Larry Devon Welch was identified by Ventura police as the man who murdered Danielle Clause, a California case that had been unsolved since 1991.
“After more than thirty years, the Ventura Police Department (VPD) has made significant progress in solving the 1991 murder of Danielle Clause,” police stated in a news release on May 7. “Using advanced forensic genetic genealogy techniques, law enforcement has identified Larry Devon Welch as the culprit, which is a crucial development in resolving this long-standing mystery.
“Welch passed away in 1999. There was no known connection between Welch and Clause at the time of her murder,” police stated.
Public records indicate Welch would be 74 years old today; his last address was in Homeland, California. He also had addresses in Hemet, Oxnard, and Winchester, California, and P.O. boxes in Ventura and Bakersfield. He died in 1999, public records show.
According to a 1991 article in the Ventura Star, accessed through Newspapers.com, Clause had struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction but excelled in drug and alcohol studies and was also a poet. She wrote a poem with her sister called “Sheltered Heart” that described a “bruised and bleeding heart” attacked by cruelty and viciousness, the article reported.
The body of Danielle Clause was discovered on a hillside, with ‘multiple blunt-force injuries to her head’
“Through extensive collaboration with local and national law enforcement agencies and nonprofits, I am proud to share this success story,” said Ventura Police Chief Darin Schindler, in the news release. “From the initial investigation in 1991 to recent advancements in forensic techniques, I’m honored to highlight the determination of detectives as they continued to seek justice for the victim and her family.”
On July 16, 1991, the release states, “the body of 42-year-old Clause was found on the hillside located at the top of Tioga Drive near downtown Ventura. The autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and had died as a result of multiple blunt-force injuries to her head. After exploring every lead at the time, the case was suspended and considered cold,” the release states.
In 2021, Ventura Police detectives and forensic specialists “retested crime scene evidence for DNA. Forensic genetic genealogy was pursued, and a family tree was developed. Phenotyping was used to verify distinct characteristics of the suspect, and after collecting family DNA samples, Larry Welch was positively identified,” they wrote.
Danielle Clause’s sister described her as an ‘Artist’ who had a ‘Mighty Soul’
Ventura PDDanielle Clause.
“My sister was much more than a victim of a brutal murder. She was an artist, a daughter, a sister, a mother, and a wife. She was a good person with a strong spirit, and she was taken too young,” Marcie Forte, Danielle’s sister, said in the news release. “I didn’t really believe that the police were going to solve this, because there are other crimes being committed all the time. I was proven wrong because the Ventura Police and everyone associated with this cold case did an exceptional job and I am so grateful. I’m so grateful that I lived to see at least a measure of justice and that they found out who did this.”
The Ventura Police Department is committed to getting justice for victims and their families, even in cases that are many years old. Right now, VPD has over 25 unsolved cases, including murders, missing people, and unknown dead people, the release says.
In a video Darin Schindler, the police chief of Ventura police, said police recently made a significant development in the cold case homicide.
In a video, retired Lt Douglas Auldridge mentioned that Clause's body was found on a hillside, partially undressed with many severe injuries. She was last seen talking to a man at a street corner. Her husband reported her missing to the police.
A Ventura Police Officer reopened the Danielle Clause case file after studying methods used to catch the Golden State Killer.
Ventura PDVentura Police Officer Tyler Buck.
Auldridge mentioned in the video that at the crime scene, a lot of evidence was collected because they didn't know what would be important later.
The video includes photos from the crime scene.
Around 25 years later, Ventura Police Officer Tyler Buck became very interested in cold cases and wanted to help move the case along, as he said in the video. He spends several hours a week working on the department's cold cases.
He said he looked into two victims of the Golden State Killer. Ventura Police Officer Tyler Buck learned about genetic genealogy techniques from the Golden State Killer case. The case file for Clause was over 1,000 pages long. He saw that Auldridge and his team had done a great job collecting evidence and there was a strong DNA profile of the suspect, as Buck mentioned in the video.
He learned about genetic genealogy from the Golden State Killer case. The murder weapon was a rock, which had never been tested. This was also true for the victim’s fingernail clippings, he said.
The department partnered with a non-profit agency to get funding. The profile was uploaded to all of the genetic genealogy database, according to forensic specialist Gabrielle Wimer. They built out part of the suspect’s family tree.
A living family member emerged and had developed a family tree. Detectives went to San Diego to meet with her. She provided a breakdown of her entire family tree and a DNA sample, Wimer said.
She was a first-cousin match of the suspect. In revisiting her family tree, it was learned she had only two male first cousins. They were focusing on a set of brothers, the Welches. One was alive and one was deceased, according to Wimer.
DA Erik Nasarenko said in the video that authorities developed a profile on both brothers discovering distinct characteristics of each brother. They learned that Larry Welch, the deceased brother, had brown hair and hazel eyes. The living brother had blonde hair and blue eyes. The suspect had brown or green eyes and brown hair, consistent with the appearance of Larry Welch, Nasarenko said.
But police needed DNA from the living brother to rule him out. The living brother was contacted by authorities. They met with the living brother, who was very helpful, according to Nasarenko. He voluntarily provided a sample of his own DNA for analysis, Nasarenko said. Virginia State Police confirmed the living brother was not the suspect. He was a full sibling of the suspect. This result confirmed the suspect DNA found at the crime scene belonged to Larry Welch, authorities said in the video.
Wimer mentioned that Larry Welch had a post office box in Ventura. An eyewitness saw him with Danielle that night. Wimer also mentioned that he had a vehicle that matched one involved in the case.
“We finally located him,” Wimer stated.
Authorities informed Clause’s sister about the news. According to Wimer, the detectives' evidence collection techniques were ahead of their time. “Police officers in the 1990s couldn’t take it any further,” she said.
Marcie Forte, Clause’s sister, recalled in the video that she visited her sister’s body. “She was so severely beaten that she was unrecognizable. I didn’t want my mother to see her like that. It was just devastating. Holidays. I always prayed . . . that I’d be able to know who did this. Thirty-one years later, my prayers were answered. They did a phenomenal job, and I’m so grateful that I lived to see at least a measure of justice.”
Ventura police identified Larry Devon Welch as the now-deceased man accused of murdering Danielle Clause, a case that had remained unsolved since 1991.
