Placer County Sheriff’s Detectives have reportedly arrested a man they believe responsible for killing a Weimar couple found shot to death in their home 24 years ago, according to an official press release.
Joseph Victor Foster, 54, was reportedly arrested at Soledad State Prison yesterday, Wednesday, January 14, where he has been serving 50-years-to-life for kidnapping and raping a family member in Modesto in 2006. He was transported to the Placer County Jail yesterday, where he was booked on two counts of murder.
According to Placer County Sheriff, Foster is suspected of killing Jacqueline Barton, 33, and Hugh Cleveland Gresham, 37, at their Ponderosa Way home on January 7, 1991. The two were reportedly living together at the time.
Through the investigation, dozens of people were interviewed, but leads eventually dried up and the case went cold. Recently, while detectives from both Placer County Sheriff and the Placer County District Attorney’s Office worked together to solve years-old investigations, they reportedly found forensic evidence that linked Foster to the crime, leading to yesterday’s arrest.
According to Placer County Sheriff, when Foster kidnapped and raped the family member in Modesto in 2006, he was on parole for a kidnapping, assault with intent to commit rape, and false imprisonment case that occurred in Placer County on February 14, 1994. He was sentenced to 22 years in state prison, but was released in April 2005, just short of 11 years into his sentence.
Placer County Sheriff asks anyone who may have information on the 1991 killings to call Detective Bryan Mattison or Detective Chris Joyce at 530-889-7889.
