A Hall County man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a woman in California more than 35 years ago.
Aloysius Winthrop James, 57, of Gainesville, was arrested last week and booked into the Hall County Jail, charged with murder in the death of 30-year-old Ofelia Sandoval.
In September 1988, the Santa Maria (California) Police Department responded to an incident that took place at the Town Center Motel in the 200 block of North Broadway. The motel was demolished in 2013.
Authorities said the case eventually grew cold, but it remained open.
“Over the last several years, detectives have continued to diligently work on this case that subsequently led to an arrest warrant for murder being issued,” Lt. Daniel Rios with Santa Maria police’s detective bureau told local reporters Friday.
James lived in Santa Maria in 1988, police said. Address records show he has lived in Gainesville for about 10 years and previously lived in Jonesboro.
A warrant for his arrest was issued March 25 and he was taken into custody April 16 by the detective bureau at his Gainesville residence with the help of two local agencies: the Gainesville Police Department and the Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team. The FBI Task Force, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office were also involved.
James is being held without bond. Officials in California plan to extradite him to Santa Barbara County.
Authorities did not indicate how they believe James was tied to the crime.
Police said there could be unreported crimes and additional victims related to James involving threats, sexual assault, domestic abuse and other crimes. Anyone with more information is asked to contact Santa Maria police Detective Nate Craven at 805-928-3781, ext. 1610, or ncraven@cityofsantamaria.org.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
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