But he praised Newport Beach police for persisting through the decades. James Neal of Monument, Colorado also pleaded not guilty in an Orange County courtroom Friday to lewd and lascivious acts on two girls under the age of 14. IE 11 is not supported. McMillan remained skeptical. A woman later told police she saw O'Keefe standing next to a turquoise van and talking to the driver -- a white man in his mid-20s or early 30s. In July 2018, her story touched millions of people through #LindasStory (https://t.co/yxv1fLFIZp). Track Latest News and Karnataka Elections 2023 Coverage Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. He then moved to Florida, and then, a criminal incident prompted him to change his name to James Alan Neal. The child disappeared while walking home from summer. Neal, 72, was arrested in Colorado Springs, Colo., and charged with murder with special circumstances in the death of Linda O'Keefe, who was found strangled in 1973, a case that has long. According to police, O'Keefe normally rode her bike to summer school. An man arrested for a series of cold case sex crimes against children died while in police custody, officials said. He also teamed up with reporter Joe Nelson in 2019 on Bad Apples, an award winning investigation that exposed years of sex abuse cover up in the Redlands Unified School District. The detectives dogged this case. 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On Tuesday, 45 years after Lindas brutal murder, authorities arrested the man that DNA evidence from a genealogy site allegedly points to as her killer: James Alan Neal, 72, of Monument, Colorado, officials announced at a press conference Wednesday. Neal worked in construction at the time of the crime, officials said. I want to make up for all the hurt I have caused myself and my parents, especially my mother, Neal, who was 19 at the time and went by James Albert Layton Jr., told Orange County probation officer David R. McMillan in 1966 while awaiting sentencing for a burglary conviction. O'Keefe was a schoolgirl from California who went missing on July 6, 1973, and was found dead the next morning. On the day Linda disappeared, she was last seen talking to a stranger in a van, Lewis said. His next court appearance is set for June 14. As part of an effort to renew interest in the case, the Newport Beach Police Department used their Twitter account to recount the story of Lindas life, mysterious disappearance and death. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced the arrest of James Alan Neal in the 1973 murder of 11-year-old Linda Ann O'Keefe during a press conderence on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Linda Ann O'Keefe was killed in July 1973 -- and decades went by without leads. James Alan Neal, 72, was picked up in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and charged with the murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe, Newport Beach police and Orange County prosecutors said. They dont understand me or why I am the way I am. The girl, whose body was found the next day, was strangled. The 11-year-old was last seen on this street talking to a stranger in a van. March 29, 2019 / 6:44 PM He was the second of three children but had a difficult upbringing. The sister of a little girl who was strangled to death in 1973 didn't expect to see a conclusion to the mysterious cold case, she told ABC News hours after a man's arrest was announced on Wednesday. Authorities did not provide details on Neal's illness. On the day Linda Ann O'Keefe died, it was a cooler-than-normal July morning in Newport Beach, California. Neal was released from police custody on his own recognizance, fled California and was rearrested when he returned to the state on March 3, 1966. Feb. 20, 2019. Linda O'Keefe. and opened doors for us to have this case pursued with renewed effort.". Over 45 years ago, Linda went missing while. The authorities confirmed that the 73-year-old showed no symptoms of COVID-19 and that his death was not considered suspicious. Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP. On the day Linda Ann O'Keefe died, it was a cooler-than-normal July morning in Newport . Then her mother made that call that every parent dreads and told police her daughter was missing, he said. OKeefe, 11, was abducted on July 6, 1973, as she walked home from summer school, the Newport Beach, California, Police Department said. Her image hung among the faces of other unsolved cases, reminding each. Her body was found strangled in a ditch the next day. We never gave up.". It was our intention to see James Alan Neal stand trial and answer for the murder of Linda An OKeefe, Newport Beach police Chief Jon Lewis said. He later changed his name, officials said. Even after detectives got the lead through genealogical DNA, investigators needed to a secure a sample from Neal, Spitzer said. Composite sketch of the driver. A day later, her body was found in a ditch, and she had been sexually assaulted. I dont have any friends because Ive always been afraid to make any because I just figured they would only see me as everyone else has in the past.. The child disappeared while walking home from summer school, and her body was found strangled in a ditch the next day. "They haven't forgotten about her and we haven't, either.". Copyright 2020 KKTV. OKeefes 1973 rape and murder went unsolved for decades. Their mother "carried that guilt the rest of her life," Borgeson said. Join our Fan Club to listen to this episode and more! "Generations of investigators worked on her case. