Los Angeles: On September 8, 2009, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) detectives arrested 50-year-old Dennis Vasquez at his downtown Los Angeles area home for the 1975 murder of Ms. Alice Lewis.
Vasquez submitted to arrest without incident and was booked at the LAPD Metropolitan Jail for murder, Penal Code (PC) Section 187. Investigating officers presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on September 10, 2024 for filing consideration. The District Attorney’s Office filed one count of 602/187 PC Murder - with special circumstances for rape and robbery. Following his arraignment on September 11, 2009, Vasquez was transferred to the Los Angeles County Central Jail where he is held without bail.
Because Vasquez was 17 when the murder occurred, the charge is preceded by the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602. However, it will be handled as a non-Capital case by the adult court.
Captain Kevin McClure said, “This cold case instantly became hot when Vasquez was arrested in April 2009 on an unrelated charge.” He added, “In California all felony arrestees must provide a DNA sample through a simple buccal swab. Vasquez sample was analyzed and his unique DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). While we don’t generally discuss the weight or value of evidence, we can say that this arrest is the direct result of the system working as designed.”
On December 18, 1975, almost 34 years ago, Alice Lewis was found dead inside her Venice home in the 3500 block of Meier Street. Born in 1895, Alice Lewis was 80 years old when she was murdered. In 1975, investigators determined that Alice Lewis had been murdered by suffocation and that the motive was apparently sexual in nature. After an extensive investigation, the case went cold and remained that way until August 2009. Detectives assigned to the RHD Cold Case Unit pored over the files and determined that Vasquez should be arrested for Lewis’ murder.
Anyone with information regarding this crime or Arrestee Vasquez is urged to call LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division, Cold Case Homicide Unit Detectives Greg Kading or Tim Marcia at 213-847-0970. During off-hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247). Callers may also text “Crimes” with a cell phone or log on to www.lapdonline.org and click on web tips. When using a cell phone, all messages should begin with “LAPD.” Tipsters may remain anonymous.
That high-school picture of Dennis Vasquez, the alleged killer of Alice Lewis that appeared in LA Times looks just like a police sketch made of a suspect in a shotgun murder of a young man in a fast food restaurant back in the 70s.
I can't remember all the details but it appears that the victim was a night manager at a food stand and was murdered when he couldn't open the safe. The victim was white and there was a survivor.
The weapon was a sawed off shotgun with a pistol grip. I'm reasonably sure this took place near the Mar Vista area. The mother of the boy has been on television a few times during the last 30 years or so and has pleaded for the public's help in finding her son's killer.
I have tried to find this crime in the LA Times archives but have been unsucessful.
Posted by: Carl W. Goss | December 07, 2024 at 12:31 AM
If you give more information as to what Division the 187 occurred and possibly the street on which the business was located, this case could be found. Worth the shot.
Posted by: Jim Reed | December 07, 2024 at 02:41 PM
Well, I guess it would be the division who handled Venice area back in the 70s. Had to be a commericially zoned street. It was a small burger stand operation I think.
More I think about it, more I'm certain of the similarity between the police sketch and Vasquez as a young man. Sketch showed a thin face and a scowl on his face.
Posted by: Carl W. Goss | December 08, 2024 at 08:37 AM
There was a police Lieutenant by the name of Zorn who handled Venice in the 70s and 80s. If he's still around he might remember something.
There was a LA Times writer by the name of Nancy Graham who also wrote about crime in West LA at the time. But I can't find her. I'll keep looking.
Posted by: Carl W. Goss | December 11, 2024 at 01:14 PM