Arrest made in 35-year-old Placer County cold case

The Placer County Sheriff's Office announced Monday afternoon an arrest has been made related to the kidnapping and murder of Cindy Wanner. Wanner, a 35-year-old mother of two, was kidnapped from a Granite Bay home in the middle of the day on Nov. 25, 1991, and her 11-month-old child was found hours later, crying and still strapped in a high chair at the kitchen table. Wanner's remains were found three weeks later in a remote area in Foresthill. A video the Sheriff's Office showed detailing the aspects of the case confirmed Wanner was strangled to death. According to Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo, the area where Wanner was found was a place "where pathologists at the time feel like she was kept alive for some time after. She hadn't been left in the Foresthill area for three weeks." "Arguably, this is one of the most heinous, notorious cold cases we have here in Placer County," Woo stated. Woo confirmed members of the Cold Case Investigation Team arrested the individual responsible for the crime on April 24, with the assistance of the Bullhead City Police Department in Arizona. The individual has been identified as 64-year-old James Lawhead Jr., based on a DNA match made earlier this year. In 1980, Lawhead broke into a Sacramento County home, beat a 71-year-old woman unconscious and raped and sodomized her 11-year-old granddaughter. Woo shared when Lawhead was sentenced, a psychiatrist from the state classified him as "a mentally-disordered sex offender who was not amenable to treatment." Lawhead was sentenced to 19 years in prison for that crime but was released after serving 11. According to the Sheriff's video, the kidnapping and murder of Wanner occurred 10 months after his release. Woo confirmed there is no reason to believe Wanner and Lawhead knew each other before the crime. Additionally, Lawhead was arrested in Lincoln in 2005 for a weapons charge and disappeared shortly thereafter. Woo stated it was believed Lawhead assumed the identity of "Vincent Reynolds" at that time. "We explored all possibilities of what could have happened, whether he was still living under a fake identity, whether he had left the country or whether he was even deceased," Woo said, confirming the search including records across the country and in Canada. An analyst with the Scottsdale Police Department in Arizona used the Department of Transportation database and found a match on Lawhead's photo. Woo confirmed Lawhead was arrested in the driveway of his Bullhead, Arizona, home the same day the match was made and is being held on charges of kidnapping, murder and being a wanted sex offender. Numerous items of evidence, including multiple loaded firearms and a bag with clothing, $15,000 in cash and a burner phone, were seized from the home. Lawhead's sister, 71-year-old Terry Lynn Lawhead-Steele of San Clemente, was also arrested on April 25 in Lancaster County, South Carolina, as an accessory. Lawhead-Steele was contacted numerous times over the last 20 years in relation to her brother, but she claimed she had not spoken to her brother in more than 20 years. Woo confirmed the investigation revealed Lawhead-Steele owned the Arizona home in which Lawhead resided. During Monday's press conference, Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire confirmed his office has charged Lawhead with murder and two special circumstances for kidnapping as well as rape in the commission of a murder. "The passage of time doesn't mean justice diminishes in importance," Gire stated. "This family has suffered in anguish for 35 years and they deserve some accountability. This was an enormous case that devastated a family and shook a community." Woo added, "Nothing can bring back the loss of their loved one, or even attempt to overcome the trauma they've been through over the last (35) years. We hope this is a small step in the healing process for closure and to bring justice to this case, and we're keeping them all in our thoughts and prayers." Woo reported Lawhead will be extradited to Placer County to face the charges. Gire confirmed the extradition is still to be determined. "... We look forward to his arrival here so we can commence prosecution and give some measure of justice to the family and to the community," Gire said. "I don't use the word closure because I don't really think there is such a thing, but at least there can be some accountability and some finality for the family as they begin to navigate the criminal justice process." Additionally, Woo confirmed his office is urging other law enforcement agencies to check their cold case DNA against Lawhead and work with Placer investigators to piece together a timeline of any additional crimes he may have committed. According to Woo, Lawhead lived in Washington, Oregon and Arizona under an assumed identity.