Morgan Hill man arrested in Sierra LaMar case

 Posted on May 23, 2012 in Criminal Defense

Investigators in Santa Clara County claim that DNA evidence points to a Morgan Hill man in the Sierra LaMar case. Law enforcement arrested the Morgan Hill man Monday on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in the disappearance of the 15-year-old young woman. Authorities say that they have direct and circumstantial evidence against the 21-year-old man who was booked into jail earlier this week.

Investigators claim that they had many suspects during the investigation into the disappearance of the young woman. However, authorities now say that they believe the young woman is dead and the Morgan Hill man is the only remaining suspect. Although authorities say many suspects were looked at during the investigation, the Morgan Hill man was placed under 24-hour surveillance beginning on March 28.

The man's mother says that the family found GPS devices attached to both of the family vehicles. Police say that they had secretly attached a GPS device to the Morgan Hill man's red Jetta hoping to find the missing 15-year-old. Several weeks ago authorities reportedly seized the Morgan Hill man's Jetta.

Authorities say that they found DNA evidence in that Jetta that links the missing young woman to the car. Officials say that the Morgan Hill man's DNA was found on clothing in bag recovered from a field two days after the young woman had vanished. Investigators say that clothing containing the Morgan Hill man's DNA belonged to LaMar.

Law enforcement says that they hope to gain information from the man accused of kidnapping and murder that may help them to locate LaMar.

The man accused of kidnapping and murder was arrested Monday evening at gunpoint at a store in Morgan Hill.

Sources:

• San Jose Mercury News, "Sheriff Smith says Sierra LaMar is dead, Morgan Hill man is the killer," Julia Prodis Sulek, Mark Gomez and Robert Salonga, May 22, 2012
• San Jose Mercury News, "Sierra LaMar's DNA in suspect's car led to arrest," Julia Prodis Sulek, Robert Salonga and Mark Gomez, May 22, 2012