Criminal Law
A New Mexico Man Is Convicted of a 1980 Murder
A New Mexico man was convicted Tuesday and raping and killing a 79-year-old woman in Southern California more than four decades ago.
Andre Lepere, 64, was convicted of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement because the crime was committed during a rape, the Orange County Register reported. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced next month.
Lepere was 22 years old and living in Southern California in 1980 when a neighbor of Viola Hagenkord discovered her body in her Anaheim apartment bedroom. There were signs of a struggle, authorities said.
