Calif. cold case cracks open; illegal immigrant suspected of killing woman in 1997

An illegal immigrant from Mexico, serving time in a federal prison for unlawfully reentering the U.S., will appear before a judge next week over his alleged involvement in the killing of a homeless woman 18 years ago in California. 

On Aug. 16, 1997, Linda Louise Archer, 43, was beaten to death in her campsite off Highway 101 near Castillo Street, Fox News reported Saturday. 

The Santa Barbara Police Department announced Thursday that the suspected killer in the cold case, Manuel Salmeron Manzanares, 36, was arrested on suspicion of murder last month upon his release from federal custody. 

DNA evidence submitted to the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services laboratory from the Archer case was matched to that of a profile in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, Fox reported. 

“The matched profile was that of Manzanares, a federal inmate in custody for illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported as a convicted felon,” Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Riley Harwood, said in a statement, Fox reported. 

Mr. Manzanares was set to be released and deported to Mexico this year. 

In July 2014, Detective Andy Hill interviewed Mr. Manzanares as part of the investigation into the murder. 

Police said “The investigation indicates that Manzanares is responsible for the murder of Linda Archer,” Fox reported. 

Mr. Hill obtained a warrant for Mr. Manzanares arrest upon his release from federal prison June 12. He was then taken into custody in the Archer case and booked in a county jail. 

The original case went cold when an inmate at Corcoran State Prison lied to authorities, saying he had killed Archer. 

Mr. Harwood told the News-Press that local authorities were able to obtain Mr. Manzanares by working with federal authority, unlike departments in so-called “sanctuary cities.” 

“The normal state of affairs is for local, state and federal agencies in the criminal justice system to work with each other. We pick up the phone and talk. In this case, ICE informed us that Manzanares was in custody,” he said, Fox reported.

Mr. Manzanares is set to appear in Santa Barbara County Superior Court July 16.