It took nearly four decades, been there's been an arrest in a brutal sexual assault, and murder in VenturA County.
In December of 1980, Lea Sarah Bullis was attacked and beaten in her Oxnard home. She died en route to a hospital.
Now, nearly forty years later, DNA evidence has led to an arrest in the assault and murder of the 81 year old Ventura County woman.
Oxnard Police detectives were unable to solve the crime at the time, but they saved some key evidence. In 2018, a new review of the unsolved cold case occurred.
DNA evidence led investigators to Lenard Len Chester. In 1982, he had been convicted of sexually assaulting four women. After serving a prison sentence, he was sent to a state mental facility.
The 58-year-old man is now facing sexual assault and murder charges.