Suspect Surrenders in 1983 Murder Case

In a major development in a 4-year-old case that police had once considered closed, a San Francisco man wanted for the execution-style murder of a suspected cocaine dealer surrendered in Orange County on Wednesday, Costa Mesa police said.

Richard Dale Wilson, 45, accused of fatally shooting Jeffrey Molloy Parker in Costa Mesa on Aug. 2, 1983, surrendered with an attorney in Orange County Superior Court, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Leslie Harrison said.

Harrison, who would not divulge further details of Wilson’s surrender, said the case had been closed shortly after Parker’s murder when no leads were found. Wilson, an accountant, was investigated after Parker’s death but no evidence was uncovered to tie him to the murder, Harrison said.

But the case was reopened in May, 1986, Harrison said, and again Wilson became a prime suspect. Last Thursday, Harrison said, a murder warrant was issued for Wilson and $500,000 bail was set in the case.

The late-night shooting of Parker, who was 38, took place in front of the home of Parker’s mother in the 2000 block of Aliso Avenue. Parker, who was about to go to trial in the beating death of Wilson’s fiancee, was shot from close range in the chest and in the back of the head with a large-caliber gun.

The case stumped police; no evidence was found at the scene.

Parker was a suspected cocaine dealer and occasional actor who was living in Manhattan Beach. He was temporarily staying with his mother while awaiting trial for murder.

Two days after his death, Parker was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in the murder of Joan Mills, 33, of San Francisco. Her battered body was found April 30, 1983, in a Beverly Crest Hotel room in Beverly Hills.

Parker and Mills, who was described at the time of her death as a flamboyant businesswoman, had gone to the hotel room after an evening of drinking and drug use, investigators said. Parker, who summoned help, was still in the room when authorities arrived.

Three months later, Parker was found shot to death in Costa Mesa. Investigators believed that his death had been ordered because of his drug dealings, but no leads were developed.