Fla. police ID woman's killer in 23-year-old cold case

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Detectives have solved the case of a woman who was abducted, strangled and dumped in a Coral Springs neighborhood in 1990, reports CBS Miami.

Authorities identified Oba Chandler, who was executed in 2011 for a 1989 triple murder in St. Petersburg, as the man responsible for the death of 20-year-old Ivelisse Beguerisse, who was abducted on Nov. 26, 1990 after leaving her job at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Broward County.

The station reports two of Beguerisse’s car tires had been slashed and investigators say she was abducted, bound and assaulted. She was then strangled before being dumped in a Coral Springs neighborhood.

According to the Coral Springs Police, Chandler’s DNA was found on Beguerisse’s body after cold case detectives had technicians at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab review the evidence again several weeks ago.

The initial investigation into Beguerisse’s murder went cold when suspects and leads didn’t pan out, reports the station.

Police credited the advances in DNA testing for being able to make a positive identification of the suspect.

Detective Brian Koenig, one of the investigators on the case, recalled the fear felt throughout the community after Beguerisse’s murder.

“[It was] something that people were afraid of and now finding out years later who the suspect was, they had every right to be afraid,” Koenig told CBS Miami.

Chandler was arrested in 1992 and found guilty of the 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her daughters, who he lured onto his boat, according to police. He then bound them and dumped their half-naked bodies into Tampa Bay with cinderblocks tied around their necks.

Chandler never admitted to any crimes, investigators say.

“I believe when they went back into his cell [after the execution], he had written a note and it said that you’re killing an innocent man today,” said Detective Daniel Cucchi. “So, he basically took it to his grave.”

Police had alerted other agencies about the case, telling them to look at any unsolved murders in areas where Chandler lived.

“It certainly gives immediate family members some closure and they had been struggling with this tragedy,” Cucchi said. “They were certainly appreciative of our efforts in reopening the case.”