Image of suspect Hillery Marcus Dupleasis. Credit: LASD
On Sunday, Oct. 13, 1985, Victim David Evans was brutally beaten to death inside his residence in Claremont, Calf. His body was discovered by Claremont Police Officers when neighbors called to report a possible burglary. At the time of the murder, the 57-year-old victim was the vice president at Pomona First Federal Bank and former Pomona Unified School District Superintendent. Evans was divorced and lived by himself. In 1985, the investigation had few leads, and no suspects were identified.
In 2006, advancements in forensic technology prompted investigators to re-analyze evidence discovered at the scene of the crime. The analysis led to the identification of Hillery Marcus Dupleasis as a person of interest. Over the next several years, the ongoing investigation failed to further implicate Dupleasis to the case. Investigators were also unable to establish that Dupleasis resided in California at the time of the crime.
In 2020, detectives Shaun McCarthy and Bill Marsh re-investigated the case with the help of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Scientific Services Bureau and they were able to link Dupleasis, a person of interest identified in 2006, as the suspect in the murder of Evans.
Investigators were able to definitively determine Dupleasis lived in the San Gabriel Valley during the time of the murder and were also able to link Dupleases to the victim’s 1980 Chevrolet Monza that was stolen immediately after his murder and abandoned approximately two hours later.
Dupleasis is currently incarcerated in a New York State Prison, serving an extensive sentence for an unrelated murder. He will be eligible for parole in that case, in 2033.
On May 2, 2022, first-degree murder charges were filed against Dupleasis by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The 36-year-old cold case murder was solved by detectives assigned to the Homicide Bureau’s Unsolved Unit. Detectives worked closely with investigators from the Claremont Police Department, New York State Police, and the New York Department of Corrections.
Republished courtesy of LA County Sheriff's Department.