Advances in forensic science technology led to the arrest last weekend of a Bay Area executive suspected of strangling a woman to death 30 years ago in Mountain View, authorities said.
John Kevin Woodward, 58, president and chief executive officer of ReadyTech, was taken into custody Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he was arriving from Amsterdam, according to the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney.
On Monday, he waived extradition. Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker with Santa Clara County's cold case unit explained that Mountain View Police have until July 29 to escort him back to Santa Clara County.
Woodward, suspected in the 1992 death of 25-year-old Laurie Houts, will be arraigned when he arrives, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Houts, a computer engineer, was found dead on Sept. 5, 1992, in her car on Crittenden Lane in Mountain View, near a garbage dump about a mile from her work, authorities said.
The rope used to kill her was still around her neck, and authorities said her footprints were on the windshield interior, showing she struggled with her attacker.
Local
Woodward's fingerprints were found on the outside of Houts' car, but investigators in 1992 were never able to show he was inside the vehicle.
Last year, the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and Mountain View Police Department detectives used new developments in forensic science technology to link Woodward to the rope found around Houts' neck, the district attorney said.
Authorities allege Woodward was openly jealous of Houts and had "an unrequited romantic attachment" to her boyfriend, who was his roommate.
"We believe that [Woodward] was romantically interested in the roommate and we believe he killed her to essentially remove her from that love triangle," said Sergeant David Fisher of the Mountain View Police Department.
It's not the first time Woodward has faced charges in Houts' death. The district attorney said Woodward was tried twice unsuccessfully in the late 1990s in the case, but it was dismissed for insufficient evidence after a jury could not reach a verdict following the second trial.
Woodward moved to the Netherlands after the case was dismissed, authorities said.
"Back then, there was circumstantial evidence that put Mr. Woodward around the car, but changes and advances in forensic science have allowed us at this point to put him inside that vehicle," Deputy District Attorney Baker told NBC Bay Area on Monday.
Baker said that his office charged that case back in January of 2022, but with Woodward living in the Netherlands at the time, they were told the extradition process would take a year or more. Last week, Baker said his office was notified by Homeland Security that Woodward was scheduled on a flight into New York. Soon after, investigators from the Mountain View Police Department and the district attorney's office arrived in New York to arrest Woodward.
"We wouldn’t have filed a case unless we could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, so we’re confident in the evidence, we’re confident in the case absolutely," Baker emphasized.
Woodward is currently being held without bail in New York while awaiting extradition to California.
Remembering Laurie
A few of Houts' close friends and family members went to the Mountain View Police Department on Monday to meet with the investigators who had worked to take a closer look at forensic evidence over the past two years.
Friends and family remembered Houts for being a good friend, for her boundless athleticism, and for her determination in stepping into the computer engineering field at a time when she was one of only a few women graduating from her college program. They have created a college scholarship fund for female student-athletes at Gunderson High School where Houts attended.
"She really loved sports, she was an awesome athlete, even though she was 5 foot tall, she played basketball and also volleyball and softball," said Houts' sister, Cindy.
Cindy described being ecstatic to hear about Woodward's arrest, then feeling the sadness creep in again as she realized none of this brings Laurie back.
"She didn’t get to meet my kids, I probably would have had nieces and nephews now from her," Cindy said.
"I was very proud of her, and she stood her own, whether it was in the classroom or playing co-ed softball, co-ed basketball," said Marilyn, Houts' friend, and college roommate.
Both Cindy and Marilyn watched through the two hung juries years ago. They said they knew of Woodward, but did not know him personally.
"I have really high hopes, it sounds to me like it pretty much definitely proves [Woodward] did this," Cindy said of the new forensic evidence. "And hopefully, this is enough to prove it to the twelve random people they pick."
