A 73-year-old Mississippi man, Warren Luther Alexander, has pled not guilty to a series of strangulation murders dating back nearly 50 years. According to a release from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Alexander is facing charges for three counts of first-degree murder related to the deaths of Kimberly Carol Fritz, Velvet Ann Sanchez, and Lorraine Ann Rodriguez in 1977. DNA evidence collected from the crime scenes and the victims helped cold case investigators pinpoint Alexander as a suspect. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit, alongside the Oxnard Police Department and Port Hueneme Police Department, are credited for their collaborative efforts in reopening the investigation.
The re-investigation into these decades-old homicides began in earnest in February 2023. A previous KTLA report shed light on the victims, noting that the women, initially characterized in a 1978 article in The Daily Herald as prostitutes, were all strangled with their own clothing - a grim detail that tied the murders together. These killings were not just cold cases but chapters of unspeakable grief in the lives of those connected to the victims.
The process to bring Alexander to justice has been arduous, with him only recently extradited to Southern California on August 6, 2024, from Surry County, North Carolina, where he was also implicated in a separate 1992 cold case murder. Alexander, who hails from Diamondhead, Mississippi, is slated for another court appearance on August 30, 2024, where dates for conditional exams will be set. Subsequent legal procedures, including an early disposition conference, are scheduled for September 25, 2024.
As it stands, the suspect remains in Ventura County Jail without the possibility of bail.