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. He was released from the penitentiary in July 1971. Police were tight-lipped about exactly how they solved the case but said they received a lead in January that prompted them to begin investigating Neal, who had been living in Orange County at the time of O'Keefe's killing but had since moved to Colorado. . Blashaw did not explain what this sickness was but elaborated that the inmate did not have COVID-19 symptoms. Linda Ann O'Keefe's killing in 1973 in Newport Beach, California went unsolved for more than four decades. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Authorities suspect that Neal, while on parole in the Colorado case, snatched OKeefe, who lived in Corona del Mar, from the street on July 6, 1973, as she walked home from summer school. Scott has also worked at newspapers in Utah, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia covering everything from methamphetamine trafficking cops to hurricanes. Spitzer also refused to confirm whether Neal had family members or children, saying the matter was under investigation. Linda never made it home that afternoon., For 45 years, the Newport Beach Police Department continued to search for Lindas killer," Lewis said. She had been strangled. At the time of the murder, Neal was using the name James Allen George Layton, prosecutors said. Then, in 1974, he was sent back to prison in Colorado for a parole violation and released three years later. Two years later, he began burglarizing homes for fun, according to McMillan. Trouble followed James everywhere, and he was sentenced to 3-10 years for fraud in Colorado. His earliest crimes were breaking into homes when he was around 12-years-old. Years later, the authorities developed a DNA profile from the biological evidence recovered from Linda, and that was eventually matched to James in January 2019. Then, after he was paroled again in August 1963, he was arrested a year later for burglary and sentenced to nine months in the Orange County jail. Suspect Changed His Name After Lindas Death, Colo. 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"I never really thought that they would actually ever find the individual responsible," Cindy Borgeson, a sister of Linda OKeefe, told ABC News. Police and prosecutors in Southern California thanked the FBI, the Colorado Springs Police Department and the El Paso County Sheriffs Department in Colorado for their assistance. Last year, 45 years after O'Keefe's body was found, police released these sketches of her suspected killer. "He seemed like a good guy," Neal's landlord, Michael Thulson,. She makes a lot of my clothes, and my sisters clothes. ABC News' Kayna Whitworth contributed to this report. The arrest seemed to signal an end to an infamous cold case that had both haunted and motivated "generations of investigators" at the Newport Beach Police Department, Lewis said. "My office will never forget about cold cases," Spitzer said in a statement. "They probably are so shocked," she said. Neal then moved back to California, where he lived until 2014 at six addresses in Riverside, Hemet and Winchester, public records show. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Combining the latest in DNA technology with old-fashioned detective work led investigators to Neal, Lewis said. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. He said he was glad he had all that stuff behind him but never mentioned what he had done, Malecki recalled. James Neal was arrested in 2019 after DNA submitted to a genealogical website linked him to the crime. "Our hearts go out to the victim and the victim's family in this case, having to endure decades without answers. Lindas story deeply touched the hearts of our community. Her friend later told police a turquoise van stopped next to O'Keefe a few times as she walked. Photo Source. That DNA "hit" came in January, Spitzer said. Specifics on how Neal died have not been released, but 11 News is told he was hospitalized at the end of May. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. As a result of that genealogical submission, they got an indication that James Alan Neal may be the suspect. Through surveillance, a sample of Neal's DNA was obtained - one that ultimately matched a sample taken from O'Keefe's body in 1973. "We want as many sets of eyes on that sketch as possible, so somebody can recognize the face of a killer so we can get justice.". Through the tireless efforts of generations of our investigators, we hope we have been able to bring a measure of closure to Lindas family, friends, and loved ones.. Watch: Aurora Dazzles Ladakh Skies As Geomagnetic Storm Hits Earth, This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. In August 1969, he was convicted of fraud in Denver and sentenced to three to 10 year at Colorados Territorial Correctional Facility. He feels he has always been picked on and never given a chance to better himself or be equal to others, Neal wrote in the report. Although Linda died almost half a century ago, her family, the community and members of law enforcement never stopped thinking of her or hoping her killer would be brought to justice, Spitzer said. O'Keefe disappeared while she was walking home from summer school. