MIDVALE, Utah, Nov. 26, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Investigators for Unified Police say they have solved a decade-old cold case homicide.
According to a statement by UPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Melody Gray, detectives working the cold case unit recently made arrests in the January 2009 murder of 62-year-old Midvale resident Lester Lloyd Janise.
Janise, a respected spiritual leader in the Native American community and a Vietnam veteran, was found dead in his Midvale apartment, at 7895 South Candlestick Lane, the afternoon of January 13, 2009.
The cause of death was listed as ligature strangulation.
Police say Janise was living alone, but had recently returned from visiting South Dakota and had company from out of state prior to his death.
Janise’s 2002 white Ford Windstar mini-van and other valuables were missing at the time his body was discovered.
Investigators ultimately determined Janise had been killed a couple of weeks prior to being found.
Salt Lake City Sheriff Rosie Rivera and District Attorney Sim Gill have called a press conference for Tuesday at 1 p.m., where they will join detectives in discussing the closing of the 10-year-old cold case.
