Suspected serial killer charged in 1977 cold case murders of 3 women in Ventura County

VENTURA, Calif. (KABC) -- A suspected serial killer accused of strangling three women to death in 1977 in Ventura County has been arrested, authorities announced Thursday.

Warren Luther Alexander, 73, of Mississippi, was charged with three counts of murder in connection with the killings.

He was in custody in North Carolina where he's facing a separate murder charge and was extradited to California. He's currently being held in the Ventura County Jail without bail.

According to the district attorney's office, the county's cold case unit started re-examining the murders of Kimberly Carol Fritz, Velvet Ann Sanchez, and Lorraine Ann Rodriguez last year.

On May 29, 1977, Fritz was found dead in a room at the Marv-Inn Motel in Port Hueneme. She was 18 at the time of her death.

Sanchez, 31, was found dead in the Villa Motor Court in Oxnard, where she lived, four months later. A witness saw her return to the motel with a man.

Then on Dec. 27, Rodriguez's body was found on a bridge on Laguna Road in unincorporated Ventura County. In all three cases, an autopsy revealed the cause of death was strangulation.

Investigators said the three women were commercial sex workers and were known to frequent the Plaza Marina shopping center in south Oxnard and nearby motels.

"They never gave up seeking justice for these three victims, their loved ones and their families," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko about investigators. "Just because a case has gone cold, does not mean it should ever be forgotten."

For decades, investigators believed the three murders were connected, but the cases had gone cold due to a lack of evidence. But that changed thanks to significant advancements in science and technology.

"Last year in 2023, a breakthrough emerged," said Nasarenko. "Once again detectives with the cold case unit on behalf of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department uploaded crucial DNA evidence into that DNA data base, and in this case, a match occurred."

In 2022, Alexander was arrested in Surry County, North Carolina where he allegedly strangled 29-year-old Nona Cobb to death back in 1992. He was already in custody at the time.

"A lot has changed in Ventura County since the deaths of Kimberly Fritz, Velvet Sanchez and Loraine Rodriguez, but what hasn't changed is our commitment to provide justice for these victims and their families," said Port Hueneme Police Chief Michael Federico.

Alexander's first court appearance in Ventura County was Thursday morning, but his arraignment was pushed back to Aug. 21.