Escondido, CA police make negro arrest in 1986 fatal stabbing of WM, 75

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Senior News Editor since 2011
http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/04/23/police-make-arrest-in-1986-cold-case-homicide/

Escondido police make arrest in 1986 fatal stabbing
Updated at 06:47PM, April 23, 2018

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ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- A retired security guard was behind bars Monday for allegedly murdering a retiree in northern San Diego County more than three decades ago.


Nathan Eugene Mathis, 62, was arrested last week at his Ontario home in connection with the fatal stabbing of 75-year-old Richard Finney of Escondido, according to police.

On the morning of Nov. 13, 1986, Finney was found stabbed to death in his living-room chair at the East Mission Avenue apartment where he lived by himself, Lt. Ed Varso said. Money, jewelry and other miscellaneous items belonging to the victim had been stolen.

Detectives who initially investigated the homicide collected evidence at the crime scene, including two knives used in the deadly assault, fingerprints and blood. They were unable to identify a suspect, however, and the case eventually went cold, the lieutenant said.

The motive for the slaying remains unclear, the lieutenant said. Though the suspect lived in northern San Diego County at the time, there is no evidence that he knew the victim or had met him prior to the homicide, according to Varso.

In 2007, Escondido Police Department cold-case homicide investigators Chuck Gaylor and Norman Wight reopened the investigation.

"Technological advances not available in 1986 allowed them to have further testing completed on the previously collected blood evidence," Varso said. "The testing revealed the DNA profile of a potential suspect."
 

Escondido Police Make Arrest in Cold Case Homicide from 1986​


April 25, 2018





On the morning of November 13, 1986 75-year-old Richard Finney was found stabbed to death inside of his apartment at 326 E. Mission Ave. in Escondido. Escondido police detectives noted that several items belonging to Mr. Finney had been stolen from the apartment. Detectives collected evidence which included fingerprints and blood evidence. However, a suspect was never identified.
The case was re-opened in 2007 by Escondido Police Cold Case Homicide Investigators Chuck Gaylor and Norman Wight. Technological advances, not available in 1986, allowed Investigators Gaylor and Wight to have further testing completed on the previously collected blood evidence. The testing revealed the DNA profile of a potential suspect. That profile was compared with known DNA profiles in the Combined DNA Index System (commonly known as CODIS), but did not match any of those in the database.
In 2016, Escondido Police Department Forensic Fingerprint Expert Cassaundra Barnes used new technology that allowed for a better quality photograph of the fingerprint collected from Mr. Finney’s apartment. The higher quality photograph, in combination with advances in fingerprint comparison databases, led to the identification of a suspect, Nathan Eugene Mathis (62-year-old resident of Ontario, CA). Further investigative efforts were conducted, which included testing Mr. Mathis’ DNA profile against the previously collected unknown DNA profile. San Diego County Sheriff’s Crime Lab personnel compared the two DNA profiles and determined that Mathis’ DNA profile matched the DNA profile collected from Mr. Finney’s apartment in 1986.
Nathan Mathis was located and arrested at his residence in Ontario, CA. on April 18, 2018. Mathis was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on one count of murder (P.C. 187 (a), where he is being held on a $3,000,000.00 bail.
Mr. Finney’s grandchildren were notified of the arrest. Mr. Finney’s granddaughter Catherine Turi Hollis said, “It means everything to us that you continually worked the case for 32 years. I don’t know how to repay someone for their efforts other than I will never forget what you did for our family.”
 
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