DNA evidence implicates current CUCF inmate in 2011 Calif. cold case homicide
Robert Stevens
Managing editor
1-12-2017
GUNNISON—A DNA match has connected an inmate at the Central Utah Correctional Facility (CUCF) with a 2011 cold case murder.
Prosecutors in Barstow, Calif. have filed a homicide charge against William Carl Schick, 53, in connection with the 2011 killing of Lisa Marie Talarico.
Schick is serving a sentence at the CUCF for rape, but Barstow authorities say they are forwarding a warrant to the Utah Department of Corrections to have Schick extradited to California to be prosecuted for Talarico’s murder.
The body of 38-year-old Talarico was found dumped in a desert area near a Days Inn in the Lenwood area of Barstow, Calif. in April 2011.
Barstow area detectives say they looked into more than 25 persons of interest during the investigation, traveling as far as Missouri and Oklahoma to question some truck drivers who were at the scene.
In an interview early in the investigation, Barstow Detective Keith Libby said, “We obtained records and evidence out of each truck that may have DNA of the persons of interest. Some of those items have been sent to the crime lab, but we have nothing yet.”
But on Dec. 2, Libby was notified that further analysis of the evidence gathered at the murder scene revealed a DNA profile that matched a profile in the National DNA Index System from a 1985 Ohio rape.
Schick had been convicted of the rape and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He had been released from prison in Ohio in November 2010.
Libby said he believes Schick was traveling through Barstow on his way to the Chicago area during the time of the murder.
Two days after the discovery of Talarico’s dead body, Schick was arrested in Nephi for raping a motel clerk.
“During the Utah investigation a sample of Schick’s DNA was collected and also submitted to the National DNA Index System,” police said in a statement.
Subsequently, Schick was convicted of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and incarcerated at CUCF.
Libby and detective Andrew Reyes of Barstow traveled to Gunnison on Dec. 19 to interview Schick.
“After conducting further investigation and interviewing Schick, the detectives discovered further evidence implicating Schick as the person responsible for Lisa Talarico’s murder,” investigators said.
Libby said Talarico’s mother still calls him to see if police have any new leads.
“I’ve never been able to give her any good news,” Libby said.
Until now that is.
“She was ecstatic and crying over the phone when I called her to let her know,” Libby said.
