On Thursday August 23rd, M.N.C. aged 53 was arrested on suspicion of a murder that took place in 1977. On December 27, 1977, S.H. was found dead in her home in Long Beach with her child sitting unharmed beside her. The young mother was only 17 years old when she was killed and it was found than she had been raped, stabbed, and strangled. The man who broke into her home and killed her was not found, but forensic material was taken from the scene. The technology was not available then to determine who the DNA belonged to.
It was not until police detectives in Long Beach ran the DNA though several databases that they were able to get a match. They placed M.N.C. under arrested and the arraignment is scheduled to be on September 11th. This crime which he is suspected to have been a part of is not the first on his record. He is a registered sex offender whose past offenses include rape by force, sodomy with force on a minor, and oral copulation with a minor. He had been running a handyman business in Antioch but now may be facing the death penalty.
Under the California Penal Code §261 (2011), rape is defined as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished by force or fear or while the victim was unconscious. According to the California Penal Code §187 (2011), murder is the unlawful killing of a human being. As M.N.C. could be found guilty on both charges, he could be facing extremely harsh penalties. If he is convicted of first degreemurder, he could be facing the death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. With the added punishments ofrape which will be added, this will only increase.
