A 70-year-old man has been arrested for a crime that happened more than 40 years ago in Southern California. The man is accused of killing Ronald Gaskey, a 36-year-old construction worker, back in December 1983. Gaskey was found dead in his home in Newport Beach, but for decades, police couldn’t figure out who did it.
The case went cold, and for years, it seemed like no one would ever know the truth. But recently, the Newport Beach Police Department decided to take another look at the case. Using fresh evidence, detectives zeroed in on a man living in Huntington Beach. On Friday, they arrested him, and now he’s being held on $1 million bail.
Gaskey’s story is heartbreaking. His body was discovered by an ex-girlfriend after he didn’t show up for work. He had been brutally beaten in the head and face with a blunt object. According to a 1983 news article, Gaskey was known to be extremely careful about his safety. He even made efforts to secure his home, so neighbors were shocked to learn that his door had been left unlocked the day he died.
At the time, police ruled out robbery as a motive since nothing in the house was stolen or even disturbed. The mystery of who could have done such a terrible thing—and why—has haunted his friends and family for decades.
For now, police haven’t shared what evidence led them to the suspect or what the motive might have been. But reopening the case after all these years shows how far investigators are willing to go to bring justice, no matter how much time has passed.
Stay tuned as more details about this decades-old mystery come to light.
