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A California man was convicted in Los Angeles on Thursday of the rape and murder of two women in the 1980s.
A jury found them guilty of first-degree murder in the July 16, 1981 deaths of Serena Keough, 21, and Mary Duggan. , 22, June 9, 1986, reported by the City News Service.
After three hours of deliberation, a jury of nine men and three women found Vaultz guilty of murder and of special circumstances charges, including the rape of a woman and sodomy.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman Tells Jurors ‘Defendants Chose These Victims’ [and] The defendant is sitting here because he is a serial killer…a sexual predator,” CNS reported.
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Keough was strangled to death and her body was found in bushes near an apartment complex in Montclair, San Bernardino County. Duggan suffocated and her body was found in the trunk of a car in a Burbank parking lot.
In closing arguments, Silberman argued that the “sexually motivated murders” were “perpetrated by the same serial killer between 1981 and 1986,” and that Boltz was denied because his DNA was found in both victims. , claimed that both were responsible. At the time of their deaths, the CNS reported.
According to the report, Silberman said the “massive amount of evidence” referred to “only the defendants.”
Waltz, a former Marine who testified himself, denied any wrongdoing.
“My semen means I could have had sex with the person. That doesn’t mean I killed them,” he said during the trial, CNS reported.
When questioned about his DNA evidence, he reiterated that he had not killed any women.
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Voltz’s attorney, Damon Lamont Hobdi, claimed the prosecution “didn’t prove” that his client murdered the woman, CNS reported.
Hobdy told the jury, “If the evidence shows him not guilty, do your duty.
With no modern DNA evidence available at the time, the murders of both women went cold for decades.
The Vaultz indictment marks the first time Los Angeles County has used genetic genealogy for investigative purposes, with detectives accessing a commercial DNA database and using relatives’ DNA to track down suspects, according to a former Los Angeles County district attorney. Prosecutor Jackie Lacy said earlier.
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Waltz was initially acquitted of murdering 25-year-old Janna Law in 1988. Although it cannot be retrialed, it was used as “pattern evidence” for the current prosecution.
Lowe’s body was found strangled in a Ventura County garbage pile in 1986.
Keough’s sister, Sabrina Prude, told reporters she was grateful for the continued investigation and verdict.
“I am very grateful to everyone who has helped me get to this point,” Plourde reported to the CNS. “
“They care and they don’t forget about their families when someone is missing,” she added.
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Voltz was arrested during a traffic stop by Burbank police in November 2019 because he was wanted for the murders of Keough and Duggan.
He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.