Neighborhood Shocked as Helpful 59-Year-Old Local Arrested in Cold Case Murder from Four Decades Ago
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A neighborhood was left stunned when a break in a cold case led to the arrest of a friendly local they called “Woody.”
In reality, “Woody” was actually 59-year-old Richard Moore. Investigators say newer forensic techniques identified Moore as the killer in the 1984 death of 69-year-old Madeline Garcia in Roseville, California. The nature of the evidence was not revealed, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Moore was arrested on June 27 in Los Angeles, some 400 miles from Roseville.
Moore was transferred to Placer County.
According to Sacramento News & Review, Moore was arraigned at the South Placer County Jail on July 8on a charge of murder with special allegations.
Moore was granted a public defender by Placer County Judge Jeffrey Penney, through which he entered a “not guilty” plea.
Although Moore was classified as level-3, a low-level moderate risk, in probation officers’ assessment, the prosecution argued that circumstances demanded that he be denied bail.
“He lived under the radar for years,” Pacer County District Attorney Morgan Gire told the judge.
“He attacked the victim in the early morning hours, dragged her into an alley, sexually assaulted her, and then beat her to death.”
The argument eventually convinced the judge to deny Moore any attempt at posting bail.
Four hundred miles away in the Los Angeles neighborhood where “Woody” once lived as a free man, his former neighbors were left stunned by the revelations of his allegedly murderous past.
The neighbors remembered him as a helpful man who once found and returned a lost cat to its owner.
Gire sees Moore as something else entirely.
Detectives crack 1984 murder cold case out of Roseville, suspect arrested in LA | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/yfHmcG7gMX
— kcranews (@kcranews) July 9, 2024
“Today has been a long time coming,” Gire said after the hearing. “Justice hasn’t stopped.”
“The defendant committed a heinous crime in 1984 … And anyone who can commit that kind of crime, no matter their age — no matter the time that has passed since the crime — represents a danger to our community,” he continued.
“And it is imperative that people capable of committing these kinds of crimes do not remain free while their case is pending.”
According to a Facebook post by the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, Moore’s next court date will be on July 22.
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