68-year-old Oxnard man arrested for murdering two women in 1981
After over 40 years, two Ventura County families can finally rest knowing the police have arrested a man accused of murdering their daughters.
"This suspect has been hiding in plain sight for over 40 years," said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff.
On Thursday afternoon, 68-year-old Tony Garcia appeared before a judge for the first time since being arrested on Tuesday. Prosecutors charged him with the murders of two women in 1981.
"The cause of death was strangulation," said Fryhoff. "Evidence on Rachel's body also indicated she was sexually assaulted."
In January of 1981, the body of a then 20-year-old Rachel Zendejas was found in a carport across the street from her Camarillo apartment complex. KCAL News spoke with her older brother back in 2011.
"Everybody's very angry," said her brother Roy Rodriguez. "Nobody has really recovered."
Investigators said the single mom of two daughters and a friend had gone out to Huntington's Night Club in Oxnard the day Zendejas was killed. Authorities believe she was attacked as she got out of her car after dropping off the babysitters.
Sheriff's detectives worked the case extensively, but the leads soon dried up and the trail went cold. The Ventura County forensic laboratory later obtained the suspect's DNA profile from Zendejas' body and entered it into CODIS, a federal DNA database of convicted offenders. Unfortunately, there were no hits. But in 2004, investigators discovered a link between the DNA profile of Zendejas' killer and the suspect in Lisa Gondeks homicide.
"The VC medical examiner ruled Lisa's cause of death as being strangulation and suffocation," said Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites. "They located Lisa's deceased body in the bathtub in the bathroom."
Investigators believed the 21-year-old Oxnard woman was killed by the same man after visiting the same bar as Zendajas, just nearly a year after the single mom was found dead.
"In December of 2019, investigators from the VC Cold Case Unit began using investigative techniques including that of genetic genealogy," Fryhoff said. "Later developed leads that identified the suspect as Tony Garcia."
Fryoff added that Garcia was stationed at Naval Base Point Mugu and later settled in Ventura County after he left the service. He worked jobs as a karate instructor and carpenter. Authorities did not provide details about their evidence or investigation, saying it will all come out during the trial. Garcia's lawyer had no comment on behalf of his client but did speak out.
"The allegations that are made here are horrific — we understand that," said attorney Bradon Sua. "So, our sympathies to the family, parents and siblings and the community."
Garcia's arraignment was continued and the judge ordered no bail for now. He will be back in court in two weeks. Meanwhile, prosecutors said this is an ongoing investigation. They are looking for more witnesses, victims and anything that may lead to additional charges.
"After more than four decades, the long arm of the law has brought justice to the Gondek and Zendejas families," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko.