Tech CEO charged in killing of his roommate’s girlfriend 30 years ago, CA officials say
.jpg "A 58-year-old man was just charged in the 1992 killing of a 25-year-old woman in Mountain View, California, prosecutors said.")
A Bay Area tech CEO has been charged in the 1992 killing of his roommate’s girlfriend, according to California prosecutors.
John Kevin Woodward, 58, president and CEO of online training company Readytech, was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 11 news release.
Woodward is accused of killing his roommate’s 25-year-old girlfriend in Mountain View, California, nearly 30 years ago.
He was tried in court twice in the late ‘90s but both cases were eventually dismissed over a lack of evidence. It wasn’t until last year that detectives identified more evidence linking him to the crime, according to officials.
Laurie Houts, a computer engineer, was found strangled inside her car on Sept. 5, 1992, prosecutors said. The rope used to kill her was still around her neck.
Her car was found parked near a dump, about a mile from her job, the release states. Detectives saw footprints on her windshield, suggesting she struggled during the attack, prosecutors said.
Woodward, who had no alibi, was named a prime suspect in her death early in the investigation, prosecutors said.
He reportedly had been “openly jealous” of Hout and had an “unrequited romantic attachment” to Houts’ boyfriend, his roommate, the release states.
Detectives found Woodward’s fingerprints on the outside of the woman’s vehicle, but they could not find any evidence within the car at the time, prosecutors said.
But in 2021, investigators were able to link the rope found around Houts’ neck to Woodward thanks to new forensic technology.
Woodward is being held without bail in New York until he is extradited to California.
He had moved to the Netherlands after his cases were dismissed, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Tech CEO charged in killing of his roommate’s girlfriend 30 years ago, CA officials say."
