A murder mystery that haunted San Diego for more than half a century may finally be unraveling. Police have arrested an Indiana man they say is connected to the savage 1975 killing of 34-year-old Edmund LaFave — a case investigators once feared would never be solved.
Indiana State Police confirmed that 71-year-old Johnnie Ray Salisbury was taken into custody Wednesday in the small lakeside town of Syracuse. Detectives say Salisbury was identified through forensic investigative genetic genealogy — a technique that has cracked hundreds of long-dormant cases nationwide.
San Diego authorities called the arrest “a breakthrough that wasn’t possible in the 1970s.”
“This case has been sitting on our desks for decades,” acting Lt. Chris Leahy told reporters. “Various investigators have gone over it again and again with no resolution. Technology finally caught up.”
LaFave was found inside his home on Suncrest Drive on February 25, 1975. Officers discovered him lying on his bedroom floor, surrounded by blood. He had been stabbed repeatedly and beaten so violently that veteran detectives were stunned.
It was the kind of crime that rattled San Diego residents at the time. Newspapers described a “quiet street terrorized by a brutal killing.” For years, police believed LaFave may have known his attacker, but no evidence ever led to an arrest.
In 2024, San Diego’s Cold Case Unit asked Indiana State Police to help reexamine evidence tied to Salisbury, who had been living in the Midwest for decades. Detectives flew to Indiana earlier this month, obtained an arrest warrant, and moved in with local officers.
By Wednesday, Salisbury was in handcuffs.
One Indiana investigator, speaking on background, said, “It was surreal. You’re arresting a man in his seventies for something that happened before half our department was even born. But victims wait. Justice waits.”
The San Diego Police Department said their cold case team worked closely with the FBI, Indiana State Police, Syracuse Police, and the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This was truly a cross-country effort,” Leahy said. “Everyone played a part in getting us here.”
Police have not revealed whether they’ve determined a motive. Salisbury’s connection to LaFave remains unclear, and investigators say more information will emerge during the extradition and charging process.
Salisbury is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail in Warsaw, Indiana, as he awaits an extradition hearing.
San Diego prosecutors will take over the case once Salisbury is returned to California. Detectives say the investigation is still active and are asking anyone with information — even decades-old memories — to come forward.
“If you know something, now is the time to say it,” Leahy urged. “These cases only close when communities speak.”
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Would have paid money to have seen the expression on this dirtbag’s face when the PO-lice said, “Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Bet anything there’s a homo twist to this.
He looks like something out of the movie, “Deliverance.”