A 75-year-old man has been arrested in Oregon and charged in the 1997 killing of San Jose resident Alice Sharitz, after investigators say DNA from a glob of phlegm preserved in her apartment’s toilet bowl tied him to the scene. The arrest, announced this week, pulls a nearly three-decade-old cold case back into the spotlight for detectives who had long sought answers after Sharitz was found dead inside her North Jackson Avenue senior apartment in October 1997.
How preserved evidence produced a lead
According to The Mercury News, investigators submitted DNA from the preserved phlegm to genealogical analysts and eventually developed a lead that pointed to Joe Angel Contreras. Investigators say further testing of a sample obtained from Contreras produced a match to the phlegm profile, and that match helped bring murder charges in the case.
Forensic genealogy and Parabon
Parabon Nanolabs and similar firms use genetic genealogy to build family trees from unknown DNA profiles and generate investigative leads, a technique that has helped solve cold cases across the country. Law-enforcement officials say that genealogical mapping narrowed the suspect pool and focused follow-up testing and interviews in the Sharitz investigation.
Arrest, charges and official comments
Contreras was arrested in Dallas, Oregon, on Dec. 19, 2025, and has been extradited to Santa Clara County, where prosecutors booked him on a murder charge, The Mercury News reports. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said that justice for Alice Sharitz was long in coming but is here, and San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph told reporters that “time does not erase responsibility.” Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker added that identifying a suspect through forensic genealogy starts an investigation rather than ends it. The reporting also notes that anyone with information can contact the SJPD homicide unit or Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Cold-case work in Santa Clara County
The county’s Cold Case Unit has been credited with reopening and prosecuting long-unsolved homicides. A Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office news release describing recent cold-case work highlights how coordinated lab testing, genealogy and detective follow-up have produced late-breaking arrests. Prosecutors say that collaborative, methodical investigation is central to bringing older cases back to court…