Laurie Houts, 25, lived in San Jose and worked at Adobe Systems on September 5, 1992. That night, she left her job and never returned home. She was found by a passerby in the 1300 block of Crittendane Lane in Mountain View — now the site of Google’s campus — strangled to death in the passenger seat of her car. It was parked about two miles away from Adobe’s offices on Charleston Road. A nylon rope was still around her neck.
Police quickly narrowed their focus to Oracle engineer John Kevin Woodward, then 28. Woodward, who lived with Houch’s boyfriend, had known Houch for about two years. Investigators said they found three of Woodward’s fingerprints on Houts’ car, leading to his arrest for murder in October 1992.
But one conviction remained elusive for the Houts family. Woodward was tried twice in the 1990s, but the proceedings ended in hung juries both times. For the case to go to trial a third time, a judge told prosecutors they would need to present new evidence.
In late 2020, detectives in Santa Clara County began searching for this new evidence. The items were submitted to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab for DNA testing, and the sheriff’s office looked again at fingerprint evidence collected in 1992. According to Mountain View police, they found a match for Woodward’s DNA at the crime scene and they discovered even more of his fingerprints on the car.
After his two tests. Woodward relocated to the Netherlands. Although based in Europe, he served as CEO and president of ReadyTech, an Oakland company that provides online education software. “The news of Kevin’s arrest came as a shock to all of us,” ReadyTech said in a statement to SFGATE. “We have the utmost sympathy for the families involved.”
On Saturday, Woodward entered the United States through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Law enforcement was waiting for him when he got off the plane.
“We were given information that the suspect would be returning to the United States,” said Mountain View Police Sgt. David Fisher told KGO. “We found out several days before his flight. So we arranged for all the authorities in New York to assist us in arresting him.”
Woodward was taken into custody when he landed and is being held in New York pending his extradition to the Bay Area on murder charges. Investigators and Houch’s family hope a third trial will result in a conviction.
Laurie Houts, 25, was murdered in her car in Mountain View, California, in 1992.
Mountain View Police/Bulletin
“Even though she was only five feet tall, she had a huge heart and her humor and courage were loved by all,” Houch’s family said in a statement. “The way Laurie lived and treated people was an amazing example of what was right in the world. She was a gem to many, but her bright life was taken from us at the age of 25.
“We are hopeful that justice will finally be served for Laurie and are incredibly appreciative of the law enforcement agencies that never gave up on her.”
SFGATE Assistant News Editor Joshua Bote contributed to the report.
