HAYWARD, Calif. (KRON) — East Bay police revealed the identity of a suspected serial killer who preyed on women in the 1970s and got away with murder for five decades.
Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews held a press conference Thursday announcing two cold cases are now closed: the 1979 murder of Theresa Pica in Hayward, and the 1972 rape and murder of Nellie Hicks in Newark.
Cold case detectives used advances in DNA technology to identify the suspected killer as Fred Bernard Farnham of Oregon.
The investigation into Farnham mirrored cold case investigation tactics used to catch the “Golden State Killer,” Matthews said.
Farnham, 73, died in a hospital in 2007 before detectives were able to link him to the killings. His identity was revealed on Thursday to help bring closure to the victims’ families, the police chief said. Some of the victims’ now-adult children spoke at the press conference.
Five decades “is a long time. (Today) we have answers in the murders of Theresa Pica and Nellie Hicks,” Matthews said.