Herman Lee Hobbs hired Holly Ann Campiglia to do a cold case
Left: Holly Ann Campiglia. Right: Herman Lee Hobbs. (Images via Solano County Sheriff’s Office)
California lawmakers say they have solved the cold case of a woman whose body was discovered in a cornfield more than 40 years ago.
In August 1980, two field workers in Solano County found the body of a woman in a field in unincorporated Dixon, about 20 miles southwest of Sacramento. According to the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, her cause of death was listed as multiple shots to the head and neck, but for more than 10 years she remained unidentified — listed only as “Jane Doe” in county records. Solano County is north of Oakland and southwest of downtown Sacramento.
The victim was identified in 1992 as Holly Ann Campiglia, a 21-year-old from New Jersey, according to the sheriff’s office. In 2021, her family asked the Solano County Sheriff’s Office to review the case and resubmit all original evidence for DNA analysis.
“A few months later, our office received a report from the Serological Research Institute (SERI) stating that male DNA was found on this evidence,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook.
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Officials sent this DNA to another database at the San Mateo, California, crime lab and found that it belonged to someone who already had time to commit a serious crime: Herman Lee Hobbs.
Hobbs, 76, was serving a “significant sentence for a 1975 murder for which he was convicted in Sacramento in 2005,” Solano officials said. Detectives used a warrant to collect new DNA evidence from Hobbs, and that evidence corroborated their findings.
Law enforcement agencies stepped in.
“Late last week, a warrant was issued by a Solano County Superior Court judge, along with a removal order to transfer Hobbs from state prison to the Solano County Jail to face new charges in Campiglia’s murder, including an increase in the Use of a Gun”, the Sheriff’s Office called.
Officials believe Hobbs may have committed other crimes.
“Detectives continue to work with other Northern California authorities to potentially identify and/or solve additional cases that may be Hobbs-related,” the Facebook announcement said.
The Solano County Sheriff’s Office noted that the original deputy investigating the case, Jose “Joe” Cisneros, was killed on the job in 1985, but his “hard work still helps solve cases over 40 years later.” “.
“We are grateful to the Campiglia family for their patience and support, to the labs whose new technology has enabled additional testing of older evidence, and to the staff who have worked tirelessly to end a lifelong wait,” the sheriff’s office said.
The announcement added that the case is still under investigation and information is being gathered from the public.
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https://lawandcrime.com/crime/convicted-murderer-identified-as-suspect-in-1980-cold-case-of-21-year-old-n-j-woman-found-shot-in-the-head-in-california/ Herman Lee Hobbs hired Holly Ann Campiglia to do a cold case
