ESPELETA-ALVARO

COLD  CASE  MURDER  VICTIM

SOLVED  AFTER  44-YEARS

In 1975 Alvaro Espeleta was a 28-year old naval Dental Technician assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.  On December 31, 1975, when Espeleta failed to report for duty, two co-workers were sent to his home in the Park West area of San Diego to check on him.  He was discovered dead in his home and investigators determined his death had been caused by beating, bludgeoning and strangulation.  An intensive investigation was conducted in 1975 but when all investigative leads at that time were exhausted, the case was closed.  In 2019 a cold case investigation was reopened and by comparing the original case evidence against emerging forensic sciences and technology which were not available in 1975, a suspect was identified who was determined to have been an 18-year old sailor stationed in San Diego at the time of Espeleta’s murder.  A palm print was found on Espeleta’s body at the time of his death but investigators could not find a match during the 1975 investigation.  However, a match for the palm print came nearly half a decade later and some 3,000 miles away when investigators arrested the suspect on January 24, 2020, 44-years after Espeleta died.  The investigation was conducted by the Cold Case Unit of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from the San Diego Police Cold Case Unit; FBI San Diego Field Office; Police Department, Troy, New York; and the San Diego District Attorney Cold Case Unit.  At the time of this writing the suspect is in police custody in Troy, New York, awaiting extradition to San Diego to stand trial in the case.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)