After four decades of unanswered questions, Texas Rangers have successfully closed a cold case murder that has haunted Ector County. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 62-year-old Billy Wayne Ludwigson has been convicted and sentenced to 20 years for the murder of Velma Nesset, a case that dates back to 1982.
Nesset, then aged 64, was employed at the Permian Mall in Odessa and was known for her routine walks to work. The alarm was raised on April 19, 1982, when she failed to show up for her job. Despite early efforts by the Odessa Police Department, the case went cold for years after the initial suspect’s acquittal due to lack of evidence and a false confession.
It wasn't until the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, funded by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA), tagged Nesset’s case for review that any real progress was made. Using SAKI grant funds, Advanced DNA testing and genealogy research through Bode Technologies pinpointed Ludwigson as a suspect, a fact later confirmed by standard forensic DNA testing.
In July 2020, Ludwigson was apprehended in Denver, Colo., and, subsequent to his arrest, he confessed to Nesset’s murder. He was extradited to Texas in October of the same year and formally indicted by an Ector County jury on murder charges. On August 9, Ludwigson entered a guilty plea, resulting in a 20-year sentence in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. This conclusion brings a long-awaited closure to a chapter steep in tragedy for the community of Odessa and for the family of Velma Nesset.
