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SALT LAKE CITY -- More than 20 years after a Utah County woman's murder, a man is back in Utah facing charges related to her death.
Jose Ortiz-Garcia, 55, is charged with murder, aggravated robbery and three counts of aggravated sexual assault in connection with the November 1989 slaying of Lela Rockwell. DNA tests finally linked Ortiz-Garcia to the crime in June.
According to the Deseret News, he was found serving time in a federal prison in South Carolina on an unrelated charge. Ortiz-Garcia was extradited back to Utah and was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Thursday.
Rockwell was homeless at the time of her murder. According to charging documents, she was strangled to death. She also suffered broken ribs, head trauma and other abuse.
