Cold Case Leads To Conviction

On July 30, 1980 Stacy Knappenberger’s mother came home from work and found her oldest daughter murdered in their South J Street home.

Oxnard police stored DNA evidence from the crime scene where the 15-year-old Hueneme High student was beaten, stabbed and raped.

The case was considered cold until a recent match was found in the combined index system known as CODIS.

The DNA led officers to Thomas Young of Fairfield, Alabama.

In the fall of 2012 Young unwittingly agreed to come to the Sheriff’s Office in Jefferson County, Alabama, to file a formal complaint he had made against an officer.

When he arrived Oxnard police were waiting,

Jurors in a Ventura courtroom Thursday found Young guilty of rape and murder and special circumstances.

Knappenberger’s relatives said they didn’t know Young, but they will have a chance to make victim impact statements when Young is sentenced March-20.

The 67-year-old, who claimed the sex was consensual, is facing life without the possibility of parole.