Fullerton : Police Say Strangulation of Waitress Is Indicated

Preliminary results of an autopsy indicate that a 24-year-old woman found dead in her Fullerton apartment over the weekend had been strangled, police said Monday.

The body of Julie Marie Fenton, an office worker by day and waitress by night, was found Saturday night by a co-worker concerned by Fenton’s failure to appear for work that day at Elmer’s Place, a restaurant and bar on State College Boulevard in Fullerton.

A concerned neighbor opened Fenton’s apartment, where he found her partially clad body.

Police arrested Andrew Lewis McCarter, 29, of Anaheim, a regular customer of the popular restaurant. A bartender told police he had seen the man’s truck parked near Fenton’s apartment at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Police said McCarter has been in California for about three or four months, coming from Longview, Tex. He is a roofer but lately has been either unemployed or self-employed, a police spokesman said.

McCarter was arrested after being interviewed by investigators early Sunday, but police Monday continued to refuse to explain their reasons for suspecting McCarter.