SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Barbara County jury has found Aloysius James guilty of the first-degree murder of 30-year-old Ofelia Sandoval on Sep. 18, 1988 in Santa Maria.
James' sentencing for the conviction of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder in the commission of a rape is currently scheduled for April 14 of this year shared the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office in a press release Friday.
He faces a sentence of life without the possibility of parole added the local prosecutor's office.
On the evening of Sep. 18, 1988, Ofelia Sandoval was found strangled to death on the floor of her home and despite an investigation into her homicide, the case went cold in 1989 detailed the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
Multiple attempts to kickstart the case were conducted and in the early 2000s, the Department of Justice used evidence collected in Ofelia's room to create a DNA profile for an unknown man explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
That DNA profile did not match any known DNA profiles in a national database at the time noted the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
In 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alongside the Santa Maria Police Department to obtain a covert DNA profile from Aloysius James and in 2023, the Department of Justice matched James' DNA profile to the samples taken from Ofelia's room in 1988 explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, local police detectives obtained an arrest warrant for James and he was taken into custody in Georgia on April 16, 2024.
"Today marks the culmination of almost 38 years of work on the murder of Ofelia Sandoval," shared the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office in an announcement of the conviction. "District Attorney John Savrnoch would like to thank and acknowledge the combined efforts of retired law enforcement officers Titsworth, Begg, Spears, Marquez, Mahwinney, Hupp, Prescott, Flores, Graham, and Hammond. The entire Santa Maria Police Department including officers Stowasser, Silver, and Craven. FBI Special Agents Smith and McPherson, the Hall County Regional Swat Team in Hall County Georgia and the Gainesville Police Department in Georgia. Special thank you to San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office for their contribution of Investigator Julia Tatarian, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Coroners Bureau, and the Department of Justice DNA Laboratory. He also thanks Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen, D.A. Investigator Ronnie Murillo and victim advocate Bianett Garcia for their hard work and dedication to achieving justice in this case."
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