OAKLAND, Calif. - The man arrested in connection to a brutal 1989 rape and attempted murder has pleaded no contest.
The suspect, John Harris Jr. is charged with one count of attempted premeditated murder and one charge of aggravated mayhem. He faces 19 years to life in prison, and is scheduled for sentencing on Oct.3.
Harris, 55, was arrested in February 2021 after investigators used DNA evidence to link him to the crime, which investigators described as "grisly" and "heinous."
Cold case
Dig deeper:
The crime occurred on Saturday, Feb. 4, 1989 at approximately 4:15 a.m. when an unknown suspect broke into an apartment in the 3100 block of Casa De Campo while the resident was asleep in her bedroom. The perpetrator allegedly took a knife from the kitchen, went into the bedroom, put the knife to her throat, raped her, strangled her, and stabbed her multiple times in her upper body.
He then allegedly slit her throat , narrowly missing her jugular, all while she was fighting back and negotiating with him to leave, which he eventually did, according to police.
She was then able to call for help.
Investigators were unable to identify a suspect at the time. Advances in DNA technology over the subsequent three decades allowed investigators to revisit and resubmit evidence from the crime scene. A DNA match was identified in 2020.
Detectives from the San Mateo Police Department, in partnership with investigators from the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, arrested Harris in Manteca, California on Feb. 24, 2021. He was booked into San Mateo County Jail, where bail was set at $500,000.
Investigators determined that at the time of the assault, Harris lived in the same neighborhood as the victim, but was not known to her.