Detectives Praised in 1983 Slaying Arrest

After hundreds of hours of working the case of a slain Sherman Oaks nurse, Los Angeles police homicide Dets. Paul Tippin and Leroy Orozco were tantalizingly close to an arrest.

But they would have to wait, two decades in fact, to take part in a news conference on an arrest in the killing of Elaine Graham, whose remains were found on a remote hill in Chatsworth 20 years ago.

The detectives, both now retired and a little grayer, appeared Wednesday at Parker Center with police officials and Graham’s former husband to discuss the arrest of Edmond Jay Marr, 45.

Marr, arrested Monday at his home in Cathedral City, will be arraigned today in San Fernando on charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder.

LAPD homicide Dets. Rick Jackson and Tim Marcia, who specialize in cold cases, used new information and technology to finish what Tippin and Orozco started, authorities said.

They cited circumstantial evidence as well as forensic analysis of a bloodstained knife found in Marr’s possession a month after Graham vanished from the vicinity of Cal State Northridge in 1983.

Graham’s relatives and LAPD officials praised the efforts of Tippin and Orozco, who helped on the case even in retirement.

While the arrest reopened old wounds, Graham’s husband, Stephen, who has since remarried, said it brought some closure to the family, including his daughter, who was 2 when her mother was killed.

“This will help her understand the loss,” Graham said.