Prosecutor charges Santa Clara man with 1987 power line murder

SANTA CLARA, California. – The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced Friday that it has charged a Santa Clara man with murdering a local machinist and sheet metal worker with an electrical cord about 40 years ago.

Prosecutors accuse Joseph Anthony Abeyta of strangling 46-year-old Jesus Ibarra with an electrical cord in April 1987. He is due to appear in court on Friday afternoon.

It was not immediately clear who would represent him from his defense attorney.

Evidence showed the two men knew each other and that Abeyta may have stolen Ibarra's gold necklace, a ring and his car, which was found burned near the suspect's Peach Court home, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Ibarra was found dead by family members in his apartment on Nordale Avenue in San Jose. His car, which was burned out inside, was discovered by police in Peach Court the day before his discovery.

The Santa Clara County Coroner concluded that Ibarra died as a result of blunt force trauma to the neck.

No suspect was identified at the time and the case stalled until DNA evidence was tested this year that linked Abeyta to Ibarra's body and other locations at the crime scene, prosecutors said, but they did not provide further details.

County records also showed that a month after the death, Abeyta lived in Peach Court, less than a block from where Ibarra's car was found.