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Justice Gets a Second Chance: DNA Under Victim’s Nails Convicts Her Killer
Sonia Carmen Herok-Stone was murdered in 1981 and the culprit slipped away. But she made sure from beyond the grave that the law eventually caught up with him.
Newly tested DNA from a cold case has seen a man convicted of a murder that he originally got away with more than 40 years ago.
Sonia Carmen Herok-Stone, 30, was originally from Quebec but was living in Carmel, California in 1981. She was a single mother to a four-year-old girl and worked in sales and merchandising for the legendary jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss.
On October 15th 1981, a friend of Sonia’s called at her home while her little girl was at school around noon and made a terrible discovery. Sonia lay dead on her living room floor, having been strangled with the pair of pantyhose that was still tied around her neck.
Deputy District Attorney for Monterey County Matthew L’Heureux told People magazine: “Her back door was unlocked so we are presuming that is likely how he gained entry. We didn’t find any other signs of forced entry and we don’t think she would have let him in.”
