DNA Implicates 1994 South Bay Cold Case Kidnapping Suspect: DA

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A convicted sex offender has been charged in connection with a 1994 cold case kidnapping after DNA evidence implicated him in the crime, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday in a news release.

Thomas John Loguidice, now 65, was indicted by a Santa Clara County Dec. 14 on one charge of kidnapping with the intent to commit robbery, the DA's office said.

Loguidice is accused of attacking a 21-year-old Westfield Oakridge Mall employee when she opened her store some 29 years ago.

The grand jury found that "the crime involved the use of a deadly weapon, the threat of great bodily harm, and a high degree of callousness," the DA's office said.

Loguidice's arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday.

DNA collected from the 1994 crime scene matched Loguidice in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Loguidice was in the CODIS after being convicted in 2012 of the sexual abuse of a child in San Benito County.

He is currently serving a 40-year sentence for that case, the DA's office said.

The 21-year-old female victim was the manager of the mall's President Tuxedo store who was preparing to open the store before 10 a.m. when Loguidice entered the showroom area and forced her into the back storage room at knifepoint, the DA's office said.

There, he placed the victim on the ground, bound her wrists, and tied her to a pipe, the DA's office said.

"After taking a small amount of cash from the register in the showroom, Loguidice returned to the storage area and sexually assaulted the bound and restrained woman before fleeing on foot," the DA's office said.

The San Jose Police Department exhausted several leads, and the case eventually went cold.

Loguidice could not be indicted for the alleged sexual assault because the statute of limitations for that crime expired in 2000, the DA's office said.

"We don't forget victims and we don't forgive violent crime," DA Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

"Our message to our community is that this Office will use advancing DNA forensics, detective work, and determination to seek justice. Our message to violent criminals is: "Don't do it. You won't get away with it."