SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A 73-year-old suspect was behind bars Monday for allegedly committing a murder in Logan Heights nearly five decades ago.
Mitchell Hernandez of Chula Vista was jailed Thursday on suspicion of killing a man named Leo Marquina in the 1900 block of Harrison Avenue, just east of Interstate 5 and south of Commercial Street, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Officers responding to a death report early on the evening of Nov. 10, 1976, found Marquina dead with suspicious injuries to his upper body.
"Despite an exhaustive initial investigation, the case eventually went cold," SDPD Lt. Jonathan Dungan said Monday.
Three years ago, homicide detectives launched a new effort to identify the person or persons responsible for the slaying.
"Their investigation included an exhaustive process of following leads, processing and examining physical evidence collected from the original crime scene and interviewing potential witnesses," Dungan said.
Police did not specify what led them to name Hernandez as Marquina's suspected killer, disclose details on the two men's relationship, if any, to each other, or release the victim's cause of death or age at the time of the alleged murder.
Hernandez was being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Monday afternoon.
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