A 14-time convicted murderer that is on death row at San Quentin State Prison has been charged with murder in connection with the 1998 strangling death of a 22-year-old woman in Utah.
Chester Turner, who killed and raped women across Los Angeles in the 1980s and ’90s, was traced back to the Utah killing by DNA testing, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
Three children flagged down a police officer after finding a woman’s body with a scarf around her neck behind a business in the area of 165 East and 900 South in Salt Lake City on Sept. 24, 1998.
An autopsy revealed that she died by strangulation. Prosecutors also say she was sexually assaulted during the attack.
She was later identified as Itisha Camp.
Prosecutors say DNA samples on Camp’s scarf matched that of Turner.
Turner was on parole in 1998 from auto theft and drug sale convictions and was in Utah at the time of Camp’s death. Now, he’s officially been connected to the slaying of the 22-year-old in the form of a murder charge.
“It must have been profoundly difficult for Ms. Camp’s family and loved ones over the last 25 years, not knowing if the suspect in her murder was still out in the public. We hope the filing of this charge brings some relief to Ms. Camp’s loved ones and our entire community, knowing that the defendant is already behind bars,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We appreciate the dedicated work of Salt Lake City Police detectives who pursued this cold case until the necessary investigative work had been done that could lead to this charge being filed. All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
If found guilty, it would become Turner’s 15th murder conviction. All of his 14 convictions have come from slayings in Los Angeles County.
Turner was convicted on 10 murder charges in 2010 and four more in 2014.
Most of his victims have been sex workers, including Camp, according to prosecutors. One of his victims was six months pregnant.
No court dates have been set.
