Mississippi man to face trial for three 1977 cold case murders in Ventura County
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Warren Luther Alexander, a Mississippi man extradited from North Carolina earlier this year, is set to stand trial for three 1977 Ventura County murders.
On Friday, Oct. 18, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Paul Feldman decided to allow the trial to proceed after a three-day preliminary hearing stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in a press release Monday.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, 13 witnesses were called during the preliminary hearings including three DNA analysts, a fingerprint examiner, and five people that were part of the original investigations in 1977.
Alexander will now face murder charges in the deaths of Kimberly Carol Fritz, Velvet Ann Sanchez, and Lorraine Ann Rodriguez.
In all three cases, an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be strangulation and DNA evidence was collected from the scenes of all three homicides shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
In February of 2023, the Ventura County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit began to review the unsolved cases explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Alexander was extradited to California on Aug. 6, 2024, from Surrey County in North Carolina where he is awaiting prosecution for a 1992 cold case murder in that jurisdiction detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Alexander is currently scheduled for an information arraignment on Nov. 1, 2024, in courtroom 11 of the Ventura County Superior Court and he remains in custody without bail.
