50-year-old Andrew Sanford pleaded not guilty in murder case of Richard Swanson 32 years ago

The Tahoe Daily Tribune reports 50-year-old Andrew Sanford of the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael entered the plea during an arraignment Friday in Placerville. He was arrested late last month.

Sixteen-year-old Richard Swanson was working alone at a Shell station in August 1980 when he was bound and gagged. He suffocated on the gag following a robbery.

The robber took his wallet and $190, which police say was money from his first paycheck. Also taken was $761 from the station's cash drawer.

Clifford Safranski, El Dorado County deputy public defender, says Sanford "adamantly denies" killing Swanson. Safranski thinks the prosecution's case will include a new genetic link.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20353336/man-pleads-not-guilty-1980-tahoe-slaying

Jeff Munson, 04/02/2012

On March 28, 2012 Andrew Sanford, 50, of Carmichael, was arrested and booked in the Sacramento County Jail for the murder of Richard Swanson. The robbery/homicide occurred on Aug. 14, 1980 in South Lake Tahoe at what was then the Shell Gas Station located at the “Y” on the corner of Lake Tahoe Blvd and Emerald Bay Road.

The arrest is the result of an ongoing investigation by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, The California Department of Justice, and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, according to a press statement.

South Lake Tahoe Police have been in contact with Richard’s parents, Ron and Sharon Swanson, who have provided the following statement: “We want to thank the investigators, South Lake Tahoe Police Department and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office for pursuing this case and making this arrest possible. We have waited for over thirty one years for this day, but we never gave up hope. It has been a long wait, but God told us to be patient and justice would come.”

This arrest is an important step in the criminal justice process, and specific details related to the crime and the investigation are not being released at this time. The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office is in charge of the prosecution, according to the press statement.

On August 14, 1980 Richard Swanson, who was 16, was murdered during a robbery at a "Y" gas station. His body was bound and gagged, his death resulted from suffocation.

It was December 2006, when Swanson's parents went unannounced to the South Lake Tahoe City Council, asking local authorities to step up their investigation so they could have family closure.

Ron and Sharon Swanson have since praised law enforcement for re-activating the cold case. Though the leads have been few and far between, the Secret Witness program remained committed to solving the crime.
A $10,000 reward was offered through Secret Witness for information that would help solve the case and lead to the arrest and conviction.

The case particularly hits home for former South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman Kathay Lovell, who remembers the Swansons making an unannounced visit to the council in December 2006 meeting.

Speaking with the family before the meeting, Lovell recalls the Swansons demeanor as both "sad and frustrated" because ...

http://carsonnow.org/story/04/0/2012/south-lake-tahoe-authorities-make-arrest-31-year-murder-case-richard-swanson



SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Cal. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) – A California man is under arrest for a South Lake Tahoe, CA murder from 1980.

Andrew Sanford, now 50, was arrested Wednesday. He’s charged in the August 14th, 1980 robbery and homicide at what was then a Shell Gas Station on the corner of Lake Tahoe Blvd and Emerald Bay Road, resulting in the death of Richard Swanson.

Richard’s parents, Ron and Sharon who have provided the following statement:

“We want to thank the investigators, South Lake Tahoe Police Department and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office for pursuing this case and making this arrest possible. We have waited for over thirty one years for this day, but we never gave up hope. It has been a long wait, but God told us to be patient and justice would come.”

Sanford is being held in the Sacramento County Jail.

Police are not releasing any details of what led to the arrest of Sanford.

http://www.mynews4.com/news/story/Arrest-made-in-1980-South-Lake-Tahoe-Murder/WkNgq4jlfk2PO-r2NdWEgA.cspx