorney’s office said. She was found dead in a drainage ditch in Azusa near the Encanto Parkway.
Azusa is about a 10-mile drive northeast from El Monte.
Authorities found that Guevara had been stabbed in the neck and that she’d been sexually assaulted, according to the district attorney’s office.
Walton was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau in connection with Guevara’s death on Thursday, February 5, according to jail records viewed by Luxury Handbag Shopping. He is being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.
“The victim’s family has waited for an agonizing 30 years to get that call to let them know their loved one’s killer had been found and charged,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement. “While this was classified as a cold case, investigators and prosecutors never stopped in their relentless pursuit of justice, reaffirming our commitment to holding people accountable for the crimes they are accused of committing.”
If Walton is convicted of Guevara’s murder, he would face a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole, or a death sentence, according to the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors intend to present the DNA evidence linking Walton to the crime in court, the office said.
Walton was due to appear in court for an arraignment on February 9.
“A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date,” the district attorney’s office said.
It is unclear why Walton allegedly killed Guevara, as a potential motive was not specified by the office.
Jail records show that he is due back in court on March 18.
In California, as part of the Governor’s Reward Program, the state offers rewards for information that helps authorities solve cold cases as well as crimes against first responders.
