The man on trial for allegedly killing a woman 38 years ago in Santa Maria reportedly strangled a former girlfriend, that woman’s now adult daughter testified Friday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.

Aloysius Winthrop James, 58, of Georgia has been charged in connection with the death of Ofelia Sandoval, 30, at the Town Center Hotel on the 200 block of North Broadway on Sept. 18, 1988. The hotel was demolished after being severely damaged in a 2013 fire.

He has been charged with first-degree murder plus faces a special circumstance, or sentencing enhancement, that the killing occurred during the commission of a rape.

The now adult daughter of the other alleged victim said James and her mother dated in the early 1990s, recalling an incident that happened while the witness and her brother played outside. 

“We heard my mother scream for help, and she was asking him to stop,” the woman said in response to a question from Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen.

The witness, who estimated she was in seventh grade when the incident occurred, went inside and saw their mom on the floor.

“We didn’t know if she was breathing or not,” the woman said, recalling seeing James straddling her mother while choking and hitting her. 

It took between 10 and 15 minutes before their mother sat up, she added.

The witness also testified about James forcing her to watch pornography and taking her clothes off before initiating inappropriate sexual contact. Noozhawk is not using the woman’s name due to the allegations.

Asked if she saw James in court Friday, the woman couldn’t identify the man sitting at the defense counsel table wearing a brown suit.

The woman’s mother had been scheduled to testify, but prosecutors decided against calling her as a witness due to a relatively new medical condition that has left her lacking impulse control.

The women’s testimony aimed to show the similarities between that incident in Chino and the killing of Sandoval in Santa Maria.

Sandoval reportedly died after being raped and strangled. 

Defense attorney Jessica Talavera questioned the witness to point out holes in her testimony including what she did, or didn’t, tell law enforcement officers at various times in the past 12 years as they investigated the case.

“I don’t remember,” the witness answered more than once.

But Bramsen erupted when Talavera asked questions about the witness mentioning the baby oil. The defense attorney suggested the witness got the idea from media coverage of the criminal case against rapper and music industry mogul Sean Combs, also known as P Diddy.

Later, Bramsen called the mention of the celebrity’s case in the Santa Maria trial unethical and inappropriate.

But Talavera said the witness had not previously mentioned baby oil until after the P. Diddy case media reports.

Outside the presence of the jury Judge Kristy Imel said mentioning the P. Diddy case was highly prejudicial and improper, warning that another incident could lead Imel to admonish the defense team in front of the jury, sanction attorneys or stop their questioning.

Otherwise, much of Friday’s testimony focused on the handling of evidence in the case over the past 38 years.

Witnesses included FBI agents responsible for covertly getting James’ DNA in Georgia along with Santa Maria Police Department personnel and a retired nurse who handled various pieces of evidence.

The defense team continued to focus on a red belt, seen in pictures at the scene, but now missing from the evidence. Paperwork shows Doug Coleman, a former crime scene staffer, had sent the belt to a state lab for testing .

“Bottom line is you were not able to find the red belt?” defense attorney Robert Sanger asked.

“That is correct,” Officer Cassandra Stowasser said. 

Another witness’s testimony focused on DNA evidence collected during the investigation, saying results ruled out several men as suspects. 

Late Friday afternoon with the jury dismissed early, attorneys and the judge hashed out what parts of investigators’ interviews with James should be played for the jury.

Talavera sought to get several sections of police officers’ interviews banned, contending they spoke as if they were DNA experts, but didn’t provide proper information.

Bramsen argued jurors shouldn’t consider investigators’ questions. Instead, she said, they should only consider the defendant’s answers as evidence especially as James repeatedly denies in the recorded interview being in the victim’s room or having sexual contact with her.

Imel denied the defense request multiple times saying sections they sought to remove were more probative than prejudicial. 

The judge also pointed out attorneys from both sides had the chance to question DNA experts with as many as three possibly testifying before the trial ends.

Testimony in the trial will resume Monday morning in Imel’s courtroom in Santa Maria 

James, who lived in Gainesville, Georgia, at the time of his arrest in 2024, remains in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Jail.