Opinion ID: 2671522
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Murder of Darla Ferguson

Text: Darla Ferguson‘s nude body was discovered on January 18, 1990, near a dirt road in the Lake Elsinore area. Her body was posed, with her legs up and her 6 arms positioned crossing her upper torso. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation. She had hemorrhaging in an eye and in the skin of her lips; abrasions on her neck; bruising in the skin and muscles of her neck; hemorrhaging in the thyroid cartilage of the neck; scratches on her neck consistent with fingernail marks; and bruising under her jawbones, possibly due to strangulation and possibly from blunt force injury. Her tongue was protruding and bitten between her teeth, which was indicative of asphyxia. In addition, she had hemorrhaging under her scalp, which was consistent with a blunt force trauma, and she had ligature marks on her wrists. Male DNA found in the vaginal swab from Ferguson‘s body was analyzed by RFLP and PCR testing. Both analyses reflected that the DNA was consistent with defendant‘s DNA. The combined frequency with which the results of these two analyses would appear is one in 34,000 among Blacks, one in 154,000 among Whites, and one in 8,500 among Hispanics. A hair found on Ferguson‘s arm was similar to defendant‘s head hair. Fibers found on her body were similar to the red acetate lining, the white nylon insulation, and the white acrylic insulation of the sleeping bag in defendant‘s van. A rope removed from her body and individual sisal rope fibers found on her body were similar to a rope found in defendant‘s van. A paint chip found on her chin was similar to paint chips found on a later victim, Carol Miller. On the edge of the roadway in front of the area where her body was found were tire tracks from a single vehicle that were consistent with an Armstrong Ultra Trac and a Yokohama 382, the types of tires defendant had on his van at the time of this murder.