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. "I want to know if there are any other victims.". For nearly 45 years, the murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe haunted the Newport Beach Police Department in California. Anyone who may have any information on this unsolved crime is asked to call the Newport Beach Police Cold Case Tip Line at 949-644-3669. 72-year-old arrested in connection with 1973 murder of 11-year-old girl, Linda O'Keefe, who lived in the Corona del Mar neighborhood and was last seen alive July 6, 1973, as she walked home from summer school. Shortly after Lindas murder, investigators recovered DNA evidence from her remains, Spitzer said. [emailprotected]. 1 dead, 1 rescued by firefighters after speeding car crashed into tree in Colorado Springs, Voice of the consumer: Looking for a job? The defendants conscience began to bother him, so he walked off a job he had obtained in Inglewood, returned to Santa Ana and contacted an officer of the Santa Ana Police Department, McMillan wrote in the report. ( Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. We never gave up.. Linda O'Keefe. ABC News' Jenna Harrison contributed to this report. "It is bittersweet to hear that, yes, this case has been resolved. So, if youre curious to know more about James and what happened to him after his arrest, weve got you covered. "He lived here in the 1970s," Spitzer said. James Neal (left) and Linda O'Keefe (right) (credit: CBS). . 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A man was arrested this week in the decades-old killing of Linda OKeefe, 11. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? She loved animals, playing the piano, and painting. James Alan Neal has been arrested in the July 1973 murder of 11-year-old Linda Ann O'Keefe in Newport Beach. It is unclear whether he has retained a lawyer who can speak on his behalf. 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe was kidnapped on her way back from home in July 1973. James was in and out of prison throughout his younger life, with arrest records in California, Florida, and Colorado between 1959 and 1974. It was our intention to see James Alan Neal stand trial and answer for the murder of Linda Ann OKeefe. Neals education was terminated early and his work history was spotty, McMillan reported. Neal was arrested for burglaries in August and October 1959 and was committed to the California Youth Authority in December 1960. But again, it's a reminder of what happened. Her death would go unsolved for more than four decades. ', " As 'Linda' noted in the tweets in July, her case would generate numerous theories and a sketch of a 'person of interest' but ultimately grow cold.". Beware of scams, Denver police searching for missing 14-year-old. Generations of investigators worked on her case, said Lewis. He had a connection to southern California, which has been corroborated, he said. He was released on parole in July 1971, and about two years later, the authorities believed he killed Linda. On Tuesday, nearly 46 years after O'Keefe's life ended, authorities arrested a man they say is suspected of being her killer: a 72-year-old living in Colorado named James Neal. James Alan Neal, who was 73, was taken to an area hospital on May 25 due to an undisclosed illness, said Jaimee Blashaw of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "Individuals who engage in sexual activity against minors tend to have certain indicators of a predatory nature," Spitzer said. On one hand, we were grateful that we could have that conversation and provide some closure.". James Alan Neal fue arrestado el 19 de febrero de 2019, en relacin con su muerte, segn anunciaron los fiscales en una conferencia de prensa. The 11-year-old was taken while she walked back from school in California, with witnesses reporting Linda talking to a white male in a van. James Alan Neal, the 73-year-old charged in the 1973 cold case murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe, died on Wednesday at about 5:15 a.m. That's according to Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Jaimee Blashaw in an NBC Los Angeles report. Authorities did not elaborate on his death but said he was not exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms. 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Since April 2018, genetic genealogy has helped identify more than three dozen suspects, said CeCe Moore, chief genetic genealogist with Parabon NanoLabs. Teen Was Murdered After Coming Home from Grocery Store in 1975, Coffee Cup Leads to Arrest, Calif. Detectives from Newport Beach arrested Neal at 6:29 a.m. in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis said at the press conference. To her familys horror, her dead body was found the next day in a ditch, still wearing the dress her mother had made for her. This photo shows a poster of James Neal during a news conference at the Orange County District Attorney's office in Santa Ana, Calif., Feb. 20, 2019. The brown-haired, blue-eyed 11-year-old got a ride to summer school - about half a mile away - but had to walk home in the afternoon. James Alan Neal, 72, of Monument, Colorado, who was arrested for allegedly murdering Linda O'Keefe in Newport Beach, California, in 1973. Finally, in September 1965, he was arrested for yet another burglary but the charge was reduced to petty theft and ultimately dismissed. