A California man was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in a 22-year-old case, according to authorities.
Frank Gallas Mendoza was convicted for the murder of Richard Lucero, who was found dead with a ligature mark around his neck in his residence in El Mirage, Arizona, on December 20, 2001, Arizona State Troopers said in a statement.
The investigators had exhausted all leads and techniques on the case, causing it to go cold, per the statement. However, new DNA technologies led to the discovery of Mendoza’s latent fingerprint records and helped to match his DNA, which detectives obtained, with DNA found in multiple places in Lucero’s residence and on the ligature around Lucero’s neck. (RELATED: Officials Identify Killer In ‘Lady Of The Dunes’ Cold Case, Nearly 50 Years After Gruesome Murder)
17-YEAR EL MIRAGE COLD CASE MURDER SOLVED BY AZDPS USING NEW TECHNOLOGY
Murder…
