Suspect identified in woman’s 1976 cold case killing, CA cops say. ‘Finally over’
.png "Karen Percifield was found dead near Aptos Village Park on May 28, 1976, Santa Cruz County deputies said.")
Nearly five decades after a 25-year-old woman was found dead near a California park, a suspect in her killing has been identified, deputies say.
Richard Sommerhalder, who died in 1994, was named a suspect in Karen Percifield’s 1976 slaying, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 3 Facebook post.
Case grows cold
A woman’s body was found near Aptos Village Park on May 28, 1976, deputies said.
Through an investigation, it was determined the woman, identified as Percifield, died by homicide, deputies said.
Percifield traveled from Ohio to visit a sister, according to a 1976 Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper clipping.
Though detectives collected DNA evidence, it didn’t create any leads, deputies said.
“No arrests were made, and the case went cold,” deputies said.
DNA evidence tested
Then, in 2019, detectives sent evidence to the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services for testing, deputies said.
DOJ investigators created a DNA profile, which was uploaded into a DNA database, deputies said.
However, there were no matches, deputies said.
Deputies said they then looked to forensic genetic genealogy to push the case forward, partnering with the DOJ and Othram Inc.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.
Deputies submitted additional DNA evidence to Othram in 2023, the company said in a news release.
There, Othram said their scientists created a “comprehensive DNA profile.”
This profile was then used to create new leads for law enforcement, which led detectives to identify Sommerhalder as the suspect in Percifield’s killing, the company said.
‘Bit of closure’
Sommerhalder was a person of interest during an initial investigation, deputies said.
At the time, though, investigators did not have enough evidence for an arrest, according to deputies.
Sommerhalder was arrested in connection with two separate killings four months after Percifield’s death, deputies said.
After his conviction in the death of two women, Sommerhalder was given two consecutive five-year to life prison sentences in 1977, according to a Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper clipping.
During Sommerhalder’s sentencing hearing, Superior Court Judge Harry Brauer urged that the 30-year-old “be kept in prison for as long as it is legally possible to keep him there,” the newspaper reported.
Sommerhalder was paroled after serving 8.5 years in prison, moved out of state and died years later, deputies said.
“While he was not held accountable for this tragic murder, we are proud to give the family of Karen Percifield this bit of closure,” deputies said.
Percifield’s sister echoed the sentiment in a statement shared by deputies.
“I was so young then and wasn’t equipped to understand everything and I’m just so grateful it’s finally over,” her sister said.
Percifield’s daughter said she was grateful to detectives for “not giving up.”
“This has been weighing on me my whole life, not having a memory of my mom and just wondering who it could have been, this just means so much,” she said in her statement. “I’m just so grateful you didn’t give up.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Suspect identified in woman’s 1976 cold case killing, CA cops say. ‘Finally over’."
