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hello everyone and welcome back to another True Crime Mysteries video thank you all for
being here today we're discussing three more recently solved cold cases let's get into it
number three Rachel sandejas and Lisa condac
on January 18 1981 20 year old Rachel Sunday has returned home in Camarillo California from
a nightclub called Old Huntington's near Wagon Wheel Junction she then drove her babysitter home
around 4am and never returned home paper carriers found Rachel the next day in the carport near her
apartment she had been beaten sexually assaulted and strangled based on the evidence left at the
scene investigators believed that Rachel was accosted as she got out of her vehicle
Rachel zandejas had recently moved her two young daughters Eva two years old and Monica a year old
in with her brother Roy Rodriguez she had dropped out of high school when she was pregnant with her
first child and had recently separated from her husband she just started school at Oxnard
College taking a job training courses a federally funded course designed to help Homemakers who find
themselves in sudden need of a job police had no leads no Witnesses and no known motive the
husband had been cleared quickly and the case went cold and had no answers Rachel's brother called
the Ventura County Sheriff's Office every year on his sister's death anniversary begging for answers
on December 12 1981 at around 3 A.M a fire was reported in an apartment building near
the 1200 block of West Gonzalez Road in Oxnard California the fire department responded and
they found that a fire had started in the living room of an apartment that was deliberately set
they were shocked when they found the body of a young woman naked in the bathtub the woman was
identified as the owner of the apartment Lisa gondak she had been strangled to death police
believe that the fire was set to hide the crime and only matches were used to start the fire
Lisa's cause of death as being that of strangulation and Suffocation Lisa condac
21 had gone dancing at Old Huntington's nightclub near Wagon Wheel Junction the night before the
fire originally from Connecticut she had moved to Oxnard after coming to California to visit a
friend and decided to stay she got her apartment and was working in retail at a nearby Mall
when police started to investigate they discovered that neighbors of Lisa had heard screams for help
but no one had called 9-1-1 to Groton involved none of these neighbors had seen who would come in
or left the apartment that night again there were no Witnesses and no leads in 2004 law enforcement
would get their first new lead from these cases with advances in DNA not available in 1981 they
were able to connect the murder of Rachel and Lisa to one assailant and they now knew the same
person killed both these women unfortunately this didn't lead to anything new even when
they tested federal and state DNA databases and the case would eventually go cold again
in December of 2019 Ventura County Cold Case unit decided to look into genetic genealogy
a process used to find relatives of suspects through public DNA sites law enforcement has
not commented on the exact steps the investigation took but in 2023 they arrested their first suspect
68-year-old Tony Garcia a fresh DNA sample was taken from Garcia which matched the DNA
found on both victims Tony Garcia lived only a few miles from both crime scenes at the time
he was in the U.S Navy before retiring and becoming a karate instructor they don't know
if he had frequented the nightclub both victims had been at the night before they'd been killed
in a press conference a sheriff is quoted as saying quote the fact is this suspect has been
hiding in plain sight for over 40 years law enforcement is still looking for information
on Tony Garcia and are asking anyone who knew him around 1981 to come forward after 42 years
of waiting Roy Rodriguez and his two nieces who both now work as nurses have some answers
they got the call that Rachel's killer was now in police custody Roy never stopped asking and hoping
for answers about what had happened to Rachel and he never gave up Seeking Justice for his beloved
sister the long arm of the law has brought Justice to the gondak and Zendaya's families
number two Laurel Mitchell
it was on Wednesday August 6 1975 when 17 year old Laurel Mitchell left work at 10 pm at the
epsworth forest Church camp in North Webster Lake in Kosciuszko County Indiana A co-worker had
offered her a ride home but she said she was going to visit friends at the Adventureland amusement
park and would walk but she never arrived Laura also never made it home for curfew her parents
would report her missing early the following day hours later two fishermen found Laurel Mitchell's
body in a river 17 miles Northeast of the North Webster Lake an autopsy would show that she died
from drowning and was initially thought to have been an accident but a further examination of
her body showed that she had several injuries consistent with defensive marks indicating
Laurel fought for her life her case was then investigated as a homicide experts at the time
had believed she might have been sexually assaulted but the evidence was inconclusive
a witness remember seeing a 1970s Buick Oldsmobile in the area the night Laurel went missing
authorities over multiple jurisdictions would spend hours months and years investigating Laura
Mitchell's murder they would interview more than a thousand people hoping to
find out anything about what had happened to Laurel but in the end her case would go cold
detective never stopped looking more than 40 years later in 2014 the police asked the public for help
locating a singing group that had stopped into a local Firehouse thinking that they may have seen
Laurel unfortunately that lead did not pan out in 2013 an informant came forward saying that a
man named John Wayne Lehman had admitted to him that he committed a crime with his friend Fred
Bandy the details were consistent with Laurel's case in 2014 another person would come forward
saying Bandy had claimed to have committed a crime that happened at mallard's Roost a
public access site adjacent to the location where Laurel's body had been found in 2019 they got a
tip reported that this person had been at a high school party years ago when Banny had said that
he and Lehman had committed the murder of Laurel Mitchell together also in 2019 police resubmitted
Laurel's clothing to be tested in 2020 they would find foreign male DNA from the clothing I think
