Man held in ’85 slaying of ex-officer
A Perris man accused of killing a former Riverside police officer more than two decades ago during a robbery is in custody after DNA evidence linked him to the crime, authorities said Tuesday.
Leslie Gene Parker, 47, is accused of robbing two employees of First Interstate Bank who were picking up night deposits at an ATM at what was then Tyler Mall on Dec. 16, 1985. Fred Taylor, a Riverside Police Department officer and sergeant from 1955 to 1972, was working as a plainclothes security officer and was shot multiple times during the robbery. He died later at Riverside General Hospital.
Authorities arrested Parker at his home Thursday.
He is charged with murder during a robbery and use of a gun during the crime. If convicted, he could face execution or life in prison without parole, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Sara Danville.
Police are still searching for a possible accomplice.
Bloodstains found in an abandoned 1980 Datsun likely used in the robbery were tied to Parker through a federal DNA database, authorities said. Det. Greg Rowe said that he submitted the sample to the California Department of Justice in 2004 and that the “hit” came back in March.
“Justice isn’t swift all the time, but it is sure and relentless,” said Deputy Chief Pete Esquivel.
Taylor’s family members said they had never lost hope that the killer would be found.
“He was a very special man,” Chris Taylor said of his father. “We are all very grateful. For me, it’s like Christmas in May.”
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