It was a shocking series of murders in Ventura County in 1977 that resulted in unsolved cases that have now finally been solved.

Ventura County police officials say DNA evidence has led them to a man, now 73, who they believe is responsible for four brutal murders, including three in the county.

“These murders may have happened 47 years ago, but investigators from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Cold Case Unit, and Port Hueneme and Oxnard officers and detectives have never given up,”
said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. He said Warren Luther Alexander will be charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Ventura County District Attorney’s Office

Velvet Sanchez, Kimberly Fritz and Lorraine Rodriguez were strangled within seven months in 1977.

Investigators believe Alexander targeted vulnerable women. “All three victims were sex workers, a profession that exposed them to violence, human trafficking and extreme exploitation,” said Nasaranko.

The murders affected three jurisdictions: Ventura County, Oxnard and Santa Paula. Investigators realized they were dealing with a serial killer, but did not have enough evidence to track down the killer.

But investigators never gave up. Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites says the case has literally been passed down through generations of investigators.

“These murder cases have literally spanned generations of detectives,” the police chief said. “Many of the detectives and police officers who originally worked these cases are either long retired or deceased.”

Advances in DNA technology would ultimately tip the scales in this case, but it wasn’t as easy as one might think. In 2006, DNA samples were sent to the national database, but there were no matches.

But persistence paid off. Nasarenko says that in 2023, investigators in charge of unsolved cases resubmitted the DNA data to the national database, which led them to Alexander.

He had been arrested and was being held in North Carolina for a 1992 murder. He was arrested for the Ventura County murders and extradited to California this week.

Ventura County District Attorney’s Office

So who is Alexander?

He grew up in Oxnard and attended school in the community. He joined the Marines and returned in the 1970s.

Alexander was a truck driver in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. He lived in Mississippi. The district attorney believes there may be more victims across the country, and perhaps more in Ventura County. He says the investigation is ongoing.

But prosecutors say they are pressed for time. The defendant is over 70 and the witnesses are between 60 and 70; age is catching up with everyone. Nasaranko says they would ask for a life sentence without the possibility of parole, because death sentences can last for years.

Alexander has not yet commented on the murder charge.

Although more than four decades have passed since the murders, the three victims still have living relatives, from fathers and sisters to children. Port Hueneme Police Chief Michael Federico hopes the arrest can provide some comfort to the families.

“A lot has changed in Ventura County since the deaths of Kimberly Fritz, Velvet Sanchez and Lorraine Rodriguez,” the police chief said. “But what has not changed is our commitment to bringing justice to the victims and their families.”

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