More than three decades after 46-year-old Lamar Vaughn was gunned down near 15th and Potrero streets — near what is now the Potrero Center — authorities believe they have finally apprehended the alleged killer.
While conducting a welfare check on the 1000 block of Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria, Calif., on Wednesday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies “contacted” 70-year-old James Francis Edwards. The deputies ran a records check and discovered that Edwards was wanted for Vaughn’s homicide.
Edwards remains in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff as of Friday, and is waiting to be transferred to San Francisco County Jail.
The shooting purportedly took place at the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality at 6:25 p.m. on Nov. 5, 1990. When officers arrived, Vaughn was suffering from a gunshot wound and later died at the hospital.
Investigators identified Edwards as the suspect, but they never were able to catch him, as “investigators learned that Edwards used multiple identities and likely fled the state,” police said.
“We would like to thank the members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in locating and apprehending Edwards and helping return him to San Francisco where he will be held to answer for the criminal charges,” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
How did you determine he may have been in Santa Barbara the whole time, or is that just a guess?