Cold Case Arrest: Accused East Bay Killer Tracked To Arizona

FREMONT, CA — The arrest last year of accused serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo — identified through DNA as the Golden State Killer, according to investigators — gained international attention. Paying close attention was other law enforcement officers including a cold case detective in the Fremont Police Department. Now, following the path laid out by the Golden State Killer team last year, a 28-year-old "brutal" murder has been solved, police announced.

A Chandler, Arizona man, 52-year-old Russell Anthony Guerrero, has been arrested and awaits extradition to California. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has charged him with murder.

On Dec. 17, 1990, the Fremont Police Department received a report of a missing person. Jack Upton had not shown up to work for several days. Officers went to the 30-year-old man's apartment and found his body. Police called it "a brutal homicide" when announcing the arrest.

Upton’s vehicle was missing from the apartment complex’s parking lot. A week later, the stolen Nissan 300 ZX was found abandoned in a parking lot in Thousand Oaks, some 350 miles south of Upton’s apartment. Fremont detectives and CSI’s traveled to Thousand Oaks to collect and process the vehicle for evidence.

Blood located inside both Upton’s apartment and the stolen Nissan were analyzed. The blood samples matched and belonged to an unknown person believed to be the suspect.

When more advanced DNA testing became available, the suspect’s blood was tested and a full male DNA profile was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, but no match was made.

Fremont Police have had a dedicated Cold Case Homicide Detective since 2016. The detective focuses on cases with the highest probability of being solved with fresh leads and new forensic technology. According to a release from the police department, "The primary mission is to give a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves and to give answers and a sense of closure to the loved ones of every murder victim and missing person."

Following the arrest in the Golden State Killer case, Fremont's cold case detective contacted Parabon NanoLabs, the same lab that identified DeAngelo. The suspect DNA from the Jack Upton murder was processed and compared against existing genealogical DNA profiles which Parabon NanoLabs had access to. The evidence led to Guerrero, who had never been contacted or interviewed in connection with the homicide investigation.

Guerrero was tracked to Arizona. In October 2018, detectives from the Fremont Police Department conducted surveillance on Guerrero and were able to obtain a DNA sample from him. When it was compared to the blood evidence from Upton’s apartment and vehicle, it matched.

The case was presented to the DA's office on Jan. 17. Guerrero was charged with murder and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken into custody on Tuesday by Fremont Police detectives with the assistance of Tempe and Chandler Police Department apprehension teams.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is assisting with Guerrero's extradition to California for prosecution.

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— All Images via Fremont Police