GUILTY CA - Louis Fernandez, 55, robbed & killed in his Oakley bar, 14 Jan 1993

MARTINEZ, Calif.—Investigators believe they've found the killer of a Contra Costa County bar owner who was fatally shot in his business 17 years ago.

Sheriff's officials had a few leads but made no arrests immediately after the 1993 death of 55-year-old Louis Fernandez, who body was found by bar patrons at Ike's Acme Club in Oakley.

Nearly two decades later, investigators used DNA evidence from a beer bottle to link 48-year-old Edward Paul Byrns to the scene. They say a gun found at the suspect's father's house may have been the weapon used in the killing.

Byrns was arraigned Tuesday on murder and armed robbery charges. He's due back in court May 6 to enter a plea.

Byrns is being held on $1.2 million bail.

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Munoz, now 50, recalled her bucolic childhood innocence Friday as she stared down her father's murderer, Edward Byrns, moments before he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a Jan. 14, 1993, killing that had stumped law enforcement for more than 15 years...

In September, a jury convicted Byrns of first-degree murder for shooting Fernandez, execution-style, in the back of the head...

On the day of the murder, Byrns stayed at the bar for more than six hours until he was alone with Fernandez, then shot the 55-year-old Brentwood resident... Byrns, believing he was still alive, shot Fernandez again in the chest as he lay on the floor, emptied the till and stole the victim's wallet before barricading the front doors with pool cues. He gambled the money away in Reno, pawned the handgun and lost that money, too.

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