SAN DIEGO, CA — A man has been convicted of first-degree murder for the slaying of a woman found beaten and strangled on a Scripps Ranch hillside more than 35 years ago.
Randall Oyler, 65, was found guilty by a downtown San Diego jury on Tuesday of killing Margaret Orozco Jackson, whose body was discovered on July 11, 1990 off Scripps Ranch Boulevard, where Scripps Ranch High School would later be built.
Oyler faces up to 25 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced, which is currently scheduled to happen next month.
Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg told jurors that a woman walking to work on July 11 spotted a length of rope on the sidewalk, which led down the hill to Jackson's body. The rope was wrapped twice around the victim's neck, the prosecutor said.
Oyler, who was 29 years old on the day Jackson's body was discovered, was not identified as a suspect until DNA testing conducted decades later linked him to DNA found beneath the victim's fingernails, as well as from other areas of her body, the prosecutor said.
Oyler was already in custody for an alleged probation violation when he was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of murdering Jackson.
Lindberg said that while in custody, Oyler was placed in a cell with an undercover jail operative posing as an inmate.
In video clips played in court, the two men can be heard discussing why Oyler was arrested.
At one point, Oyler says, "She scratched me."
In another clip, the operative asks Oyler if he "just left her there" and Oyler responds that he "threw her down a hill."
His defense attorney, Kara Oien, said none of the statements her client made amounted to confessions or admissions to murdering Jackson. She also argued that the presence of his DNA did not prove he necessarily had any involvement in her death.
Oyler remains in custody without bail.
— City News Service
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