who was identified in a stanford daily newspaper article as being the guard skofrpg the body of arliss perry back in 1974. a search by abc 7 news indicates that a steve perry -- steve crawford was living at this apartment building. sky7 was overhead shortly after the sheriff deputies arrived at the large apartment complex to serve a warrant for murder to the resident in apartment 185. the door opened. deputies saw a gun and then a gunshot was heard. the suspect appears to have shot and killed himtz. the deputies did not fire their guns. dna evidence recently retested provided a missing link that captivity investigators from solving the 1974 murder of 19-year-old arliss perry seen in a photograph from the mercury news archives. the wife of a stanford student, perry was found with head injures and had been sexually molested .the security guard ooifrd in the named discovered the btd at the church in stanford. >> he was a suspect in the case for quite a long time. we just didn't have the evidence. it was what we believed but there was not any really restraining link. i believe now we have the st

all right, david thank you so much. >>> as we said arliss perry's body wdas university. our team coverage continue was lyanne melendez live at stanford this afternoon. lyanne. >> reporter: well, dan, i want to point out here that stanford has not issued any kind of statement. now, we asked dozens and dozens of people if they recall this murder. and it seems that no one here remembers this. and that's because the gory details were not publicly released for some time to protect family and friends. visitors from all over the world come to see the stanford memorial church without a clue what happened here in 1974. even people who graduated in the 70s have never heard of the murder. >> where was i in '74? i graduated the second time already. >> do you remember it at all. >> no i do not. >> ar ris k. perry lived with her husband i escondido village. he was a stanford student. according to the investigation it was about 11:30 at night when she decided to pray inside the church. two witnesses remember seeing ch near the front row. steve crawford was the church's security guard.

again, decades-old crime involving arliss perry. today the sheriff's office sharing information about how they came to end this case. >> the detectives have continually gone through the evidence, submitted additional evidence for testing. there was no dna at the time of the murder, of course, but there have been enhancements in their capabilities, so we continued to submit the evidence to the crime lab. and it came from, i think, an item of her clothing. >> reporter: now sheriff smith says steven crawford had never gone off their ray dardar. in fact, they were in constant contact with him, talking about the case. that communication ramped up in the last few months. they say all of that ending just this morning when deputies, again, were attempting to serve that warrant to crawford in his san jose apartment, reporting live in san jose, abc 7 news. >> thank you. now let's continue our live team coverage with david louie at the scene of today's deadly shooting. >> reporter: the whole chain of events started about9:00 this morning. depu

at the time of the arliss perry murder she had a job on campus and would frequently visit the famous memorial church where perry was found brutalized. >> you think, oh, my god, it could have been me. >> reporter: the stanford daily article punish lished after the weekend murder includes details about steve crawford, the security guard who fame perry dead and became a suspect. baldwin remembered how had he life at stanford changed in an instant. >> there was some maniac out there. all of a sudden you were being told, don't walk alone at night. >> reporter: 43 years later new dna technology led detectives back to crawford. golden state killer investigator paul holtz explains why dna is so crucial when it comes to solving cold cases. >> you are now dealing with human life-spans and so people that you are investigating or witnesses that you want to talk to, they have passed away during that time. >> reporter: holtz said there have been major advances in dna recovery and profile development. kate larson, abc7 news. >> and you'll want to stay with abc7 news and abc7news.com for the very lat

the so-called satanic murder of a arliss perry. officers went to serve a search warned on steve crawford who was the security guard at the church retesting of old dna put the man identified as crawford back in the center of the investigation. but when officers arrived he shot and killed himself. >> he knew that our investigators have focussed on him as a suspect. >> reporter: scott harold has been researching the 1974 case, despite crawford's seemingly harmless demeanor, including being the drum major at his high school, circumstances pointed to crawford. >> i always felt that hover killed arliss perry was an insider, which was toaiday out ritual fashion that probably took the killer half an hour to do. that's somebody who knows the rhythms of the church, knows that he will not be interrupted. >> reporter: now at this point, the investigation into the cold case has stalled until san jose police clear up what is technically an officer-involved shooting. sheriff lori smith will have a press conference at 5:30. we will live streaha ha

