Case closed in Laguna

It happened long enough ago for most to put it right out of their

minds. But the homicide of 22-year-old Ronald Jay Murphy has been

fresh on the mind of Laguna Beach Police Det. Paul Litchenberg for

quite some time.

The case was almost as old as the victim, but the officer has been

traveling and finding and losing suspects for the past few years.

The obvious suspect didn’t pan out. In 2002, they were on the

trail of a serial killer who had a history of finding his victims in

gay bars, hitting them over the head with toilet-tank covers and

robbing them.

Murphy allegedly met his murderer in a gay bar, went back to the

Inn at Laguna, was hit over the head with a toilet-tank cover and

then robbed.

But apparently, this was just a coincidence. The serial killer’s

DNA didn’t match, but soon word came from Michigan that a man named

James Paul Snider, 48, who was a match, was in custody and was about

to come face-to-face with his old demons.

After years of searching, Litchenberg and Sgt. Jason Kravetz, who

had worked on the case back in 1983, went down to have a chat with

him. His appearance had changed dramatically since 1983, but

apparently the memory of his actions were still strong. After about

20 minutes of questioning, he began talking about Murphy’s death.

They had done it. They had a confession and Murphy’s family could

soon have closure.

Of course, the work isn’t done yet. The police still need a

conviction, and then, well then they still have six more cold-case

homicides to delve into, and let’s hope Litchenberg is one of the

officers on them.