Who was Frank Lewis McClure? DNA under victim's fingernails helped solve cold case of woman's murder in 1991

2023-08-02 17:53

The mother of three allegedly 'fought so hard' that most of her fingernails were broken, according to Seaside Police chief

SEASIDE, CALIFORNIA: DNA discovered under a murder victim's fingernails in Northern California helped police solve a 32-year-old case this week. The results matched the profile of a criminal identified as Frank Lewis McClure in the Combined DNA Index System database, reports Fox News. Vicki Johnson, who was 34 at the time of her death on January 3, 1991, was discovered in Seaside's Sabado Park close to a playground after being bitten all over her body, strangled to death, and set on fire, according to Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges.

"In those days there was a lot of gang violence but this one shocked everyone - she wasn't associated with gangs... and to be killed the way that she was," Borges said to the outlet on Tuesday, August 1. The mother of three allegedly "fought so hard" that most of her fingernails were broken, according to Seaside Police Chief.

Who is Frank Lewis McClure?

Frank Lewis McClure was a Seaside, California resident who died in 2021 at the age of 77. He was recognized by Seaside Police as the assailant of Vicki Johnson, a 34-year-old Seaside mother of three whose murder case had gone unresolved for more than 32 years. Johnson's DNA matched McClure's DNA profile in the Combined DNA Index System database due to a previous felony conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon. The motive for Johnson's murder is still unknown, as per Monterey Herald.

'He had been to prison for assaults'

McClure had been convicted of multiple violent offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence against women, according to Borges, who spoke to FOX News Digital. The specifics of his crimes are yet to be disclosed. "He has been to prison for assaults with deadly weapons and domestic violence against women but nothing that rose to the level that would alarm or alert us that this guy would be engaged with murder," Borges stated. "He was pretty well known in the community, not so much as a great person, but his family was well known and everyone was fairly surprised."

According to Borges, Johnson battled crack addiction in her final years. "Was [the case not investigated fully] because of the lifestyle she was living? Because she was involved in drugs? Either way, I think it's a failure." According to Borges, Seaside now has 32 unsolved homicides.