Unsolved murder considered a ‘cold case’
Accused murderer David Thomas Wright appeared in court Friday, facing capital murder charges for allegedly killing a Santa Monica woman four years ago.
Wright, a 47-year-old black man who was homeless when he allegedly sodomized and brutally murdered Aviva Labbe, did not enter a plea. His arraignment has been continued to July 31, said Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Ellen Aragon, who filed the charges against Wright last month.
Labbe’s murder had been classified as a “cold case” and remained unsolved for nearly four years. There were no suspects until a sampling of Wright’s DNA linked him to the murder through the U.S. Department of Justice’s database system.
Convicted felons are required to provide either a blood or saliva sample so their DNA is on file with the Department of Justice’s data bank. That information is assigned a number, randomly put through the system about every three weeks and is tested against thousands of unsolved cases.
Wright’s number came up last year. However, he already had been arrested for another crime. Authorities found Wright serving a 6-year prison term for battery of a Santa Monica police officer. In January, a jury found Wright guilty of battery, resisting arrest, and failing to register himself as a registered sex offender.
Because authorities knew Wright already was in prison, Santa Monica Police took extra time collecting forensic data that would link him to the four-year-old murder case.
“They took their time and ran more tests to be sure,” Aragon said.
Wright was officially charged with the murder on June 13, one day before the 4-year anniversary of Labbe’s death, who was 20-years-old when she was found sodomized and murdered in a walkway of a vacant home in Santa Monica.
The murder case against Wright is considered a “special circumstance” because Labbe was sodomized. A panel will review the case against Wright to determine whether the state will seek the death penalty.
Wright’s rap sheet goes back to at least 1990 when he pleaded no contest to petty theft. In 1993, he was convicted of possessing a dagger and given probation.
In 1994, Wright was sentenced to two years in prison for assault. In 1999, Wright was acquitted for possessing a deadly weapon.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 1, 2002. Read the original PDF.