Convicted Murderer Charged In Fremont '86 Cold Case Double Murder

FREMONT, CA — Last month marked 32 years since the bodies of best friends Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey were found by the side of Mill Creek Road. Last Friday, David Emery Misch, now 57, was charged with their murders.

Detectives followed thousands of tips, but the their murders eventually lapsed into the Cold Case files. Their case lingered longer than either of them lived. Xavier was only 18 when she died. Duey was 20.

The pair was found by a motorcyclist shortly after midnight on Feb. 2, 1986, about a mile east of Mission Boulevard. They had been shot and stabbed.

Xavier’s car was found parked at Mission Valley Shopping Center, some six miles away. The women had attended a birthday dinner for a family member earlier in the evening. They were last seen alive at 8 p.m. when they stopped at a convenience store in the area of Farwell Drive and Mowry Avenue. Their purses and IDs have never been found.

A shaken community quickly raised $35,000 as a reward to find their killer, while posters about the pair plastered the area.

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When Fremont Police created in the Crimes Against Persons Unit to focus on cold case homicides and missing persons in 2016, the Xavier/Duey case became a top priority.

"Cold Case Detective Jacob Blass began to re-examine case files, as well as several pieces of evidence, including those that had been processed for DNA in recent years," Fremont Police report in a written release. "The results of the evidence identified the main suspect as David Emery Misch. Misch lived in the area at the time and was a known commercial burglar and drug user. We do not believe the women had any history or contact with Misch, prior to the incident."

Misch is in prison for a 1989 Alameda County homicide.

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Blass presented his case to the District Attorney’s Office in August 2017. Detective re-interviewed witnesses, family members and Misch in following months. Last Friday, the DA's office filed murder charges.

Misch is serving an 18 years to life sentence. He will be arraigned for the Fremont murders later this week.

“The Department is grateful to be able to provide this level of closure and consolation to the victims and our community. Generations of investigators have carried this case and the interest of the families has never faded from their priority over time,” Chief Richard Lucero.

The families of Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey are grateful that their daughters' killer may finally face justice.

“The Xavier and Duey families wish to thank the Fremont Police Department and all of the officers and detectives who worked countless hours during the past 32 years on our daughters’ case, the families said in a joint statement. "We have been in constant contact with them, so we know how deeply they care and how hard they work. We wish to extend our appreciation to our many friends in the community who supported us, stood by us, and prayed for us during those most difficult years. Numerous unexpected acts of kindness sustained us. We now wait for justice and hope you will continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.”

-All images via Fremont Police