Man denies raping and murdering an Anaheim woman in 1980, but claims he had sex with her – Orange County Register

A New Mexico man on trial for the rape and murder of a 79-year-old woman in Anaheim on Wednesday testified about engaging in what he described as consensual sex with the woman. older woman when he was only 20 years old, but denied any role for her. sexual assault or murder.

Andre William Lepere, now 64 years old, arrested last year after DNA evidence was found on Viola Hagenkord’s body that was linked to him through genetic profiling in genealogical databases.

DNA evidence – taken from semen collected in a rape kit during the initial investigation into the more than 40-year-old murder – showed that Lepere, then 22, had sex with Hagenkord within 24 hours after she was killed, a fact acknowledged by both the prosecution and the defense.

Lepere’s sister lived in the same Anaheim apartment complex as Hagenkord, and Lepere testified that he would chat with Hagenkord – jokingly asking “How are you?” – when he visited the complex.

Hagenkord – born in 1900 and six months after her 80th birthday when she was killed – has moved from her old home in Milwaukee to what her family believes is a safer community in Anaheim closer to them. Neighbors testified that she chatted frequently with other residents and visitors outside her apartment, and appeared lonely.

Lepere – who at the time was juggling multiple relationships and a deteriorating marriage – testified that Hagenkord had twice initiated sexual relations with him. Her family said Hagenkord never remarried after divorcing her husband in 1928.

“She talked about how lonely she was and how she missed her companion and it’s been a long time,” Lepere said during the first day of testimony Wednesday in an Orange County senior courtroom in California. Newport Beach. “She asked me if I would give her a hug and some intimacy.”

According to Lepere, he then had sex with Hagenkord. He told his attorney he had no doubt consent, describing Hagenkord as “giggle” as they walked out of the apartment.

Lepere testified that during their second intimate encounter, she lifted her skirt, he dropped his jeans, and they had sex again. As he left the apartment, Lepere said he was thinking, “This is over, I’m not going to do it again.”

“I think I can avoid her, just don’t see her,” he said.

Lepere testified that he learned of Hagenkord’s death a few days later, when he was returning a tool to a neighbor. He said he didn’t know until her arrest decades later that she had been sexually assaulted and assumed it happened during a break-in.

A worried neighbor who hadn’t seen Hagenkord for several days entered her apartment on February 18, 1980 and discovered her body. She was sexually assaulted and gagged with a pillowcase, suffocating her. Lepere’s attorney noted that the only thing tying Lepere to the scene was the DNA found in her semen.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s when DNA techniques advanced enough that the county crime lab created a DNA profile from his semen collected in Hagenkord’s rape kit. In 2021, that profile is tied to Lepere through advanced genetic testing.

The testimony ended a day before Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex began questioning Lepere in person about his description of the alleged sexual encounters. But prosecutors pushed Lepere over whether he, as a 22-year-old man, found the nearly 80-year-old Hagenkord sexually attractive.

“You’re a woman man, aren’t you?” Alex asked.

“I’m in my 20s, I’ve had a lot of girlfriends, a lot of women have shined for me,” Lepere said.

“A lot of women you turned down,” the prosecutor said.

“Yes,” Lepere replied.

“You didn’t refuse Viola?”

“Yes,” said Lepere.

Lepere admitted in his testimony that some of his arguments with his first wife became real. He described the incidents as he grabbed her hand rather than hit her.

Since leaving Southern California in the 1980s, Lepere has lived a quiet life as a plumber and truck driver in various parts of the country including Washington, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico .

Lepere’s family described him while testifying as a peaceful, devoted family man, although they also acknowledged his heavy drinking habits. Several people – including his current wife, a stepson and a sister – testified that they did not believe Lepere was capable of killing someone.

Lepere’s testimony is expected to continue on Thursday morning.