A mother was kidnapped in front of her baby in 1991 and later murdered, with police revealing that the suspect had just been released from prison. The 1991 murder of Cindy Wanner had gone unsolved for 35 years until a breakthrough in the case emerged.
Arrest Made in Cold Case
James Lawhead Jr., a 64-year-old convicted sex offender, was arrested in connection with the cold case murder of Cindy Wanner, who was kidnapped and killed in 1991. The Placer County Sheriff's Office announced the long-awaited arrest on Monday, revealing that Lawhead had killed Wanner just months after being released from prison.
Advances in DNA technology and facial recognition were instrumental in cracking the case. On Friday, Lawhead was arrested in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he had been living under the name Vincent Reynolds.
The Disappearance and Murder
Wanner vanished on November 25, 1991, after going to her sister's home with her 11-month-old child. Hours later, Wanner's husband arrived with their four-year-old daughter to find the baby alone, strapped in a high chair and crying. Wanner's shoes, coat, and car were still there, but she was gone. Three weeks later, a hunter found Wanner's body roughly 35 miles away. Investigators determined she had been raped and strangled, and likely held captive for a period before her death.
Breakthrough in the Case
For decades, the case stalled. Recent DNA testing identified Lawhead as a suspect. Investigators then tracked him to Arizona. Sheriff Wayne Woo stated at a news conference, "Arguably, this is one of the most heinous, notorious cold cases we have here in Placer County." The break came after advanced DNA testing and a lead from Arizona, where a law enforcement analyst used the state's transportation database to match Lawhead's image through facial recognition technology.
Woo praised the analyst from the Scottsdale Police Department, saying, "If there's really an unsung hero in this case, it's an analyst... who used the Department of Transportation database in Arizona and got a match on a photo of James Lawhead."
Lawhead's Criminal History
Investigators discovered that Lawhead had been released from prison in early 1991 after serving 11 years of a 19-year sentence for a violent 1980 attack. In that attack, he broke into a home, beat a 71-year-old woman unconscious, and sexually assaulted her 11-year-old granddaughter. Wanner was killed about 10 months after his release.
Woo commented, "When he was sentenced, psychiatrists from the state classified him as a mentally-disordered sex offender who was not amenable to treatment. Yet he was still released after 11 years and kidnapped and murdered Cindy Wanner within a year of his release." He added, "The justice system here in California is broken... that allowed Lawhead to be released after only serving 11 years."
Lawhead later resurfaced in Placer County, where he was arrested in 2002 for failing to register as a sex offender and again in 2005 on a weapons charge. After that, he disappeared and changed his name, avoiding detection for years.
Arrest and Additional Charges
After three decades, Lawhead was arrested at his Arizona home on Friday. Investigators recovered multiple loaded firearms, $15,000, and a burner phone from his home. Woo said, "Now we hope that this arrest will bring some justice and closure to Cindy Wanner's family."
Authorities also arrested Lawhead's 71-year-old sister, Terry Lawhead Steele, in South Carolina on an accessory charge. Investigators say she denied contact with her brother for decades, but evidence showed she owned the Arizona home where he was living and had remained in communication with him.
Possibility of Other Victims
Retired cold case detective Troy Hillman believes there could be more victims. He said, "From what I've read, this guy was kind of an animal to begin with... Typically, when they do time, they think about their craft and then they continue it." Authorities are now retracing Lawhead's movements across Arizona, Oregon, and Washington to determine if he may be linked to other crimes.
Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said prosecutors have filed one count of murder against Lawhead, along with special circumstances of rape and kidnapping, as well as a separate kidnapping charge. He is being held in Arizona pending extradition to California. "This family has suffered in anguish for 35 years," Gire said. "They deserve some accountability."
