ARREST MADE in Unsolved Murder Of Shelley H. from December 27, 1977

Antioch man charged in Long Beach unsolved murder

By Rick Hurd
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 08/25/2012 05:54:14 PM PDT
Updated: 08/25/2012 06:45:05 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES -- An Antioch sex offender who Los Angeles County prosecutors say is responsible for a 34-year-old unsolved murder of a 17-year-old mother in Southern California was arrested Thursday, the Los Angeles Times and several other news agencies reported.

Long Beach police arrested Martell Nathaniel Chubbs, 53, at his Antioch home on suspicion of murder in the Dec. 27, 1977, killing of Shelley H., who was found dead in her Long Beach home with her 13-month-old child sitting beside the body. The girl's last name was not listed in the complaint because she was a minor, the Times reported.

Calls by this paper to the Los Angeles County prosecutor's office went unanswered Saturday, as did emails to Antioch police. The Los Angeles Times reported that Chubbs will be arraigned on Sept. 11.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney, told CBS 2 and KCAL in Los Angeles that police received their break in the case by examining DNA from fluids taken from the scene, using technology not available in 1977.

Gibbons told the station the teenager was found at her home with stab wounds and that she was choked to death.

Chubbs' past criminal record includes sex crimes, including rape by force, oral copulation with a minor and sodomy with force on a minor. He is listed on California's Megan's Law sex offender list under the alias Martell Carson.

He operated a handyman business out of Antioch called Trustworthy Maintenance and said on the company website that "my customers like working with me because I'm honest, on time and personable."

Prosecutors alleged special circumstances in the crime, including rape and burglary, the Times reported, but said they would not make an immediate decision on whether to seek the death penalty.

Rick Hurd covers breaking news. Contact him at 925-945-4780, and follow him at Twitter.com/3rderh

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