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Records obtained by the Southern California News Group show that Neal was arrested more than a dozen times in California, Florida and Colorado from 1959 to 1974. That I'll be dead by morning. He could be brought to California sometime this week if he waives extradition, Spitzer said. (Newport Beach Police Department) James Alan Neal, 73, who. The key moment arrived with the February 19, 2019 arrest of Neal in Colorado Springs, Colorado. O'Keefe, who was seven years younger than Borgeson, was "an old soul" with a "go with the flow" personality, Borgeson said. Linda O'Keefe. That night, family members, volunteers and police spread out to search for her. The burglary that landed Neal behind bars in 1966 occurred a year earlier when he and two accomplices broke into a Santa Ana business, stealing $44.97 in cash and a portable television set valued at $90, Orange County Superior Court records show. Neal told McMillan he was the second of three children, never got along with his siblings, rebelled against his parents and was an emotionally disturbed child. All my life up to this day has been going in circles, Neal said. Last year, Spitzer said authorities used DNA thought to have been left by the killer and tracked down Neal using a public genealogy database. Linda O'Keefe was killed in 1973 while walking home from school. Its amazing how you really dont know people.. DNA recovered from O'Keefe shortly after her death was put into the Combined DNA Index System -- the law enforcement database known as CODIS -- but there was no hit, Spitzer said. CBS 48 Hours: Lindas Story delves into the work put in to arrest James Neal in relation to Lindas rape and murder. After Lindas death, Neal moved to Florida, where he changed his name to James Alan George Leyton, Spitzer said. Linda O'Keefe was last seen alive in Corona Del Mar, California, in July 1973. Linda never made it home that afternoon, he said. After following and obtaining a DNA sample from Neal himself, police were confident enough to make an arrest, he added. Then in January, CeCe Moore of San Clemente, who heads Parabons genetic genealogy unit matched DNA evidence gathered in the OKeefe investigation to a sample provided to genealogy website FamilyTreeDNA.com leading authorities to identify Neal, now 72, as a suspect. After the burglary sentencing, James moved to Denver, Colorado, where he was accused of stealing from the gas station he worked at. Only one person, a woman who did not know anything about a missing girl, was close enough to hear her, and by then it was too late. In July 1973, 11-year-old Linda Ann O'Keefe was murdered. An eight-page report prepared by McMillan offers for the first time clues about what may have driven his criminal behavior. Here at this jail, people want to give me a bad time. Neal was arrested Tuesday "without incident" in Colorado Springs, Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis said at a news conference Wednesday. Records show that from 1963 to 1966, Neal was employed as cook, furniture mover, iron worker, factory worker, and a floral deliveryman but didnt hold a job longer than five months. In spite of rehabilitative attempts through California Youth Authority and Orange County Jail sentences (it) seems to negate any desire or ability (by Neal) to follow through.. But that day, she was dropped off. "The tweets extend the period of time that Linda's story can be out there for people to relate to," Manzella said in July. James Neal, 72, was arrested in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and charged with murder with special circumstances, Spitzer said. Neal is being held in the El Paso County Jail in Colorado. "I hope that he has remorse. James Allen Neal. While waiting to use the school phone, O'Keefe went outside. And at the time of his arrest Neal had no income, savings or property except for a car that had been stolen in Springfield, Illinois, McMillan said. James Alan Neal was arrested February 19, 2019, in connection to her death, prosecutors announced at a press conference.. For more than 45 years the case went cold -- until DNA was submitted to an ancestry website. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. (Courtesy of Newport Beach Police Department) James Neal, 72, was arrested in Colorado Springs, Colo., and charged with murder with special circumstances in the death of Linda O'Keefe, who was found strangled in 1973, a case that has long shaken the seaside community of Newport Beach, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. She had been strangled and was still wearing a blue-and-white floral print dress that her mother had sewn for her. Neal said that despite his recidivism, he was confident he could become successful. "The hit on the genealogical DNA came back and hit in January so it was very recent," Spitzer said. "But it created an awareness . The 72-year-old Neal was extradited to California from Colorado after he was charged with murder in the death of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe in the seaside community of Newport Beach. