A cold case in the North County may be solved. A man is under arrest in Mexico, accused in the 2001 rape and murder of a Carlsbad woman.
Retired psychiatrist, Gladys Conrad, 84 was raped and strangled in her her downtown Carlsbad By The Sea retirement village apartment in August 2001.
The U.S. Marshal's office announced Monday the arrest of Alejandro Fernandez. Fernandez was taken into custody in Mexico City on January 23, 2009. He is now awaiting extradition back to the U.S. and is believed to be 30 years old.
A friend found Conrad's body in September 2001 in her apartment after she missed her weekly bridge game. An autopsy determined she had been sexually assaulted and choked to death sometime between 10 p.m. Aug. 31 and 10 a.m. the next day, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Police said there was no signs of forced entry. The building then and now has tight security - with round the clock video surveillance and guards.
Police had no leads in the Carlsbad case until April 2004, when a national DNA database showed that a sample of the Carlsbad suspect's DNA matched DNA for an unsolved Los Angeles attempted rape case, according to the North County Times.
