Suspicious in the murder of the California church seems to kill oneself

A man linked by DNA to a ritualistic church in 1974, killed on the campus of Stanford University, apparently was killed Thursday after knocking on his door for a search warrant.

Steve Crawford, 72, died in his apartment, according to authorities.

Crawford was a security guard who claimed to have found Arlis Perry's body inside the Stanford Memorial Church, a university chapel. campus, in October 1974. Perry had beaten with his new husband and had come to church at night to pray, reported KPIX-TV.

Perry was found with an icepick in the back of his head and was naked under the waist. She had been molested with a 3-foot altar candle and another candle had been placed between her breasts, investigators reported.

"Crawford was a person of interest since the beginning of the investigation," said Laurie Smith. . "Our detectives have continued to gather additional information about this tragic puzzle and we have recently been able to link Crawford's DNA to the crime scene."

The sheriff's police and deputies went to Crawford's apartment Thursday morning. MPs spoke to the resident through the closed entrance door, but when they entered the apartment, they saw a man with a handgun and immediately retreated, said a statement from the Department of San Jose police

"The statement said.

When the deputies returned to the apartment they found the dead man, said the police.

— [19659003] History by the Associated Press

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