Calif. woman murdered in high school parking lot finally identified

"Unlike many murder trials where there are family members sitting in court and hearing the evidence, that didn't happen in this case because the victim's identities were still unknown. Not only had the defendant taken their lives, he had also wiped away their names, leaving family members longing and waiting for decades for answers about their loved ones."

"In July 1980, a woman was found dead in the parking lot of Westlake High School by a maintenance worker. She had been sexually assaulted, stabbed in the chest and was partially clothed in a white top, red pants and black high-heeled sandals, according to local reports."

"In 2011, DNA technology had advanced to the point that the Ventura County Sheriff's Office was able to use evidence preserved from the scene to develop a profile of the woman's killer. Two years later, the department found a match in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, where it identified Wilson Chouest as a suspect in her killing."

In July 1980, a woman was discovered dead in a Westlake High School parking lot after being sexually assaulted and stabbed. For decades, her identity and killer remained unknown. In 2011, improved DNA technology allowed the Ventura County Sheriff's Office to develop a killer's profile from preserved evidence. By 2013, a match was found in the FBI's DNA database, identifying Wilson Chouest as the suspect. Chouest had been paroled from a sexual assault conviction in summer 1980 and subsequently committed a violent crime spree across multiple counties. He was arrested in Tulare County for kidnapping and sexual assault. After law enforcement connected him to both the Ventura and Kern County murders, Chouest was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to consecutive life sentences without parole.

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