Georgia man pleads not guilty to 1988 death of woman at Santa Maria motel

Charges have been filed in a nearly 36-year-old murder case out of Santa Maria.

According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Aloysius Winthrop James, 57, of Georgia has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of Ofelia Sandoval on Sept. 18, 1988 at the Town Center Motel on the 200 block of N. Broadway.

While the investigation grew cold, police said earlier this year that the 30-year-old Santa Maria resident’s case has remained open and over the last several years, work by detectives led to an arrest warrant for James.

He was arrested in Georgia in April and reportedly pleaded not guilty on Monday to the murder charge while denying a special circumstance that the murder was committed during the commission of rape.

He’s being held without bail and is due back in court in Santa Maria on July 30.

Police earlier this year said James was a Santa Maria resident at the time of the murder, adding that they believed he may be linked to other crimes that have gone unreported .