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Linda Ann O'Keefe was the middle child in a family of five. "We have heard from a number of her friends from when she was in school, and her death has touched so many people," Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said at the time. 48 Hours: Lindas Story delves into the work put in to arrest James Neal in relation to Lindas rape and murder. "He has a connection to Southern California.". SANTA ANA, CA Officials in California say James Alan Neal, who was arrested last year in Monument for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe, has died. But she added that she was thankful for the "additional closure" brought to her by the investigators who never gave up, as well as the new technology, which made it possible to process the crime scene DNA. Investigators said he used to live in Southern California in the 1970s and was known as James Albert Layton Jr at the time, although he later moved to Florida and changed his name. Parabon has worked on the majority of the cold cases cracked through genetic genealogy, including O'Keefe's case. pic.twitter.com/47pA4FhBmG, Newport Beach Police (@NewportBeachPD) July 5, 2018, Im wearing a dress today Its white, with light blue flowers on it, and dark blue trim. "We have never forgotten Linda," Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis said at the news conference. According to later reports, James didnt get along with his family, and his parents were physically and psychologically cruel to him and his siblings. "After all this time, finding out there is a face and a namejust brings additional closure.". A man has been arrested through DNA and genetic genealogy in the decades-old cold case killing of 11-year-old Linda Ann OKeefe, who was strangled to death in Southern California in 1973, authorities said. He has also accompanied police on undercover drug buys and also provided an award winning, eyewitness account of the execution of a North Carolina death row inmate. Newport Beach police released this undated image of Linda O'Keefe in an effort to get assistance from the public to help solve her murder in Southern California in July 1973. Linda Ann O'Keefe's killing in 1973 in Newport Beach, California went unsolved for more than four decades. James spent time in juvenile prison and later dropped out of school in 1963. Borgeson said she also prayed for Neal's family as his arrest was announced. Investigators identified Neal as a suspect using genealogical DNA. James Alan Neal, 72, was picked up in Colorado on Tuesday and charged with the murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe in 1973. ORANGE COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - The suspect in a decades-old cold case died Wednesday while awaiting trial. Linda O'Keefe. If he pursues these goals conscientiously and stays away from downtown Santa Ana where associates congregate, he feels he will never again become involved in difficulty, the probation officer wrote. It was July 6, 1973, a Friday. Neal was pronounced dead at. O'Keefe's suspected killer, James Neal, who lived in Southern California in the 1970s, was arrested this week in Colorado where he had been living, said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who was 12 himself at the time of the murder, at a Wednesday news conference. Newport Beach Police Neal is being held in the. She was later found strangled to death and dumped in a ditch in Newport Beachs Back Bay. Today, we have a new message to share, and we are giving Linda a voice once more. Spitzer lauded noted DNA investigator CeCe Moore for helping police develop a "pointer" toward Neal. James Alan Neal fell ill and died while awaiting trial for the . James Alan Neal, 73, was an inmate at the maximum-security Theo Lacy jail in Orange for the 1973 sexual assault and strangling death of Linda O'Keefe, 11. This undated booking photo provided by the El Paso County, Colo., Sheriff's Office shows James Neal. The case stumped investigators for more than four decades before DNA evidence from the genealogical website FamilyTreeDNA tied Neal to the case. He was always getting into fights and was always afraid to tell anyone how I really felt. . Her body was found the next day in a nature preserve. These were in relation to him committing lewd acts to a child in Riverside County, California, between July 1995 and July 2000 and then to another child between March 2002 and March 2004. First tweet from Newport Beach Police Department. SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) A Colorado man has pleaded not guilty to murder in the 1973 death of an 11-year-old California girl. Phone calls to Newport Beach police were not returned, but the Orange County District Attorneys Office said it is seeking other potential victims of Neal.