Nearly four decades after the killing of a mother of three in Santa Maria, a prosecuting attorney detailed scientific evidence linking Aloysius Winthrop James to the cold case homicide while his defense attorney accused police of conducting a flawed investigation.

James, 58, of Georgia has been charged in connection with the death of Ofelia Sandoval, a mother of three, 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. 

Opening statements in the jury trial occurred Thursday morning in Judge Kristy Imel’s courtroom as Sandoval’s daughter, two sons and other family members sat in the audience.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen told jurors about the violent attack and assault that led to Sandoval’s death by strangulation.

“She took her last breath at the age of 30,” Bramsen said, adding that the dead woman was found naked on the floor in a room considered her home.

The homicide occurred way before DNA became a regular part of law enforcement investigations, Bramsen said.

“There was some basic blood typing but not DNA that we know today,” she added.

In the early 2000s, Department of Justice lab tests detected DNA on a shirt and towel found near Sandoval’s body. 

Her boyfriend at the time and his relative were ruled out. A search in a law enforcement database didn’t turn up a match, again leaving the investigation in limbo.

While reviewing the case reports in 2018, a detective realized they lacked DNA samples from James, leading to the FBI surreptitiously obtaining a glove he wore and discarded at work. 

Testing revealed strong evidence that the person who tossed out the gloves was the same man who left semen on the shirt and towel. Other testing confirmed that James had sexual contact with Sandoval.

Bramsen noted that the defendant had told police officers he never went into Sandoval’s room or had any contact with her.

“The science tells us otherwise,” she added.

Autopsy results confirmed that Sandoval had been strangled with marks, suggesting that both a ligature and fingers were used, according to Bramsen, adding that the woman had a broken hyoid bone in her neck.

“It takes significant force to fracture a hyoid bone,” Bramsen said. 

In his opening statement, defense attorney Robert Sanger rejected the cold case characterization. 

“The case didn’t go cold. It just wasn’t investigated,” he said, adding that by January 1989 police logs list “NFI” for “no further investigation.”

He also noted that the red fabric belt, labeled evidence item No. 14, seen in pictures and collected as evidence had disappeared at some point.

“Item No. 14 could help determine who actually committed the homicide,” Sanger said of what he suggested could be the murder weapon.

A police log shows that a crime scene investigator removed the item for testing, but the belt’s whereabouts remain a mystery decades after the killing.

The defense attorney agreed the evidence would show that his client had a sexual encounter with Sandoval, but blamed the initial denial on the fact that James’ father was a pastor. 

Sanger also criticized other evidence collection efforts by police, contending that they should not have ignored shoes and clothes located in the bathroom.

The defense attorney claimed a witness had determined that Sandoval’s boyfriend and cousin smelled like they had just taken shower, implying they were involved in the killing, not James.

“The bottom line, as horrible as the case is, the evidence does not show … Mr. James committed a homicide,” said Sanger, whose colleague Jessica Talavera also makes up the defense team.

Sandoval’s daughter, Maricela Sandoval Alfaro, now 48, was the first witness to testify, recalling that she and her brothers lived with their father in Guadalupe at the time of their mother’s death.

Sandoval’s killing occurred 10 days after her daughter’s 11th birthday, Sandoval Alfaro said. 

Testimony is scheduled to continue Friday in the homicide trial, which could stretch into March.

James, now using a wheelchair, was arrested in 2024 and extradited from Georgia to face the charges in California. 

He remains in custody at the Santa Barbara County Jail, where he is being held without bail.