Nearly 50 years after three women were strangled to death in Ventura County, authorities said Thursday they believe they have the killer and he may be tied to other similar murders.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko told reporters at a news conference in Ventura the investigation into Warren Luther Alexander continues. So far, he has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
"We do believe there are additional victims both locally and in other states," Nasarenko said.
Alexander has been assigned a public defender. A message left with his attorney was not immediately returned.
Authorities said Alexander, a 73-year-old from Diamondhead, Mississippi, killed Kimberly Carol Fritz, Lorraine Ann Rodriguez and Velvet Ann Sanchez in 1977.
The District Attorney's Office, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and Oxnard and Port Hueneme police departments are working with the FBI "to see where patterns emerge and hopefully solve additional crimes," Nasarenko said.
The DA's office extradited Alexander this week after investigators believe DNA linked him to the Ventura County deaths. He arrived Tuesday from Surry County, North Carolina, where he's facing charges in a 1992 cold case murder that also involved strangulation of a woman, this one left on the side of a highway, Nasarenko said.
In addition, investigators are looking closely at the strangulation death of Cassandra Lee Miller, who was found dead Oct. 1, 1975, at the Surfside Motel in Port Hueneme, the district attorney said.
"We are continuing to investigate whether that 1975 case is connected with the 1977 murders," Nasarenko said.
Alexander grew up in Oxnard in the 1950s and '60s and attended school through his sophomore year of high school, he noted.
"He was a cab driver and electrician with the Marine Corps. He returned to Oxnard in the 1970s," Nasarenko said.
Alexander worked as a long-haul, cross-country truck driver from the 1970s through the early1990s, the district attorney added.
Peristence pays off
He and law enforcement officials stressed investigators have remained persistent for decades on the case.
As early as February 1978, authorities shared the belief that all four deaths — the three Alexander is charged with and Miller's — had been connected.
"In my opinion, they're all by the same person except the last one," said Dr. Robert Kornblum, the coroner-medical examiner at the time to a Ventura County Star reporter. Referring to Rodriguez, he said some of the evidence in her death was different than the other women's.
Eventually, the cases went cold.
In February 2023, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit and Oxnard and Port Hueneme police departments began to re-examine the women's murders. All three deaths had been by strangulation and DNA evidence had been collected from the crime scenes and the victims.
Nasarenko credited advances in DNA technology and a match with Alexander's DNA profile through a national database in 2023 as the breakthroughs that led to Alexander's arrest.
Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff told reporters DNA today can be examined with greater efficiency and accuracy.
Fryhoff joined Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites and Port Hueneme Police Chief Michael Federico at the news conference, where they stressed the importance of bringing a murder suspect to justice, no matter how long it takes. All three talked about the victims and their families.
"Today marks the first crucial step toward achieving the long-awaited justice for the victims and their loved ones and families," Nasarenko said.
What's next in the court proceedings?
The district attorney said he will not seek the death penalty for Alexander because doing so would require more time. Instead, Nasarenko said he's seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"Witnesses are aging," he said.
The need to proceed efficiently and quickly is also why Surry County, despite its own murder charge against Alexander in the 1992 strangulation death of a woman found on the side of a highway, agreed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's extradition request, Nasarenko said.
"They realize time is not on Ventura County's side," he said.
Fritz was 18 when she died in Port Hueneme May 29, 1977. Sanchez, 31, died in Oxnard Sept. 8, 1977.
Rodriguez, 21, was found dead by sheriff's deputies Dec. 27, 1977. She was discovered in an unincorporated area of the Oxnard Plains near the Laguna Road Bridge, DA's office spokesman Joey Buttitta said.
All three women were prostitutes and while a sequence of events hasn't been established, evidence shows Alexander picked up all three for commercial sex, Nasarenko said. He added they frequented the Plaza Marina Shopping Center in Oxnard and nearby hotels.
Alexander's arraignment began Wednesday morning in Ventura County Superior Court. The arraignment was continued to 9 a.m. Aug. 21 in courtroom 11. He is being held in Ventura County Jail without bail.
Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Authorities say they have serial killer in three 1977 deaths; more victims possible
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