Prosecutor: Man on trial for 1972 murder linked to 3 other deaths

LOS ANGELES - An 80-year-old man on trial for murdering a woman more than 30 years ago confessed to a relative that he killed three other women in California, a prosecutor said.

Deputy District Attorney Lowell Anger told jurors during his opening statement Wednesday Adolph Laudenberg strangled 43-year-old Lois Petrie in 1972 and escaped arrest for decades until DNA evidence linked him to her death.

Authorities believe he was connected to the deaths of 50-year-old Catherine Medina, whose nude body was found in a San Pedro park in 1974; 54-year-old Anna Felch, also of San Pedro, who was strangled and sexually assaulted in 1974; and Leah Griffin, whose body was found in a San Francisco hotel room in 1975.

Laudenberg, who was working as a taxi driver in San Pedro at the time of the killings, was interviewed by police in 1975 after being implicated by his future daughter-in-law. Police at the time could not find physical evidence linking him to the murders.

The case was revived in 2002 after another daughter-in-law came to police with details of conversations she had with Laudenberg. The prosecutor said Laudenberg described where he dumped the bodies, matching places where the corpses were found.

Anger said Laudenberg killed the women because his then-wife did not reciprocate his love, and the victims had a likeness to the woman.

"It wasn't an isolated act, but part of a killing spree beginning in 1972 and culminating with the murder of Leah Griffin," he said.

Defense attorney Harvey Sherman dismissed the prosecution's case as "a circumstantial evidence case" and promised that forensic experts will testify that DNA evidence would only prove that Laudenberg "cannot be excluded" as a suspect.

"When you get to the evidence of this case, you'll find the prosecution has not met the burden of proving Mr. Laudenberg killed Lois Petrie," Sherman said.

He also questioned the credibility of Laudenberg's daughters-in-law.

"The family relationships are very complicated and in the Laudenberg family even more so," he said.