Man found guilty in 1979 strangling death of West L.A. woman
A Los Angeles man was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder in the 1979 strangling death of a 33-year-old woman in West L.A.
The conviction against Leonard Alex Dominguez, 57, in the death of Sandra Phillips included a special circumstance of great bodily injury.
The Airport Courthouse jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder.
Dominguez was accused of strangling Phillips in 1979 in what authorities described as a sexually motivated crime. He broke into Phillips’ West Los Angeles home and raped her while strangling her, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office alleged.
Dominguez was charged with one count of murder with the special circumstances of murder during burglary and murder during rape. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
The case remained unsolved for 28 years. Police found no viable suspects when Phillips was found dead in her home in April 1979. It is unclear whether Dominguez knew Phillips.
In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department matched DNA evidence taken at the scene of the crime to Dominguez, who had been arrested that year on suspicion of a narcotics offense.
He was arrested in 2010 in Phillips’ murder, and the district attorney’s office filed the case against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17.
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Twitter: @James_Barragan
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