Perpetrator Identified with DNA found guilty of kidnapping
A jury has found Delton Lynn Taylor (DOB 8/27/60) guilty of kidnapping with the intent to commit robbery.
The kidnapping occurred in the early evening hours of February 19, 1982, in the city of Oxnard. Taylor approached the victim as she was getting into her vehicle at a grocery store. He asked her if she had spare change and, when her attention was diverted, Taylor put a knife to her side and forced her into her vehicle. Taylor then drove the victim’s car over a mile to a local elementary school where he proceeded to rape and rob her at knife point. After the rape, Taylor unlocked and opened the passenger door and pushed the victim out of the vehicle. Taylor tried to run the victim over with the vehicle before fleeing with the victim’s vehicle and personal belongings. The police were contacted immediately and a medical legal exam performed. No suspect was identified at the time of the crime.
In September of 2012, the Oxnard Police Department’s Cold Case team reopened the investigation into a February 19, 1982 kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault that occurred in the parking lot of Smith Food King in the 3700 block of West Hemlock Street in Oxnard. The investigation was reopened after detectives received a phone call from the victim, whose call was prompted after reading news of an unrelated cold case sexual assault-murder arrest in Oxnard.
Detectives worked with the Ventura County Crime Lab and were able to have evidence collected during the initial investigation forensically examined. In January of 2013, investigators received a CODIS hit on an item of evidence which identified 55 year old Bakersfield resident Delton Lynn Taylor as being a suspect in this crime. Additional DNA testing confirmed this national DNA database notification.
In May of 2013, Taylor was arrested in Pinal, Arizona for a felony warrant on an unrelated charge out of Kern County, California. He has since been extradited to Kern County and is currently in custody there. A felony complaint and arrest warrant has been filed against Taylor for his involvement in the February 1982 incident. He will be extradited to Ventura County to face charges related to this incident upon the completion of criminal proceedings in Kern County.
Due to the passage of time, the statute of limitations prevented prosecution of the rape charge.
After the jury’s verdict, Taylor’s bail was revoked and he was remanded to the custody of the Ventura County Sheriff. Sentencing is set for October 26, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 44 of the Ventura Superior Court, County of Ventura. Taylor faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.
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