Oxnard Police Department Cold Cases

02/09/2023

OPD Case 81-20528 - The murder of Lisa Gondek

In December 1981, 21-year old Lisa Gondek's body was discovered by firefighters who had responded to a fire at an apartment in the 1200 block of West Gonzales Road. Gondek's murder is connected to the 1981 murder of Rachael Zendejas, in Camarillo. Gondek had recently relocated to Oxnard from Connecticut. She worked in Oxnard and had many friends.

In February 2023, after more than 41 years, Tony Garcia, an Oxnard resident, was arrested for both Lisa's and Rachael's murders. Genetic genealogy was one of several investigative techniques used to identify Garcia as the suspect. Garcia is in custody for these murders and is pending the court process.

08/14/2020

Yesterday, Lenard Chester was sentenced for the burglary, r**e, and murder of Sarah Leah Bullis that occurred in December 1980.

Chester addressed the Court for approximately an hour. He claimed that the DNA testing was purposefully manipulated to frame him. He also claimed that the Court admitted autopsy evidence and testimony about his multiple 1981 r**e convictions specifically to bias and prejudice the jury. Mr. Chester also admitted to attempting to recruit witness to testify to a fabricated story for his defense.

Mr. Chester displayed no remorse and took no accountability for his actions. The Court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Solving this case would not have been possible without the testimony of many civilian witnesses, and the support of the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura County District Attorneys Office, and the Ventura County Sheriffs Department.

Thank you to everyone who helped give Leah justice.

07/31/2020

Lenard Chester, who was convicted of the 1980 murder of Sarah Leah Bullis, is set to be sentenced on August 3, 2020 in Courtroom 48 at 8:30 a.m. I will update you after the sentencing.

07/01/2020

I have recently had some wonderful people come forward with information on some of our old cases. This has given us potential avenues to explore on these cases that may advance these investigations.

Many of these folks who have contacted us have done so anonymously, which is fine. While I appreciate any information on these cases, I often have follow-up questions that I need to ask. While I absolutely respect someone's right to remain anonymous, I would love to speak to some of you directly.

May I suggest that if you are going to provide some information that you believe is important on a case, and you wish to remain anonymous, please consider setting up a new email address or a free texting app, so we can communicate through that. This way you can maintain your anonymity and still allow us to communicate.

For anyone that wishes to speak to me directly, I can be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or at 805-385-8174.

Thank you all again for taking in interest in these cases and all of your help.

06/20/2020

Today, after almost 40 years, Sarah Leah Bullis received justice. Earlier this afternoon, it took a jury less than two hours to convict Lenard Len Chester for the special circumstance first degree murder of Bullis. She was r**ed and murdered on December 1, 1980. This conviction was the result of a team effort between the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. For information on Oxnard Police Department's Cold Case Homicides please visit:

03/07/2020

The trial of Lenard Chester for the 1980 murder of Sarah “Leah” Bullis is moving forward. The prosecution is in the midst of presenting its case and the trial will move into next week. We will keep you updated as to the progress of the trial.

03/05/2020

The homicide trial for the December 1980 murder of Sarah “Leah” Bullis began in Ventura County Superior Court yesterday. Lenard Chester is accused of her murder. The trial is expected to take several weeks.

12/20/2019

Burbank Police Department recently used new Investigative Genetic Genealogy to identify a killer from the 1980's and arrest him. This person has some ties to Ventura County from back then.

Prosecutors have charged a man with murder and r**e in the killings of two women during the 1980s, after using investigative genetic genealogy to solve the crimes, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a news release Friday. The charges filed Friday are the first in L.A. County t...

12/12/2019

I am looking for anyone that frequented Huntington's Disco in Oxnard in the late 1970's to early 1980's. It was located on Oxnard Blvd. near Wagon Wheel. Supposedly there was a sign in purple colored neon on the building. I am looking for anyone that may be able to answer some questions for me in regards to a homicide case that occurred in 1981.

12/10/2019

SOLVED COLD CASE:

In 2003, Brian Brown was shot and killed in the 4200 block of Terrace Avenue. In 2015, Oxnard police detectives gathered enough evidence to charge David Acosta with Brown's murder. Acosta was serving a prison sentence when he was arrested. Acosta pled guilty to manslaughter with a firearm. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

12/10/2019

In memoriam of the Oxnard Police Department Cold Case victims murdered in the month of December.

12/19/1971 Ricardo Candelaria
12/07/1979 Cecilia Hinahon G***r
12/01/1980 Sarah Leah Bullis
12/11/1981 Lisa Gondek
12/09/1991 Vidal Espinoza Romero
12/04/1992 Arturo Rameriz Heredia
12/04/1992 Rosendo Obiedo Vargas
12/10/1992 Vicente Martinez Montanez
12/09/1996 Gabriel Cortez
12/07/2001 Saul Hernandez Rojas
12/20/2003 Ricardo Veronica
12/28/2004 Adrian Ernest Burton
12/10/2005 Elizabeth Castro Renteria
12/26/2005 Ralph Ismael Delacerda

12/03/2019

Oxnard Cold Case Homicide Map

As of Feb 2019