. >> reporter: long time columnist has been following the case since 1974 when 19- year-old arliss perry was found dead inside the stanford memorial church. she had been strangled stabbed in the head with an ice pick and sexually assaulted with altar candles. >> crawford has been a person of interest since the beginning. >> reporter: it was steven crawford who first reported the body to police while working as a campus security guard. he told investigators he had personally locked up the chapel the night before. >> it's been frustrating we could never get enough evidence to charge the suspect. >> reporter: investigators continued to submit dna evidence to the crime lab over the years. finally, they got a hit. >> he knew he was a person of interest. he knew that we were continuing the investigation actively right now because our detective had talked to him recently. >> reporter: deputies say they were about to serve a search warrant at crawford's san jose apartment when he pulled a gun and shot himself. >> it leaves a suspicion, um, because if somebody is innocent, they probably want to c

. >> that cold cases the murder of arliss perry seen in this photograph from the archives.he church in 1974. >> we have liveere. line lyanne melendez is live at stanford. let's begin with david louie. >> david, dna played a big roll in tracking down the suspect. >> yes it did. the sheriff's office in santa clara had the dpa office that tide to a man living at this apartment complex from the case 4 years ago in stanford. he was, to be served with a warrant when suddenly he disappeared and appears to hav shot and killed himself. sheriff's deputies arrived at the apartment complex to serve a warrant on the resident at you know it 185. from sky7 you can see it's a lorj bltding. the protocol is to knock on the doan are door and identify themselves. however the sheriff told abc 7 news there was a gunshot not from a deputy. it appears the resident shot and killed himself. the resident has been a suspect on the radar screen for a 1974 cold case, the brutal murder of a 19-year-old woman named arliss perry seen in this photograph from the news archives. she was the wife of a stanford

we have also learned that arliss's then husband, renowned psychologist dr. bruce perry is relieved by the break in the case. live in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. >> thank you. >>> the pawnee fire burning in lake county is now 5 a% contained. that's according to calfire. the blaze has been burning since saturday. it's burned nearly 14,000 acres. firefighters are flown into remote parts of the zone to work on containment lines. the number of structures destroyed stands at 22, including homes. evacuation orders for the double eagle and spring valley neighborhoods lifted yesterday. >>> firefighters will be on high alert this weekend in the bay area. the national weather service put out the tweet. there is a red flag warning again starting tonight for parts of the north bay. it comes with a warning that any fire is capable of spreading rapidly, much like we saw last weekend in lake county. >> when we talk about red flag warnings that usually means two things in terms of the weather. it's going to be hot and windy. >> for a look at what's prompting the warning including

crawford was working as a security guard on the stanford campus and found the body of arliss perry insideemorial church. the 19-year-old had been beaten, molested and murdered. but technological limits of the '70s prevented detectives from building a case against him until the advent of dna testing. >> there's a lot that's happened in the last couple decades. >> reporter: san mateo county forensic criminalist says four decades ago, analysts would use enzyme and protein typing to try to match a suspect to a crime. but the large samples were less likely to produce large amounts of usable information. in the '80s, dna testing moved into the forefront. >> the new technology in the '90s called pcr allows us to take small pieces of the dna and make copies of them or amplify them at certain genetic markers. and that dramatically changed the world of dna. >> reporter: smith says some of perry's dna was found on crawford's clothing. recent technology provided enough evidence for a judge to sign off on the search warrant. >> we were trying to get in and talk to him. you can see him through the wind

