CA CA - Patricia Lopez, 9, Santa Ana, 3 June 1987

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-coldcase16oct16,0,5158976.story?coll=la-home-center


Rosendo Lopez was arrested by Santa Ana police after new forensic evidence was tested and he was interviewed. Her beaten body was found in a tunnel in a Santa Ana riverbed. Past articles listed on this page show that about a month after the killing, Patricia's parents accused the police of forgetting about her case, but they went far and wide looking for the perpetrator, only now to have it be her own brother. His picture is very scary.............[/SIZE][/SIZE]

If the link does not work go to the latimes.com and scroll down a bit

This case is so sad. The brother would have been, 22 if my math is correct....which is questionable after the kind of day I have had! :doh: Why would a 22 year old kill his 9 year old sister? Other reports from the time of the incident seem to indicate that there was no sexual assault. She was just beaten to death. How on earth is a third grader a threat to a 22 year old?

So Sad!!

Who knows what goes on in the head of someone who decides to take another life, especially his sister. The fact that she was her "Daddy's favourite could be a possibility, who knows.

I saw this on the news yesterday! The wild thing is that the family is totally backing them man! They do not believe it's possible he did the crime!

It's so sad. You're right, Pandora. The family is 100% backing the son. Even paying for his attorney. Something is strange about this.

KrisNine said:

It's so sad. You're right, Pandora. The family is 100% backing the son. Even paying for his attorney. Something is strange about this.

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They don't want to loose another child.

Dear oh dear, how shocking. DNA evidence is really starting to get through some of these old cases recently.

From February 2010:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lopez-233157-never-patricia.html

Rosendo Lopez, 44, who made headlines in 2007 when he was arrested and charged with the cold case slaying of his 9-year-old sister two decades earlier, died in the Orange County Jail on Sunday, apparently of natural causes...

Deputy Public Defender Linda Hewitt... said Lopez had been seriously ill for some time with diabetes and colon cancer, for which he was receiving radiation treatment. She said he had a colostomy bag and had recently contracted pneumonia...

He was due to stand trial later this year on first-degree murder charges involving the June 3, 1987, beating death of Patricia Lopez, his little sister. Her battered body was found in a feeder channel of the Santa Ana River basin two days after she disappeared. He was 21 at the time.

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In this case, a cold case review discovered male DNA under the victims fingernail. Further review showed that the DNA probably belonged to a close relative. Police obtained DNA samples from all male family members and identified Rosario as the donor. He was arrested but denied everything. Before he could be tried, he died of Cancer. The cases has been chalked up to another crime solved with DNA. The family believes he is innocent.

What grabs me about this case is that Rosendo was her brother and lived with her. It is certainly plausible that hid DNA got under her fingernails in some innocent manner. Apparently Rosendo never had a Felony conviction (his DNA wasn't on the state database) and he was never considered a suspect during the initial investigation ( there is nothing this on record about his whereabouts, movements or alibi that day).