Sacramento mother was stabbed 13 times as baby watched. Police make arrest in 1980 cold case
Water leaking from a 27-year-old Sacramento mother’s apartment frustrated residents who called the apartment manager to complain.
The manager arrived at the two-bedroom apartment in the Valley Hi / North Laguna neighborhood to investigate. But it wasn’t just water that greeted the manager of the Rangewood West apartments in August 1980.
A baby crawled amid knocked over furniture scattered through a blood-spattered apartment that apparently bore signs of a struggle. An assailant had scrawled an offensive racial slur over the bathroom door and vanity mirror, authorities said.
Helen Terry, the mother, was found next to an overflowing bathtub with 13 stab wounds on her chest, back, thigh and abdomen area, according to The Sacramento Bee’s reporting in 1980. Police at the time theorized Terry, who is Black, desperately fought her assailant who dragged her to the bathroom, previous reporting said.
On Wednesday, the Sacramento Police Department announced the arrest of 81-year-old Robert Terry on suspicion of Helen Terry’s homicide at the apartments on Wyndham Drive. The Rancho Cordova resident was arrested Friday and is being held without bail in the downtown Sacramento County Main Jail, according to the jail records.
Investigative leads had dried up in Helen Terry’s homicide until 2016, when an investigator reopened the case under an initiative to investigate cold cases.
Police said DNA found at the scene “pointed” to a suspect named Robert Terry, 81. But it still wasn’t enough to arrest Terry, police said in a news release.
Investigators partnered with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office to reexamine the case. Through “advanced investigative methods,” investigators found “new information” that provided “necessary evidence” to arrest Terry, the release said.
Officer Anthony Gamble, a spokesman for the Police Department, referred questions about those methods and evidence to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, declined to answer questions because the case is still “pending.”
Helen Terry had believed her son to be fathered by Robert Terry, something he disputed, according to the release. Both were involved in a paternity lawsuit to determine the son’s father.
Gamble said it is still unclear if Terry fathered the child and what the relationship was between the suspect and victim.
Terry appeared Monday for his arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court, but the hearing was postponed, according to court records. He is now scheduled to appear Thursday for his arraignment.
“The Sacramento Police Department remains committed to seeking justice for victims of violent crime, no matter how much time has passed,” police said in a statement.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Police Department at 916-808-5471 or the Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 11:53 AM.
