A DNA match led investigators to the arrest Monday of James A. Whisenand in Indiana on charges related to a violent home invasion rape of a 61-year-old woman in San Jose 15 years ago

New analysis of DNA from the crime scene identified Sam Silva of Colorado as the man who fatally stabbed Elena ‘Estella’ Mena during a rape attempt at her place of work in Sunnyvale in 1979. Silva died in 2008 in a Colorado prison.

John Arthur Getreu escaped justice for over 40 years before Santa Clara County Sheriff’s detectives used DNA evidence to track him down.

In 1994, a 21-year-old manager of the President Tuxedo store in the Westfield Oakridge Mall was attacked by a man when she opened for business. She
was forced her into the storage room at knifepoint, tied to a pipe and sexually assaulted by the thief, who took money from the cash register and fled on foot. The case lay dormant until last December.

The new sexual assault evidence kit portal is the result of the passage of Senate Bill 215 in 2021.

This is the second time Holland has been charged with Marowki’s murder. Santa Clara prosecutors were forced to drop the case in 2015 when a judge legally separated it from the slaying of 17-year-old Cynthia Munoz. Both women were murdered in 1983.

Karen Stitt was last seen by her teenage boyfriend walking at night toward a Sunnyvale bus stop between El Camino Real and Wolfe Road, in early September 1982. Her body was found 100 yards away.

Investigation by Santa Clara County's cold case unit and Mountain View police led to the July 9 arrest of John Kevin Woodward at JFK airport in New York City for the strangulation murder of Laurie Houts 30 years ago. Woodward will stand trial for a third time in the case.

Two 19-year-olds, Ulises Jimenez and Paul Lebeau, will face robbery charges, while their robbery victim, 18-year-old Naylen Hobson Plattner, has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder in connection with the Dec. 20 mall incident.

Supervisor CIndy Chavez requested a special local report following news that San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin had accused San Francisco police of using DNA collected from a sexual assault victim to connect her to another crime.

At-home genetic testing has slowed, but millions of people take the test annually, many specifically to find out about their families.

The San Jose Improv announced Monday that C.K. was set to perform on two nights this week, prompting backlash from local activists.

TheDistrict Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty for Antolin Garcia Torres, who was found guilty of murdering Sierra LaMar.

Will Xavier Campos ever break free of George Shirakawa Jr.’s shadow? Last week, District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced a new felony charge against Shirakawa after the former county supervisor’s DNA was found on a stamp affixed to a 2010 political hit piece against Magdalena Carrasco, Campos’ San Jose council opponent that year. Campos released a statement that failed to deny involvement. A look back at some of his 2010 campaign disclosure forms has now created some intriguing new questions.

If stupidity were a felony, ex-county Supervisor George Shirakawa would be spending a lot more time in jail. The new charges filed by District Attorney Jeff Rosen against Shirakawa, resulting from DNA samples found on a political dirty trick mailer, is the latest example. But this brings us to a new problem: Shirakawa didn’t act alone. The pieces were written, designed and printed by others. There must be more DNA out there that identifies those who helped. These folks should be lawyering up right now.