(via khou.com)
HOUSTON – Houston police believe they’ve solved at least one of the strangulation murders of three area women since June.
They plan to charge Lucky Ward, 46, with capital murder in the death of 52-year-old Retia Faye Long. She was found dead on Sept. 30 in a stairwell behind the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1700 San Jacinto.
Investigators say Ward confessed to killing Long after he was arrested Thursday.
Robert Ausberry, who considered Long his common-law wife, said a HPD sergeant called him at 11 p.m. Thursday and gave him the good news about an arrest made for Long’s slaying.
“Now she can rest in peace,” Ausberry said, “and I feel like a burden has been lifted off my chest. I thank God that they have caught her killer. He deserves whatever he gets.”
Ward has a long rap sheet dating back to 1984 for charges including assault, robbery and theft.
No charges have been filed in the other two cases and police aren’t saying if Ward is a suspect.
Last week, HPD announced the three cases could be linked and the FBI joined the investigation.
On Oct. 10, the body of Carol Flood, 62, was found on Oct. 10 in a stairwell behind the old YMCA building. She’d been strangled and was nude from the waist down.
Flood was last seen around 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 9 at the Edwards Greenway Palace Theater at 3839 Weslayan. Investigators said she watched three movies and probably left the theater around 9:30 p.m. She was a regular at the theater, according to the manager.
Police believe it’s possible the same killer may have strangled Raquel Mundy last June 17, then dumped her body in a field in the 300 block of St. Charles.
Investigators said last week they were still waiting for DNA evidence to provide a concrete link, but they say there are enough similarities to take a closer look.
“And that’s why we’re asking the public. Maybe they know something. Maybe they saw something that can help us solve these cases,” said Lt. Humberto Lopez with HPD homicide.
Mundy, 24, was murdered after apparently accepting a ride from a stranger when she was stranded downtown.
She had dropped her mom and two kids off at the Greyhound bus station downtown around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She then discovered her car had been towed from a McDonald’s parking lot across the street.
Mundy’s mother said she received a text message from Raquel saying she thought she was in danger and feared the man she was with was going to hurt her.
Raquel’s body was found the next day. She was also nude from the waist down.
“Next call we got, they had found the body. It was my baby,” Collins said as she choked back tears at a news conference in June. “This man took away my baby.”
Police are asking anyone with information on the three cases to contact HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. A $5,000 reward is being offered in each case for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers.
