After nearly three decades, police have found suspect in 1975 murder
POLICE HDQRTRS. — A 29-year-old murder case has been reopened, and investigators are eyeing a man who for the past several years has reportedly led a double life as a civic leader in Pasadena.
John Laurence Whitaker is now sitting in an Oregon jail as he fights extradition to California to stand trial for two murders, one of which occurred in Santa Monica in 1975. Whitaker also has been charged with killing a prostitute in Laguna Beach in 1983.
Whitaker has been living under the alias of John Whitaker Betances in Pasadena, according to a story broken by the Pasadena Star-News earlier this month. Whitaker, 57, reportedly was a respected civic leader, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Pasadena City College board of trustees in 2001. He also was involved in the local school district as a recruiter for a program that trains fathers to volunteer in schools.
But Whitaker’s double life was turned upside down earlier this year when a Laguna Beach Police Department detective started doing his homework. When detective Paul Litchenberg learned there was a discrepancy on the number of cold cases the Orange County District Attorney’s Office had recorded for Laguna Beach, Litchenberg in April began sifting through the evidence room.
He gathered DNA samples from a 1983 murder scene and matched them with the Department of Justice’s database of convicted felons.
“This case had not been investigated at all, and it was a fluke (that we were altered to it),” Litchenberg said. “I had a hit immediately.”
Whitaker’s DNA was linked to Patricia Ann Carpenter, whose partially nude body was found dumped along the road in Laguna Beach, according to the Star- News. Whitaker’s DNA had been in law enforcement databases since 1994 when he was released from a California prison after serving 10 years for rape, Litchenberg said. Whitaker was discharged from parole in 1997 and moved to Pasadena a year later, the Star-News reported.
Through an Internet search, Litchenberg found Whitaker in Gresham, Ore., in July. He apparently left Pasadena in 2003 after separating from his wife, who was unaware of his previous life. In Oregon, Whitaker moved in with a woman he met over the Internet. But because he failed to register as a sex offender, Whitaker was arrested.
Litchenberg spent a few days in Oregon, where he questioned Whitaker about the previous murders. But Whitaker denied he played any part.
“He talked the entire time, even under Miranda,” Litchenberg said. “It came to a point where he wouldn’t confirm or deny, but he gave bits and pieces that only a killer would know.”
Looking at police records, Litchenberg noticed Whitaker had been questioned by Santa Monica police nearly three decades ago, so he contacted detectives here.
In September, Santa Monica investigators got a hit on one of their cold cases — this time Whitaker’s DNA matched evidence taken from the body of Bodil Rasmussen of Carson, who was found dead in the parking lot of the old Sea Castle at 1725 Appian Way, said Santa Monica Lt. Ray Cooper. She too had been raped — and strangled.
“We believe her body was dumped here,” Cooper said.
Whitaker and Rasmussen had been neighbors in Carson. Soon after her murder, police suspected Whitaker as her killer, and he was arrested. But the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office dropped the case because there wasn’t enough evidence. That’s partly due to a lack of forensic technology available at the time, Cooper said.
“We talked to (Whitaker) at length 29 years ago,” he said. “He had conflicting statements... his contact with her, the timeline of events, and he gave false information.”
Whitaker had been with Rasmussen the night before her death. He told Santa Monica detectives that he was a medical student and had a legal background, according to the Star-News. What he failed to tell them was that he was a parolee who had been convicted of sodomy in 1964 and served three years in a New York state prison. He also failed to tell them of the rape for which he served time in a California prison in the ’80s and early ’90s.
Cooper said the case will soon be sent to the DA’s office once it’s decided how it will be prosecuted. Because of the pending murder case in Orange County, there likely will be a combined prosecution with LA County, Cooper said.
“There will have to be negotiation on where it will be tried,” he said, adding he’s unsure when charges will be filed. “This case is 29 years old, we have a little background work to do and locate the witnesses.”
Because Whitaker is refusing to be extradited, Litchenberg has filed a governor’s warrant, which will order Whitaker to stand trial in California. Once the warrant is signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Whitaker will be brought to California. Litchenberg expects the process to take months. However, Whitaker’s next court date is Dec. 6, when the expected transport could be decided.
As DNA evidence testing continues to advance, more unsolved cases are likely to be reopened, Cooper said. In 2003, Santa Monica detectives reopened a 1998 murder case using DNA evidence. A random match-up of DNA samplings conducted by the Department of Justice in the California prison system linked a convicted felon to the murder of a Santa Monica woman.
David Thomas Wright, a twice-convicted felon with an extensive arrest record, has been charged with capital murder for allegedly killing Aviva Labbe on June 14, 1998, in Santa Monica. Wright was found in state prison serving a six-year sentence for battery of a Santa Monica police officer during an unrelated incident. Wright is scheduled to go to trial in December.
Cooper said a 2001 robbery and rape case was recently reopened and charges have been filed against the suspect.
“DNA is advancing so rapidly we are able to recover evidence from cold cases,” he said. “We are applying these technologies, and we are having significant success to even current cases.
“If we have a viable lead or a viable suspect, we will immediately submit the evidence,” Cooper added. “As time goes by, you are going to see more success.”
Proposition 69, passed by California voters on Nov. 2, should help law enforcement agencies further. The state can now expand the collection of DNA samples to include all convicted felons, some convicted non-felons and those who have been arrested for certain offenses.
The SMPD’s success in solving cold cases is partially attributed to chief of police James T. Butts Jr.’s ability to secure federal grants that help fund the lengthy investigations.
Cooper estimates that one case will cost tens of thousands of dollars before it’s closed permanently. And that doesn’t include locating witnesses and paying to have them come to LA to testify.
“There is a lot of process involved, and it takes a lot of time to do this,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 19, 2004. Read the original PDF.