DNA shed light on 1977 cold cases. Now, suspected serial strangler will stand trial in Ventura, California

LOS ANGELES — A man suspected of strangling three women to death in Ventura County in 1977 is headed to court after new DNA technology shed light on the serial slayings that had stumped detectives for decades.

Warren Luther Alexander, 73, of Diamondhead, Miss., will stand trial in the killings of Kimberly Carol Fritz, Velvet Ann Sanchez and Lorraine Ann Rodriguez, following a Friday ruling by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Paul Feldman.

Feldman made the decision after a three-day hearing where 13 witnesses testified, including five people who participated in the 1977 investigation, three DNA analysts and a fingerprint examiner, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Alexander remains in Ventura County Jail without bail and is due back in court on Nov. 1.

All three of Alexander's alleged victims were sex workers killed through a uniquely violent and "degrading" form of strangulation, according to a statement from the coroner shared in a 1978 Ventura County Star article.

For almost 50 years, law enforcement was unable to pin the crimes to a suspect.

Then in 2023, the county's cold case unit was able to link old evidence to Alexander with the help of a new DNA database used by homicide detectives across the nation.

Recent DNA discoveries also led to Alexander being charged in 2022 in the killing of 29-year-old Nona Cobb in North Carolina in 1992. She too was found strangled.

In August, he was extradited to California from North Carolina's Surry County, where he was awaiting prosecution in Cobb's slaying.

Detectives fear the four victims could just be the tip of the iceberg.

"We believe there may be additional victims, both locally and in other states," Ventura County Dist. Atty. Erik Nasarenko said when he announced that his office had filed three counts of first-degree murder against Alexander in August. "This is an ongoing investigation, and we will continue to pursue all leads that become available."

Alexander hails from Mississippi but attended elementary school, middle school and part of high school in Oxnard. He worked as an engineer in the U.S. Marine Corps before returning to Oxnard in the 1970s where he worked as a long-haul truck driver through the 1990s, authorities have said.