Man Charged With Murder In Escondido Cold Case

ESCONDIDO, CA – Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a murder that happened more than three decades ago in North San Diego County. Nathan Mathis, 62, was arrested for the 1986 murder of Richard Finney, police announced Monday.

Finney, 75, was found stabbed to death at his Escondido apartment on Nov. 13, 1986. Detectives collected evidence, which included fingerprints and blood evidence, but a suspect was never identified, according to police.

The case was reopened in 2007. After reopening the case, authorities were able to come up with a blood profile, according to police.

In 2016, a forensic fingerprint expert used new technology to produce a better quality photograph of the fingerprint collected from the apartment, according to police. The blood and fingerprint found at the scene matched Mathis, police said.

Mathis was arrested at his home on April 18 in Ontario, California. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of murder. He is being held on a $3 million bail.

"It means everything to us that you continually worked the case for 32 years," Finney's granddaughter, Catherine Turi Hollis, said to police. "I don't know how to repay someone for their efforts other than I will never forget what you did for our family."

Images via Escondido Police Department