genealogy has changed the game investigatively that's since approximately 2015 when the first
case ever occurred that has changed the game in 2022 a sample was taken from Bandy and in
2023 law enforcement discovered it was a match to the unknown DNA sample found on Laurel's clothing
they also discovered that in 1975 Bandy owned a 1971 Buick Oldsmobile on February 6 2023 both
Fred Bandy and John Wayne Lehmann both 67 now were arrested on one count of first-degree murder they
were arrested in their respective homes without incident and are now being held without bail
It is believed that both men had picked up Laurel offering her a ride in the Oldsmobile car where
they then took her to the river and drowned her at this time the motive is unclear it is also unclear
if either of these men had a criminal history or if there might be other victims however after 47
years the family of Laurel Mitchell has some answers I just always wondered you know like
how she would have turned out and she got you know she missed prom she missed graduation she
must get married and having kids and I didn't have anybody to share all that with anybody to
get you know information you know help me grow up in a press conference Noble County prosecutor
Jim Maury said in a statement well the rest of these individuals is an important step in
this process it is just a step and this is not the end this is just the beginning of the prosecution
number one opal wheel
on February 9 1987 in St Petersburg Florida 82 year old opal wheel was found deceased in her
bedroom Mrs wheel's sister-in-law had come over that morning after she had not answered her phone
Mrs wheel a widower lived alone but her brother and his wife lived close by and the family was
incredibly close when her sister-in-law arrived she peeked through the window and noticed that
the NightLight in the kitchen was still on which was odd because she knew opal always turned it
off right away when she woke up at 6am further examination of the exterior of the home and she
noticed one of the window panes was missing from the glass in the front door it was then that she
called the police when they arrived opal was found in her bedroom unresponsive but even with
only a cursory glance officers on the scene could see that there were apparent and visible signs
of trauma on Mrs wheel which included severe bruising around her neck mouth and face opal
wheel was last seen alive around 12 hours earlier those closest to Opel described her as tall slim
a whiz well-dressed a kind woman who often went on morning and afternoon walks with a few ladies
from the neighborhood known to stop by and have a friendly chat at her brother and his wife lived a
few doors down from her investigators discovered that the suspect had entered the house by removing
a window pane and that the phone line had been cut the forensic team used vacuums and other
means back in 1987 to collect evidence and were able to collect some foreign hairs at the time
the autopsy showed that she died from strangulation and blunt force trauma she
was discovered in her bedroom in her nightgown neighbors were interviewed some say that they
heard a noise and investigated outside their homes but didn't see anything the neighbor that
was behind her house reported that his dog didn't make a noise that night and would have barked if
someone had been in her backyard some drawers in her bedroom appear to have been quickly rummaged
through some small jewelry items were stolen which included her wedding ring robbery may have
been the primary motivation perhaps opal woke up when she heard noises and was killed as a result
after months of investigation with no leads the case went cold they didn't give up and throughout
the continued investigation they eventually got a partial DNA profile from the evidence found in
the scene they didn't find a match until recently in 2020 the pinayas County Sheriff's Office Cold
Case detectives contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for additional testing on the
evidence they also contacted parabon nanolabs known for their genetic testing throughout the
extensive testing parabon nanolabs was able to help build family trees detectives were able to
find relatives and the lab was able to narrow it down to three possible suspects after an extensive
investigation detectives were able to eliminate two of the suspects leaving only one the primary
suspect was discovered to have lived only half a mile from oval wheel at the time of the murder
Michael labniewski Jr was identified as this possible suspect he is currently living in
Waveland Mississippi in 2022 Pinas County detectives traveled to Mississippi to do
further investigation they did some undercover work in the hopes of getting a DNA profile they
did this in two ways in July 2022 they followed lepniewski into a gas station and they watched
him open a straw stir his coffee and suck off the coffee from the straw thrown in
the trash they then collected that straw and they did this several times the second was a
local detective who owned a restaurant and knew lapnewski personally and they offered to allow
detectives to put a flyer on leptuci's car for a free meal at a specific time and day with proof
of residency as some promotion to get people to come to the restaurant lapnewski showed up
ate his free meal and left and his utensils were saved the straws new utensils were tested and his
DNA matched the DNA from hairs found at the crime scene 55 year old Michael labnuski was arrested
in Mississippi on January 26 and extradited to benalis County where he's being charged with
first-degree murder detectives interviewed him and he denied being around Oak wheel's house at
the time of the murder and he said that he did not recognize the victim from an old photo at
the time of the murder he lived only a few blocks from Mrs wheel and had moved soon after the murder
the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the investigation is ongoing lepnuski was booked into
the Pinellas County Jail on January 31st 2023 no bond has been set at this time as he awaits trial
as for opel's family our family never gave up hope they say they're so grateful for the
detectives hard work and Tracy hopes her mother gets her dying wish and that her Aunt finally
gets Justice after 36 years he's been able to walk this Earth he's been able to breathe air
something my aunt did not have the luxury of doing and I hope that he is man enough to stand up
and to confess to what he's done well that's gonna be it for this video thank you so much
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