Crime & Safety

Imprisoned Man Charged For 1983 Murder

A San Jose man already convicted of murder has been charged with the 1983 rape and murder of Tara Marowski.

SAN JOSE, CA — A San Jose man who is in prison for murdering a woman was charged in another murder case from 1983, the Santa Clara County District Attorney announced on Friday.

67-year-old Christopher Holland was arraigned for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Tara Marowski 39 years later - the second time he's been charged for this crime.

In 2015, Holland was facing consolidated charges for two murder cases, but prosecutors were forced to drop the murder of Marowski after a judge severed the cases. He's currently serving life without parole for the murder of Cynthia Munoz.

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In the Munoz trial, the accounts of four other woman who allege Holland had sexually assaulted or strangled them were used as evidence.

"With this prosecution comes a message that you will hear often from me and this Office as we scour old cases for new evidence: we do not forget violent crimes and we do not forget victims," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. "We never gave up on Tara Marowski."

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According to the court filing, in March 1983, Marowski was last seen leaving a bar in San Jose with Holland before her body was found five days later in the back seat of her car, partially clothed.
New breakthroughs in DNA forensics allowed prosecutors to conclude Holland's DNA was on the victim through "probabilistic genotyping."

Holland is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. in Department 24.


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