DNA Evidence Leads to Charges in 1991 Slaying

Prosecutors brought charges Monday in the 1991 murder of a 93-year-old widow. The suspect is the 30th person to face homicide charges since Los Angeles police began a concerted campaign to test DNA evidence from unsolved cases.

Albert Rodriguez Salinas, 42, a registered sex offender, could face the death penalty if convicted of the slaying of Soo Hoo Quon in an apartment house for seniors.

“It opens wounds, but it gives us something to hang on to, that justice will be done,” said Quon’s son, Ken, a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“It’s something that’s been in my heart for a long time.”

A home-service worker found Quon’s body on the floor of her bedroom on the morning of April 12, 1991, in what was then a senior living facility in the 2400 block of North Eastern Avenue in El Sereno.

The case was presented to prosecutors by the Los Angeles Police Department’s cold case squad, which has investigated about 30 killings since it was formed in November 2001.

The seven detectives in the unit have focused on examining killings that occurred between 1960 and 1997, looking for evidence such as DNA, fingerprints and ballistics, as well as cases in which suspects had been identified but were never prosecuted.

Authorities said Quon had been sexually assaulted, beaten and suffocated.

The intruder, who entered the small apartment through a window, vanished but left behind clues.

Salinas was linked to the killing early last week when investigators said they had matched his DNA against physical evidence recovered at the crime scene.

Investigators said Salinas’ DNA was in a state computer database because he was a registered sex offender.

“It’s as great as fingerprints, if not better,” said cold case Det. Cliff Shepard. He and his partner, Det. Jose Ramirez, were credited, along with LAPD forensic experts, with tying Salinas to Quon’s slaying.

“You will see a number of cases like this coming up soon.”

Salinas was convicted of rape and sentenced to three years in prison in 1990, authorities said. He also was charged in 2000 for failing to register as a sex offender.

The victim’s son said he learned of his mother’s death the day of his 16th wedding anniversary. It was during a rehearsal for his son’s upcoming marriage that he learned of Salinas’ arrest.

Quon was known in her building as “the woman in the window.” She was nearly blind and didn’t speak English, but passersby would see her looking through her window each day, smiling and sometimes waving.

Her death shook the small community. Many residents installed security doors and bars after the killing.

“We were very scared,” said Antonia Hardeman, 92, who remembered Quon as a quiet woman who lived a simple life.

On Monday, residents expressed relief that the crime might be solved.

Julie Munoz, who has lived in the apartment complex since it opened in 1986, said Quon was not able to communicate with many residents because of language barriers. But Munoz remembered Quon working in the garden.

“I am glad, after all these years,” they arrested someone, she said. “It seemed they would never find him.”

“If they found him, they have to punish him,” said 73-year-old Maria Santellano, a longtime resident. “You don’t do that to a defenseless woman.”

The LAPD has submitted to the department’s forensics lab 300 samples from sexually motivated homicide cases with potential DNA evidence, said Robbery-Homicide Capt. Al Michelena. Investigators have identified leads based on DNA matches in 30 other cases.

The department also has submitted 1,800 rape evidence kits dating back to 1995 to its own laboratory for DNA analysis.

The department has obtained matches in close to 100 of the rape evidence cases, Michelena said.