Suspect Arrested in Cold Case of Murdered Woman After 28 Years

For the family of Saba Girmai, the process toward justice can now begin.

The Mountain View Police Department and Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that they had arrested and charged Daniel Garcia, 53, with the murder of Girmai 28 years ago.

"Although there is still more investigative work to be done, the successful outcome of this decades-long investigation was only possible through the hard work and dedication of many investigators and law enforcement agencies.  Hopefully this will help bring some closure to Ms. Girmai’s family," Mountain View Police Department Chief Scott S.G. Vermeer said. "We never forget about unsolved murder cases and continuously seek out new technology and new leads to help us solve them."

The 21-year-old Girmai's strangled body had been tossed into a supermarket dumpster in the rear of the Safeway at the Bailey Park Plaza at 570 N. Shoreline Blvd and found by a passerby on Jan. 18, 1985, who reported it to the police.

Over the years, the cold case murder investigation produced no leads.

According to the MVPD however, on Jan. 12, 2010 the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory developed a DNA profile from the victim’s fingernails. The profile matched a convicted offender, Garcia, who had never previously been linked to the death of Girmai.

With this new information, in 2011 the MVPD and the newly-created D.A.’s Cold Case Unit began to reinvestigate the case. 

After being extensively interviewed by a detective and investigator, Garcia was booked for murder on Friday, Jan. 4, Garcia was held without bail. He was arraigned Monday, Jan. 7 in Palo Alto.

"No matter how long ago someone was murdered, we don’t forget about them," said Deputy District Attorney Ted Kajani, head of the Cold Case Unit.

What do you think about this? Did you live in Mountain View in 1985? Do you remember the news? What was the community's reaction? Tell is in comments.

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