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.