California police believe they have solved a 43-year-old murder mystery.
In 1982, Nancy Galvani's body was found floating inside a sleeping bag near the San Mateo Bridge. For decades, the crime has remained unsolved. Then, in November, Foster City police announced they had arrested 81-year-old Patrick Galvani in the case.
According to the Los Angeles Times, at the time of Galvani's death she was in the midst of divorcing Patrick. The two shared custody of their daughter, Alison who was 5. On August 8, Patrick called Nancy to pick up Alison. She left her hotel room and never returned.
Alison Galvani is now a professor at Yale and had long suspected her father in her mother's death.
"My father used me as bait to lure my mother to her death," Alison Galvani told the newspaper in 2014.
Following the arrest of her father, Galvani thanked the authorities "who have been committed to pursuing justice for my mom." In a text message to the Times she added, "With an extraordinary combination of compassion and resolve, they are working tirelessly to ensure that light is shone upon even the darkest of cases."
The newspaper reported that Nancy Galvani was strangled and her body was found by a fisherman floating in a sleeping bag, which had been weighted down by a cinder block.
Patrick Galvani's attorney, Douglas Horngrad, issued a statement to the Times reiterating his client's innocence regarding the cold case.
"This murder charge was filed against him years ago and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence," Horngrad wrote in an email to the newspaper. "As I understand it, the evidence is the same, and we believe the outcome will be the same. Mr. Galvani will be exonerated again."
Patrick Galvani is being held without bond. In a press release on the arrest, authorities did not elaborate on what, if any, new evidence they had to bring charges now.
San Mateo County Dist. Atty. Stephen Wagstaffe told the Times that new evidence would be presented, but did not provided details.
"We think we have enough to convict and we have an ambitious prosecutor who can accomplish that," Wagstaffe told the Times.
