FROM:
Karyn Sinunu, Chief Assistant District Attorney
(408) 792-2702

For release on July 6, 2005

ANOTHER COLD CASE SOLVED

On July 6, 2005, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed murder charges against Joseph Edward Scheinuck, 35, for the 1993 Santa Clara slaying of Rafael Verdejo. For Santa Clara Police Detective Sgt. Wahid Kazem, this prosecution represents the culmination of six months of work-submitting evidence for DNA testing, identifying and tracking down a suspect, and assuring that sufficient evidence exists to make conviction likely. For the District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit that participated with Kazem in the final stages of the investigation, this case once again represents the value of inter-agency cooperation. This is the fourth cold-case homicide prosecution this year initiated after collaboration among a police agency, Deputy District Attorney Charles Constantinides and District Attorney Investigator Michael Schembri.