Cold-case arrest is made
Huntington Beach police Friday arrested a Redding, Calif., man
suspected in the 1987 unsolved murder of a 26-year-old woman found
dead in her Huntington Beach apartment.
Louis Bostich, 44, of Redding, confessed to killing Jami J.
Vitelli, after he contacted local police and indicated he had
information about the murder, police said.
“I don’t know what motivated him to initiate contact with the
police,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Simmons.
Detectives Steve Mack and Tom Gilligan flew to Redding and
interviewed Bostich in person.
Vitelli was last seen at Perq’s bar in downtown Huntington Beach
May 28, 1987, police said. A friend discovered her dead in her
apartment the next day, police said.
Bostich allegedly met Vitelli at the bar that night and followed
her home when she invited him to her apartment, police said. The two
did not know each other before the night they met at the bar, police
said. Bostich was not living in Huntington Beach at the time of the
murder, Simmons said.
The details of the murder haven’t been released, Simmons said.
Investigators are unsure why Bostich chose to come forward now, 18
years after the alleged crime occurred.
“I guess maybe his conscience got the best of him,” Huntington
Beach Police Lt. Craig Junginger said. “After 15 years, you’ve done
almost all you can do and you just wait for breaks to happen.”
Bostich was extradited to Orange County and is being held on
$1-million bail at Orange County Jail. He is scheduled to be
arraigned Sept. 16 in West Justice Center.
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