he was working as a security guard and found the body of arliss perry inside memorial church per the9-year-old had been beaten, blessed and murdered. limits of the 70s prevented detectives from building a case against crawford until the advent of dna testing. >> there's a lot that has happened in the last couple decades.>> reporter: forensic criminalist says four decades ago, analysts would use enzymatic protein typing to try and match a suspect to a crime. but the large samples were less like the -- less likely to prevent information. in the 80s the dna moved to the forefront. >> the new technology in the 90s allows us to take small pieces of the dna and make copies of them or amplify them at certain genetic markers. that dramatically changed the role of dna. >> reporter: some of perry's dnas was found on crawford's clothing. it provided enough evidence for a judge to sign off on the search warrant. >> we were trying to talk to him. you could see through the window and trying to get them to open the door.>> reporter: crawford shot and killed himself as deputies tried to arrest him.

crawford was working as a security guard on the stanford campus and found the body of arliss perry insideemorial church. the 19-year-old had been beaten, molested and murdered. but technological limits of the '70s prevented detectives from building a case against him until the advent of dna testing. >> there's a lot that's happened in the last couple decades. >> reporter: san mateo county forensic criminalist says four decades ago, analysts would use enzyme and protein typing to try to match a suspect to a crime. but the large samples were less likely to produce large amounts of usable information. in the '80s, dna testing moved into the forefront. >> the new technology in the '90s called pcr allows us to take small pieces of the dna and make copies of them or amplify them at certain genetic markers. and that dramatically changed the world of dna. >> reporter: smith says some of perry's dna was found on crawford's clothing. recent technology provided enough evidence for a judge to sign off on the search warrant. >> we were trying to get in and talk to him. you can see him through the wind

investigators say the killer beat 19-year-old arliss perry inside memorial church, molested her, and smashed an ice pick on her head. according to the mercury news, sheriff's recently retested dna evidence from the case, and obtained enough evidence to obtain a search warrant. we will have more on this story coming up on kpix at five. >>> president trump says the search to replace justice anthony kennedy is arad backanatany deon sput off l mier we break down some of the fallout, and introduce us to nominees for replacements. >> reporter: president trump made it clear at a rally in north dakota wednesday night, that his next supreme court nominee will have an impact on the court for a long time to come. >> we have to pick one that will be there for 40 years, 45 years. >> reporter: the president will pick from a list of 25 candidates to replace justice anthony kennedy, based on a list of the white house released this november. those names include utah senator. mike lee, cavanaugh, a former candy clerk who currently sits as a judge on the u.s. court of appeals for washington dc, and amy

. >> the suicide note did not detail what happened that night in 1974 when arliss perry was sexually assaulted and murdered inside stanford university's chapel. investigators say they may never know the motive but based on dna evidence linking crawford to the crime scene, they are certain that case is finally closed. >>> university parking enforcement officer was stabbed to death today on the campus of cal poly pomona. los angeles county fire received a call from cal poly police just before 5 pm about a person acting erratically. students were sent an alert to stay away from two buildings on campus and that is when the suspect attacked the parking officer. when police arrived, they opened fire and killed the suspect. >>> more than 1000 people turned out for a vigil tonight in maryland to honor the five people gunned down at a newspaper office yesterday. many carried candles as the crowd streamed through downtown annapolis. the suspect reportedly carried a long list of grievances, filing lawsuits against reporters, lawyers, and even judges. reporter kenneth craig has an update him and

they believed crawford wrote it after being interviewed by deevgts about the murder of arliss perry. perry's sister told abc 7 news by phone that she finally feels a sense of closure. >> it does for me. my mom i'm not so sure. i mean, she is 88 years old. and she struggles with the why, i think. and i said, you know, mom, i don't think we're ever going to know the why. >> deputies also admit they may never know why someone chose to kill perry. >>> big developments today in elbowed where there is a possible plea deal in the deadly ghost ship fire. the plea deal offered to derick almena and max harris would call for both men to plead no contest to 36 counts ever involuntary manslaughter with time served, credit both could be released from custody in two, maybe three years. it's thought the plea deals will spare families of the victims the emotional distress of a trial. some friends of the victims say they are upset saying prosecutors should pursue a harsher sentence against the defendants. no deal has been reached today. both almena and harris are due back in court tuesday afternoon. >

