Golden State Killer didn’t murder Fountain Valley woman, DNA test confirms
Prosecutors on Friday announced that a new DNA test has confirmed that a man convicted of the 1979 rape and murder of a mother in Fountain Valley did indeed commit the crime.
His family recently questioned whether the killing was actually the work of the Golden State Killer.
An attorney for the family of William Evins earlier this year questioned whether he was wrongfully convicted for the killing of 28-year-old Joan Virginia Anderson, a crime for which Evins spent more than 25 years in prison before dying of a heart attack behind bars in 2013.
In October, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office agreed to look back at the case file to see if there was any DNA material they could test with more modern techniques.
According to a statement from the DA’s office, the Fountain Valley Police Department was able to locate forensic evidence tied to Anderson’s killing. A DNA profile from that evidence was run through a state database, the statement said, which matched it to Evins.
Attorney Annee Della Donna, who represented the Evins family, said she credited the DA for agreeing to look into the evidence.
“The fact the DNA came out and confirmed that Evins is responsible for the murder is the truth, and we have to accept it,” Della Donna said. “At least now there is closure for both families.”
On March 8, 1979, Anderson was raped and bludgeoned more than 20 times with a hammer in the master bedroom of her Fountain Valley home while her husband was away on a business trip. Her 6-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son, who were also in the house, were not injured.
Evins, who was part of a construction crew working on the Anderson house around the time of the killing, was arrested for the murder. According to the DA’s office, Evins had been acting strange, had repeatedly expressed to his friends a desire to rape and kill women, and had asked someone to lie to supply him with an alibi for the day of the murder.
Evins’ family believed the evidence against him at the time of his conviction was weak.
Prosecutors initially relied on hypnotized witness testimony, until the state Supreme Court in 1984 ruled such evidence was improper. As he was preparing to leave jail, a controversial jail informant claimed Evins had confessed to him.
Evins took a plea deal rather than face trial, believing it would lead to a quicker release. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, but always told his family that he was innocent.
During a press conference earlier this year, Della Donna suggested the killers M.O. seem to closely match that of the suspected Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo.
He is awaiting trial for a dozen murders in Orange, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Sacramento counties, and is also believed to have carried out more than 50 rapes and 100 burglaries across the state since 1974.