Elderly Fairfield man identified as suspect in Union City, Vallejo cold case homicides
FAIRFIELD -- A 76-year-old Fairfield man has been arrested after being identified as the suspect in two cold case homicides in the East Bay dating back several decades.
The Solano County Sheriff's Office said in a press release Thursday that deputies arrested 76-year-old James Ray Gary after new DNA evidence was obtained in separate homicide cases from 1980 -- a crime which also included evidence of sexual assault -- and 1996. The DNA evidence additionally connects the suspect to a sex crime committed in the North Bay last year.
In July 1980, 46-year-old Latrelle Lindsay was found dead in her Union City home. Her cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to strangulation associated with blunt force injuries. She had also been sexually assaulted. No suspects were identified at the time; a DNA sample entered into a database came up with no matches.
In March 1996, Caltrans workers found a body in the bushes along Interstate Highway 780 near Laurel Street in Vallejo. The victim was later identified as 46-year-old Winifred Douglas from the Oakland/Berkeley area. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Police did not identify any suspects.
In 2003, evidence from the Solano County homicide was sent to the state Department of Justice for DNA analysis. A single DNA profile was found, but no match was made when loaded into the FBI's DNA database. Nine years later in 2012, the sheriff's office said it was told the DNA profile from the Solano County homicide matched a piece of evidence from the 1980 Union City homicide. Still, no suspect was identified.
Earlier this month, both the Union City Police Department and the Solano County Sheriff's Office were notified that the DNA profile identified in their two cases matched that of a sex crime being investigated in the North Bay from 2021. Detectives had named Gary as the suspect in the sex crime investigation. Authorities did not provide any additional information regarding that case.
On Monday, the sheriff's office said it was notified DNA sample from Gary matched all three crimes. Deputies obtained a warrant and arrested Gary on Tuesday, booking him into the Solano County Jail on a homicide charge. Additional charges in connection with the 1980 Union City homicide were expected.
"We are hoping that this arrest can bring some closure to the family and friends that have been seeking justice for as much as 40 years," the sheriff's office said in the news release.
Anyone with information about the 1996 Solano County homicide was asked to contact the sheriff's office at 70-784-7050. People with any information on the 1980 Union City homicide was asked to contact police at 510-675-5227.
