Opinion ID: 2633881
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Murder of Elizabeth Lactawen

Text: After defendant was arrested, officers from the Sacramento County Sheriffs Department interviewed him concerning a series of other homicides in the Sacramento area. During the first interview, defendant waived his Miranda rights and denied involvement in any other murders. During a second interview, defendant continued to deny any role in the murders the officers were investigating, but confessed to another murder that had occurred in the City of Sacramento. Investigators from the Sacramento Police Department were summoned and interviewed defendant for a third time regarding the murder of Elizabeth Lactawen. On May 10, 1986, a homeless man reported finding a dead body near the Sacramento River in an area overgrown with vegetation and known as a homeless encampment. Responding police officers found a woman's body, mostly covered by plastic and cardboard. The unclothed body of Elizabeth Lactawen was not yet cold to the touch. Lactawen was 24 years of age, was four feet five inches tall, and weighed 76 pounds. A cloth gag was tied around her mouth, and her arms were tied behind her back with an electrical cord. There were bruises around her neck and left breast, and blood and other fluids coming out of her nose. The pathologist who performed the autopsy believed Lactawen had been strangled with a thin rope or wire. There also was evidence of sexual assault, including blood clots in the vagina and on the cervix and bruising on Lactawen's inner thighs, injuries which in the pathologist's opinion could have been caused by someone forcibly spreading open her legs and raping her. The bruises were inflicted before she died. Clothes matching Lactawen's small stature were scattered around the area. There also was fecal matter in the pubic area, which possibly was caused by a person sodomizing Lactawen before having vaginal intercourse with her. There was no tearing of the vagina or anus or evidence of sperm. Lactawen had no alcohol or drugs in her blood. During the interview with the Sacramento police officers, defendant said he was sitting near the Sacramento River when Lactawen walked by. They began talking, and then walked to a more secluded spot nearby, where they had consensual sex. They spoke some more, and defendant became angry and strangled her. He did not remember how he strangled her or whether he tied her up or used a gag. [5]