. >> police recently linked a dna former stanford university security guard, steve crawford to arliss perry, whose body was found in the campus chapel with an ice pick in her head. as detectives were about to arrest crawford at his san jose apartment, they heard a gunshot and found his body. >>> and police in pennsylvania say they have solved a mystery of their own. for months, mysterious nighttime explosions have rattled a town outside philadelphia. now police have arrested a suspect. he may have been involved in a zoning dispute with the township and now faces a number of charges including possessing weapons of mass destruction. >> we did a story about that. some of that would take place in the middle of the night. some neighbors would hear it. some didn't. they didn't know what it was. >> they apparently raided his house and now he is under arrest. they think the two are linked. >> that was one of those i thought was aliens. >> you always think it's aliens. >> that's true. >>> amazon is taking on pharmacies and u.p.s. and fedex. it has purchased pillpack for $1 billion. that caused stock

in connection with the october 12,1974 ritualistic slaying of a woman identified as 19 year old arliss perry inside stanford memorial church.scott herhold/retired mercury news columnist according to retired mercury news columnist scott herhold, that man is 72 year old steve crawford, shown in this 1964 photo from notre dame high school in los angeles. shown here in a later photo, herhold says steve crawford was a security guard at the church and had disovered perry's body.scott herhold as herhold reported at the time, arliss perry had been violated with an altar candle, stabbed in the back of the head with an ice pick and strangled. the case remained unsolved all these years until a re-examination of dna evidence turned up a suspect. herhold sayscrawford was the primary suspect all along. scott herhold/retired mercury news columnist (rob live) herhold says he had confirmed that the man living here at the coronado apartments was indeed steve crawford, the former secrity guard at the church. sheriff laurie smith was here at the scene erlier telling me it's not clear exactly what happened leadi

santa clara county sheriff, just, again, five minutes ago, as the person, as the man who murdered arliss perryas on october 1974. now we know that steven crawford is a name that we're familiar with, that the sheriff's office was familiar with, because this is a man who they say was the one who shot or i'm sorry, not shot, but he is the one who shot and killed himself early this morning when deputies

arliss perry was found dead inside the stanford memorial church. she had been strangled, stabbed and sexually assaulted. detectives say it was crawford who first reported the body to police while as a security guard but they had trouble getting evidence over the years. finally they got a hit. >> he knew he was a person of interest. he knew that we were continuing the investigation actively right now because our detective had talked to him recently. >> deputies say they were about to serve a search warrant at his san jose apartment yesterday morning when he shot himself. no word on exactly what investigators found inside crawford's apartment. they had to postpone their search while they processed the suicide scene. the sheriff plans to release more details today. >>> jahi mcmath was declared brain-dead in 2013. the oakland girl has been finally taken off life support. jessica flores live in oakland. jessica. >>> reporter: anne that legal and medical battle started right here at oakland at children's hospital. this is where jahi mcmath was declared b

arliss perry had been strangled, stabbed and sexually assaulted. detectives say crawford was working as a campus security guard at the time and he first reported the body to police. investigators couldn't find enough evidence to charge him until recently when they got a hit. >> he knew he was a person of interest. he knew that we were continuing the investigation actively right now because our detective had talked to him recently. >> yesterday morning deputies say they were about to serve a search warrant at crawford's san jose apartment when he shot himself. investigators have not revealed what they found inside crawford's apartment. the sheriff plans to release more details today. >>> it is the first consumer privacy law passed in the country and now people in california will have more of a say over how their personal data is used by tech companies. kpix 5's katie nielson explains exactly what's changing. katie. >> reporter: this is groundbreaking legislation. the new law will overhaul how companies can use personal data collected from users and