A technology chief executive who was arrested at JFK airport last year in connection with the alleged strangulation of his roommate’s girlfriend, Laurie Houts, in 1992, has been freed for a third time.
A Santa Clara County, California judge last week threw out charges in a deadly 30-year love triangle allegedly involving 59-year-old John Woodward, citing double jeopardy, according to KTVU.
The CEO of ReadyTech, an online training company, had been tried twice for the crime in the 1990s, but both trials ended in a hung jury and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Woodward then moved to the Netherlands to enjoy his freedom.
But in 2021, new advances in forensic evidence linked his DNA to the rope used as a murder weapon.
He was arrested at New York City’s Kennedy Airport after flying back to the United States last summer.
Woodward was accused of using the rope to strangle Houts, 25, in her car after she left her job at Adobe Systems in Mountain View.
Laurie Houts was strangled to death in 1992. John Woodward has been tried and dismissed for the offense three times. Mountain View Police Department
Prosecutors plan to appeal a judge’s decision to remove John Woodward for a third time. Mountain View Police Department
Woodward’s fingerprints were found on the side of the car in the 1990s.
Prosecutors alleged that the chief technology officer was openly jealous of his relationship with his roommate and had no alibi.
Prosecutors announced they would challenge Judge Shella Deen’s decision to dismiss the charges.
“We are appealing the judge’s decision because we want the defendant to be held accountable for murder,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen was quoted as saying in a statement.
The woman’s friends and family told the Bay Area Fox affiliate that they will continue to fight for justice in the case.
Friends and family of murder victim Laurie Houts add flowers to her memorial.KTVU
“The appeals process is how you actually change the system, and that’s really what needs to happen,” said Cindy Levers, Houts’ sister. “So we’re going to fight through this appeals process and hopefully get some justice.”
“We were disappointed that we couldn’t be in the courtroom and she couldn’t tell us to our face when the decision was made. It all came through emails,” Marilyn Reiss, a friend of Houts, told the station.
“If this judge can make this decision on our case, then all cold cases where DNA evidence has been found later on, after decades of families waiting, then their cases will also be in jeopardy,” Reiss said.
“There are so many of us who love Laurie who will remember and continue to work and bring light to this case until justice is done for Laurie.”
Woodward did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn