Person Page - 386

     Trevor James Schembri was born on 4 December 1972 in Redwood City, San Mateo Co., CA, USA. He died on 30 July 2019 at age 46. He was buried at Fairfax Memorial Park, Fairfax Co., VA, USA.

     Mark Steven Schembri was born on 21 February 1961 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     He and Michael Joseph Schembri were related to.

     Michael Anthony Schembri was born on 24 July 1957 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Gina M Schembri was born on 24 September 1964 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Bradford Jensen was born circa 1974. He married Jeri Lynn Schembri, daughter of Jerry William Schembri and Carole Gayner.

     Isabel Andreatta was born circa 1920. She married Joseph G. Schembri. Isabel Andreatta died in October 1996 at Campbell, CA, USA.
     Her married name was Schembri.

     Michael Joseph Schembri was born on 25 September 1948 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA. He married Patricia A Suess on 12 July 1975 at Santa Clara Co., CA, USA.
     Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle between 2005 and 2006: Other newspaper articles:
Loveland SWAT Arrest Murder Suspect - Aug 24, 2006 · 2 posts · 2 authors
SWAT arrests man in murder case Loveland resident suspected in 1978 ... with Detective Brad Templeman and investigator Michael Schembri of ...

Murder Case Cracked | Morgan Hill, San Martin, CA
Jul 29, 2006 — Nine-year-old investigation leads to arrest of two alleged ... Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office investigator Michael Schembri...

Arrests Made in Connection With 9-Year-Old MH Killing
Jul 27, 2006 — Stockton men booked on suspicion of murder and attempted ... was re-opened in December of last year by DA Investigator Michael Schembri.

Questions Linger After Murder-Suicide | Los Gatos, CA Patch
Feb 3, 2011 — ... including Mike Schembri, an investigator from the DA's office... In Seaman's view, the reopening of the cold case was successful.

People v. Holland, H034963 | Casetext Search + Citator
In July 2007, he was a member of the cold case unit and was working on the case of ... As part of the Munoz investigation, Schembri contacted defendant.

Architect arrested in murder case | The Skyline View
Jan 31, 2005 — Architect arrested in murder case ... we're not absolutely sure is the right one,” according to lead investigator Mike Schembri of the Santa ...


Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 20 January 2005: County of Santa Clara Office of the District Attorney

FROM: Karyn Sinunu, Assistant District Attorney
DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN 2004 Yesterday the District Attorney’s Office celebrated outstanding accomplishments of 2004.
Investigators Kevin Richlin and Michael Schembri received the Robert Drexel Award for excellence in police work. Richlin led an investigation of the complex charity fraud case and Schembri collaborated with Los Gatos to solve the Jeanine Harms murder.


Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 26 April 2006: An unknown suspect stole a woman’s purse at the downtown Los Altos
Unsolved murder from 28 years ago resurfaces in Los Altos by Eliza Ridgeway - Town Crier Staff Writer Apr 26, 2006
Laura Anne Beyerly attended first-period physics class at Los Altos High School the morning of March 28, 1978. The 17-year-old was wearing a flowered black shirt, black pants and brown platform shoes. After class, witnesses noticed her talking to her ex-boyfriend, Scott Schultz, in the school parking lot. She had stayed up all night arguing with him, according to her mother's statement. And then she was never seen alive again.
Michael Schembri, an investigator for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office, has reopened Beyerly's case because he believes her murder can be solved. After his retirement from the San Jose Police Department, Schembri continues to chase down crimes nearly forgotten and still unsolved. Schembri described Beyerly as an athletic young woman with good grades. Before she died, Beyerly enjoyed scuba diving and synchronized swimming, and considered a future in marine biology. On the day she vanished, she had planned to get a permanent then go to a classmate's to study.
Until her skull was found a year later, Los Altos was divided by two theories: had the girl run away or did her disappearance have a more sinister cause?
Investigators initially labeled Beyerly, who had left home before, a runaway. The police captain in charge of the case, Jack McFadden, was quoted in the Town Crier in August 1978: "She's probably just walking around someplace where nobody knows her." He said that her body would likely have already been found if it had been left in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a common end point for murder victims in the '70s. "Santa Cruz at that time was getting about a body a month," Schembri said. Beyerly's remains were found at the end of a remote logging road in the Big Basin area in April of 1979, and identified by dental records in July. No conclusive cause of death was determined at the time, but Schembri said her bones have been re-examined and contribute to his case. Beyerly's parents, Rear Adm. and Mrs. L.F. Beyerly of S El Monte Ave, filed a $1 million suit against the police department alleging police negligence. The Beyerlys also hired a private investigator and a psychic to pursue the case independently. While Schembri said that the police department at the time could have handled the case better, he added, "The PD even now would have a difficult time with this case. When a chronic runaway disappears, where are the signs of foul play?"
Beyerly's father died in 1979 and her mother in 1996, but the case was not entirely forgotten. It came across Schembri's desk last November as a result of the persistence of Beyerly's high school classmate, who felt the case hadn't gotten its due for the last three decades. Schembri said he reads many old files every year and pursues cases that seem to offer new avenues of investigation. "The mom was pretty adamant that (Beyerly hadn't run away)," he said. "That to me is a red flag - she talks to her boyfriend until 5 a.m. and then disappears. She was a straight-A student, very intelligent and trying to make a change in her life."
Schembri said that he has gotten "a major hit on a major lead," and believes this case can result in an arrest warrant, even now. Since November, he has combed old police files (those that hadn't been lost) and interviewed witnesses for their recollection of events long past.
Schembri hopes that Los Altos residents might remember something from that March, 28 years ago.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 30 July 2006: 1997 MH murder solved By Kate Woods

Nine-year-old Norteño gang murder cracked through diligence of county investigator
and Morgan Hill cops Justice can be served cold and slow – at least, that’s what two former Morgan Hill gang members found out this week. Justice can be served cold and slow – at least, that’s what two former Morgan Hill gang members found out this week.
In a scenario reminiscent of TV’s “Cold Case Files,” Morgan Hill police and a dogged county investigator believe they solved a murder nearly a decade old and arrested two suspects in Stockton this week. Rico Clarke and Uvaldo Salinas didn’t even see the cops coming when they were arrested in their homes – nine years after the fact. The two, who are now family men, were in their early 20s when the murder took place in Morgan Hill, said Sgt. David Swing of Morgan Hill Police Special Operations.“I don’t know if they are still affiliated (with the Norteños) but they were not expecting the police,” Swing said.
The victim was Carmel Rodriguez, who on June 13, 1997, was shot in the back of the head in the parking lot of a Morgan Hill apartment complex at 40 W. Dunne Ave. Police say Rodriguez, 29, was not the intended target of the shooters, who committed the crime on foot. Though their target was hit as well, he escaped major injury and recovered. Just moments before the hail of bullets ripped short his life, Rodriguez was chatting with friends under a carport in the parking lot. He died at the scene. Morgan Hill police said the murder was gang-ignited, but it was the blood result between two rival Norteño street gangs – instead of the usual warring between the red-dressed Norteños and the blue-garbed Sureños. Several days before the murder, a fight had broken out between the two gangs in the same vicinity as the murder. One of the eventual suspects had been hit in the head with a board. The murder went unsolved for nine years and became one of the few unsolved murders in Morgan Hill Police Department’s cold case files, until December 2005. That’s when a tenacious investigator from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office re-opened the case and started working with local police to close the crime.
“It’s not like we have a backlog of cold cases, but this case was inactive for some time,” Sgt. Swing said.
Investigator Michael Schembri spent several hundred hours re-interviewing witnesses and involved parties, including present and former gang members.
“This case would not have been cleared had it not been for the tenacity and efforts of Investigator Schembri,” said Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming. “He came to us and asked about our 1997 homicide and asked for everything we had.” In a statement to the press, Schembri said he was greatly aided by Morgan Hill Detective Chris Wagner, who is no longer with the department. Other lawmen involved in solving the murder were not available as of deadline because, according to a police spokesperson, they were busy booking the suspects into the Santa Clara County Jail. On Wednesday, July 26, Stockton police arrested Uvaldo Salinas, 31, at his home in that city following another Stockton arrest made the previous Thursday of Rico Alonzo Clarke, 28. A third suspect, Roberto Emilio Aparicio, 29, is still at large in El Salvador where he was deported several years ago. Swing said he couldn’t begin to speculate on whether Aparicio would ever be apprehended.
But he’s glad two of three suspects are behind bars. “It’s great to bring some justice to the victim and to hold people accountable for these crimes,” Swing added.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 3 September 2006: Investigator breathes life into cold cases
By Scott Herhold, Mercury News
Barefoot and in blue jeans, his gut protruding from a sleeveless shirt, 45-year-old Scott Schultz knew what was coming the moment he saw Santa Clara County DA's investigator Mike Schembri walking up the sidewalk to his home in Loveland, Colo. Mike, I told you the truth! I told you the truth!'' Schultz yelled in a last attempt to assert his innocence. The tears in the corners of his eyes betrayed his feelings. The baldish motorcyclist knew Schembri was there to arrest him on suspicion of killing his high school girlfriend from Los Altos, Laura Anne Beyerly, 28 years ago.
The 57-year-old Schembri, a onetime college pitcher who hides an athlete's competitive instincts behind an unassuming 5-foot-9 build and a Brillo pad of neatly trimmed gray hair, doesn't come across as Inspector Javert stalking his criminal prey. The veteran investigator strikes even the bad guys as more of a father-confessor figure, a man you want to confide in. But mark down humility as one of his most lethal assets. I'm not the best,'' he says. `I've seen the best. I just work hard.''
If Schembri is not the best investigator in Santa Clara County, his colleagues say he's one of the top three or four, a dogged man who can draw lines between dots that other people can't even see. Lately, he has become the man who breathes life into cold cases.
Through Schembri's work, authorities have made arrests in three major murder cases, the kind that keep detectives up at night chewing on antacid. The men who police think killed Jeanine Harms, Gretchen Burford and Beyerly are behind bars.`He's one of the best detectives I've ever seen,'' says Tom Wheatley, former acting San Jose police chief. `If I had the heaviest kind of case, he's one of the less-than-a-handful of guys I've met that I would assign it to. He does things that are just intuitive.''
Vintage Schembri: Nearly two decades ago, when he worked sexual assault cases for San Jose police, where he spent 28 years, Schembri noticed a colleague was bogged down on a vicious rape case.`He's working it from the seat of his pants,'' Schembri said, describing his desk-bound colleague. `So I say, let's go get a car, we can arrest him, there's some leads here.'' It was partly a sally in the dark. Schembri had no suspect. The assailant, however, left a Camel cigarette at the crime scene. The police knew he had called the victim from an East Side shopping center. The victim described a rapist with a bad case of eczema. The detectives started at the shopping center, asking store managers if they remembered a weird guy with eczema who bought Camels. Bingo. A clerk remembered seeing a transient who fit that description and thought maybe he worked at a carnival. That led them to a camper in the back of the shopping center, where a woman answered their knock. The cops asked her whether she lived with anyone. She mentioned her son. Could they talk to him? Well, OK. Still wearing the victim's T-shirt, the sleeping son had a bad case of eczema. He also was a suspect in a killing in Washington state.
`When I get a case, particularly if it's a rape, I usually go to the scene at the time of day the crime happened, just to get the feel of what happened,'' Schembri explains. `You can never tell.''
Schembri has had plenty of backing in his quest to find out what happened in the baffling cases. The county has a good crime lab that has helped him quantify such evidence as rug fibers or DNA patterns. District Attorney George Kennedy and Chief Assistant Karyn Sinunu have assigned a veteran prosecutor, Charles Constantinides, to handle cold cases.
To this mix, Schembri, a bicyclist in the police Olympics, brings two uncommon ingredients. One is an innate ability to read people, to sense when a suspect is lying. When he flew to a Texas prison to interview Tyrone Hamel, the accused killer of Burford, a Palo Alto lawyer who was stabbed to death in 1988, Schembri never got a confession. But he did get an occasional smile to a direct question. At the end, he coaxed Hamel into saying that he felt sorry for Burford's family.
The second ingredient Schembri brings is that he's not afraid to fail. `If you get a tough case, some people might say, `I don't know if this guy did it or not.' I always say, `What do I have to lose by taking this on, to get to the bottom of it?' You could be the victim here.''
On cold cases, this approach sometimes places Schembri in a delicate political posture. Not all police departments welcome help from the district attorney.
Mistakes of others -- In the Beyerly case, Schembri does not disguise his low opinion of the 1978 Los Altos police investigators. He says they failed to do the job right, assuming Beyerly was a runaway because she had run away before. Schembri started at a different point. He knew Beyerly's mother had seen the 17-year-old Los Altos High student crying because she had broken up with Schultz on the telephone. Beyerly felt she owed it to him to do it in person. Her life was turning around. She had a new boyfriend and had a hair appointment planned. To Schembri, that didn't feel like a runaway. The investigator went to where her bones were found in 1979, the steep China Grade in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It wasn't a place where a casual killer would dump a body. It demanded that the killer have four-wheel drive and know his way around the mountains. That led him to questions about China Grade. Whom could he tie to the area? Finally, one of his witnesses told him something she hadn't revealed in 1979: Schultz's uncle lived nearby. Schultz visited him frequently. That made one of the original errors in the case more poignant. Schembri says a private investigator for the family took mud samples from the wheels of Schultz's vehicle a few days after Beyerly disappeared. The investigator turned over the mud to the Los Altos police, who -- alas -- did not preserve it. (Los Altos Police Chief Bob Lacey, who joined the department in 1980, said he had not heard that story.)
Broken patterns -- A last true story: Patterns help detectives. People often repeat where they go, what they do. In the case of Harms, a 42-year-old Los Gatos woman who disappeared after going to a bar, investigators began focusing on architect Maurice X. Nasmeh, one of two men seen with her that night. Always interested in the personality of a suspect, Schembri asked about his patterns: How did he treat other women he dated? Schembri says Nasmeh would usually call the woman the next morning to thank her for the date. He left no message for Harms. It's hardly enough to convict anyone. To a detective like Schembri, though, it was telling. You wouldn't thank someone who was already dead.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 23 November 2007: DNA given voluntarily links man to rape case By Brandon Bailey
When David Pearman gave investigators a sample of his DNA, he knew it might help them link his older brother to the brutal 1983 rape and murder of a Campbell teenager.
But last week, detectives came knocking at Pearman’s door again. This time, they said, his DNA had connected Pearman to a separate horrendous crime — the rape of an 81-year-old San Jose woman.
Now both brothers are facing charges that could send them to prison for life. They are being housed — in separate cells — in the Santa Clara County men’s jail without bail.
“‘Lucky’ is the word that comes to mind,” said Assistant District Attorney David Tomkins, referring to the sequence of events that led authorities to identify Pearman as a suspect in the 2001 rape of the elderly woman.
Pearman, also known as David Leonard Holland, 46, was arrested Friday and arraigned Monday on charges stemming from that case. Court records show he has a prior felony conviction for residential burglary.
Investigators say Pearman’s DNA matches a sample taken from the 2001 crime scene. But they never would have linked that evidence to Pearman if they hadn’t been looking for his 53-year-old brother in a different case.
“He probably would have gotten away with it,” Tomkins added, if a district attorney’s office’s “cold case” investigator hadn’t started looking at Christopher Melvin Holland in connection with the long-ago murder of
17-year-old Cynthia Munoz.
More than 24 years ago, the teenager was found partly nude and bleeding from stab wounds to her neck and chest inside her Campbell home. For many years, though authorities may have had their suspicions, they apparently lacked evidence to charge a suspect in that case.
But earlier this year, investigator Michael Schembri began looking closely at the Munoz murder again.
Among other things, it turned out that a friend of Christopher Holland had bragged that he and Holland raped and killed Munoz during a robbery for drugs.
But as Schembri closed in on Holland, he dropped from sight.
Realizing that authorities had a semen sample from the 1983 rape, the investigator asked two of Holland’s brothers to provide DNA samples in hopes of establishing a link.
Ultimately, it was the sample provided by another brother, Kenneth Holland, that led authorities to charge Christopher Holland in the 1983 murder. The test showed a close link between Kenneth Holland and the person who raped Cynthia Munoz, authorities say.
A lab analyst reported that it was “possible but highly improbable” that anyone other than a relative of Kenneth Holland committed the crime.
That was enough to get a warrant for Christopher Holland, who was arrested last month after a tipster told authorities he was hiding in a San Jose apartment.
David Pearman’s sample, meanwhile, contained two surprises.
First, according to a law enforcement affidavit, it showed that Pearman and Kenneth Holland did not have the same father. Ultimately, Tomkins said, Pearman’s sample had no bearing on the 1983 case.
But in recent weeks, Tomkins said lab technicians were following routine procedures for entering DNA samples into a computerized database, when David Holland’s sample turned up a match — to the sample taken as evidence from the 2001 rape.
The victim in that case, an elderly woman who lived alone, reported that a man slipped into her home about 5 a.m. and climbed into her bed. He threatened to kill her and forced her to perform sex acts, according to a police affidavit. He then spent about 20 minutes talking on her telephone — records show he called a phone-sex line — before leaving the terrified woman in her house.
The woman died of an unrelated cause in 2004, but authorities believe they now have enough evidence to prosecute Pearman. He is charged with rape and forcible oral copulation in the course of a burglary.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 3 December 2007: Budget cuts close cold-case unit By Mark Gomez |
Nearly 27 years after her mother was raped and murdered, Emily Greenslade got the news she had been waiting so long to receive. A DNA match led Santa Clara County cold-case investigators to an arrest in the brutal death of her mother, Virginia Correa.
“It was the most awesome feeling,”” said Greenslade, referring to a call last year from a detective. “I feel like I”m one of the lucky ones. … You can”t say that for a lot of people who don”t have a case that is solved. They are always wondering — and always have that pain.””
But the county team that assisted in breaking the Correa case — while also looking into some 300 other unsolved homicides in Santa Clara County dating to 1965 — will soon be a victim of budget cuts. As of Jan. 1, the Santa Clara County District Attorney Office”s cold-case unit, consisting of one prosecutor and one investigator, will close.
Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge said eliminating the unit will “increase the possibility that the victims” families will have no resolution, and the perpetrators will never be brought to justice. That”s the way it is.””
Deputy District Attorney Charles Constantinides and investigator Mike Schembri are currently the only two law enforcement officials in the county, outside of the San Jose Police Department, who investigate cold-case homicides full-time. They have helped solve 22 such slayings since 2005.
“To me, homicide is probably the most serious crime out there, and we”re not going to have anyone”” investigating cold cases, said Schembri, who spent 28 years with the San Jose Police Department. “It just seems to me we”re not looking at it objectively, where we”re going to spend our money and resources.””
In May, county supervisors, looking to trim $118 million, informed District Attorney Dolores Carr she had to trim her budget by $5 million. By cutting the cold-case unit, a component Carr has called an “extra service,”” her office will save $316,364 next year. Carr also has eliminated the office”s Innocence Project and the last of its community prosecutors, lawyers who worked with troubled neighborhoods to prevent urban problems.
“I came up with a package that has the least impact on public safety,”” said Carr, adding that her office”s main role is to staff the courts. “These are hard choices for everyone facing reductions. It”s really a shame.””
Hoping to stave off any budget trims, the district attorney”s office in July made a presentation to the board outlining the programs on the chopping block. The supervisors didn”t back down from their request to cut $5 million from her budget, so Carr went ahead with the cuts.
Schembri, who said he will probably retire next year, questions the decision.

“I don”t think the board has said, ”Cut cold cases,”” he said, adding that the supervisors offered no guidance about how to go about cutting the $5 million. “Dolores has said we don”t have the money. I personally think it is not a good decision.””Said Constantinides, “Maybe it”s just me, but the county has a public interest in making sure murders get solved.””Without the cold-case unit, Greenslade said, her mother”s file would “still be in a little box on the shelf.””
Schembri and Constantinides have collaborated with detectives in departments across the county and, in some instances, have resolved cases from beginning to end.
The district attorney”s unit have helped make arrests in Los Altos, Campbell, Santa Clara and Los Gatos. In 2006, Constantinides was credited with assisting San Jose police in cracking the 1981 New Year”s Day slaying of a 25-year-old German woman. “Jurisdictions haven”t been afraid to say, ”Maybe we made a mistake, or went in a wrong direction. If you can solve it, great,”” Schembri said. “There hasn”t been any hard feelings. “With the smaller jurisdictions, to assist them is a full-time job.””.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 3 December 2007: Cold case unit victim of budget ax By Mark Gomez
Nearly 27 years after her mother was raped and murdered, Emily Greenslade got the news she had been waiting so long to receive. A DNA match led Santa Clara County cold case investigators to an arrest in the brutal death of her mother, Virginia Correa. “It was the most awesome feeling,” said Greenslade, referring to a call last year from a detective. “I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones. . . . You can’t say that for a lot of people who don’t have a case that is solved. They are always wondering – and always have that pain.” But the county team that assisted in breaking the Correa case – while also looking into some 300 other unsolved homicides in Santa Clara County dating to 1965 – will soon be a victim of budget cuts. As of Jan. 1, the Santa Clara County District Attorney Office’s Cold Case Unit, consisting of one prosecutor and one investigator, will close. Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge said eliminating the unit will “increase the possibility that the victims’ families will have no resolution, and the perpetrators will never be brought to justice. That’s the way it is.”
Deputy District Attorney Charles Constantinides and investigator Mike Schembri are currently the only two law enforcement officials in the county, outside of the San Jose Police Department, who investigate cold case homicides full time. They have helped solve 22 such slayings since 2005.
“To me, homicide is probably the most serious crime out there, and we’re not going to have anyone” investigating cold cases, said Schembri, who spent 28 years with the San Jose Police Department. “It just seems to me we’re not looking at it objectively, where we’re going to spend our money and resources.”
In May, county supervisors, looking to trim $118 million, informed District Attorney Dolores Carr she had to trim her budget by $5 million. By cutting the cold case unit, a component Carr has called an “extra service,” her office will save $316,364 next year. Carr also has eliminated the office’s Innocence Project and the last of its community prosecutors, lawyers who worked with troubled neighborhoods to prevent urban problems. “I came up with a package that has the least impact on public safety,” said Carr, adding that her office’s main role is to staff the courts. “These are hard choices for everyone facing reductions. It’s really a shame.”
Hoping to stave off any budget trims, the district attorney’s office in July made a presentation to the board outlining the programs on the chopping block. The supervisors didn’t back down from their request to cut $5 million from her budget, so Carr went ahead with the cuts.
Schembri, who said he will probably retire next year, questions the decision.
“I don’t think the board has said, ‘Cut cold cases,’ ” he said, adding that the supervisors offered no guidance about how to go about cutting the $5 million. “Dolores has said we don’t have the money. I personally think it is not a good decision.”
Said Constantinides, “Maybe it’s just me, but the county has a public interest in making sure murders get solved.” Without the cold case unit, Greenslade said, her mother’s file would “still be in a little box on the shelf.”
Although smaller police agencies in the county typically assign a detective or two to work cold cases when time allows, those detectives often carry full caseloads. Schembri and Constantinides have collaborated with detectives in departments across the county and, in some instances, have resolved cases from beginning to end. The district attorney’s unit has helped make arrests in Los Altos, Campbell, Santa Clara and Los Gatos. In 2006, Constantinides was credited with assisting San Jose police in cracking the 1981 New Year’s Day slaying of a 25-year-old German woman.
“Jurisdictions haven’t been afraid to say, ‘Maybe we made a mistake, or went in a wrong direction. If you can solve it, great,’ ” Schembri said. “There hasn’t been any hard feelings.
“With the smaller jurisdictions, to assist them is a full-time job.”
Schembri and Constantinides have twice helped the Santa Clara Police Department solve cold case homicides. In December 2006, they used DNA technology to make an arrest in the slaying of Mary Quigley, a 17-year-old who was sexually assaulted and hanged at a Santa Clara park in 1977. In July 2005 the unit made an arrest in the 1994 killing and robbery of Rafael Verdejo, 33, by collecting DNA evidence from a bottle and cigarette butts.
Progress in DNA analysis has helped detectives solve a growing number of old homicides, a trend that is expected to accelerate. Beginning in 2009, the law will require DNA samples be taken from everyone who is arrested on suspicion of or charged with any felony and entered into a federal database. Currently, only convicted felons, parolees and those arrested on suspicion of rape or murder must provide samples.
But solving cases is “not going to be done on DNA alone,” Lodge cautioned. “Somebody has to go out and talk to witnesses and family members. It’s very, very time intensive.”
The cuts do not mean unsolved homicides within the county will be forgotten, authorities maintain.
The San Jose Police Department assigns two full-time detectives to handle the 200 unsolved slayings dating to 1962, and has other detectives work old cases when time allows. At the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, detective Ron Breuss spends about half his time investigating approximately 150 unsolved homicides committed since the 1940s.
Though Schembri said he’ll probably retire next year, there are “other detectives that could jump into this unit and do a bang-up job,” he said. “There’s a lot of unsolved homicides out there that can be solved,” Schembri said. “I would think of that 300, we could solve 10 or 15 percent by interview. Obviously there are some homicides that aren’t going to be solved in a lifetime, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.”.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 22 February 2008: Burford killer: 'I'm crying a river of tears inside' -- Remorseful Tyrone Hamel gets life without parole for 1988 stabbing by Sue Dremann / Palo Alto Online

Tyrone Maurice Hamel, the convict who last month confessed and pleaded guilty to the 1988 stabbing death of Palo Alto attorney Gretchen Burford, 49, received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole this morning. Hamel, who is now in his early 40s, confessed before a stunned court in January. The murder had remained a cold case until Michael Schembri, a Santa Clara District Attorney's Office investigator, reopened the case and used current DNA technology to help substantiate the case against Hamel. In a Santa Clara County courtroom this morning, Hamel sat with his back to Burford's family and friends. Not a muscle twitched -- from his shaved head and broad shoulders down to his back -- while his victim's two daughters described the impact his actions have had on their lives in the two decades since he killed their mother at a Mountain View ATM. But at the end, Hamel turned to face the family, tripping over the word "humanity" as he spoke. From his lips, the word repeatedly came out "hoo-man-in-ity." It is a word he had little experience with, he said.
"I ain't got no written statement. I don't really understand how somebody could show so much compassion. I'm just all shook up," he said.
"I don't know if y'all believe me or not, but I'm crying a river of tears inside. ... I just want to be a more productive human being in my life. I do feel pain inside -- the most extreme pain," he said, causing one of his defense attorneys to cry.
Dana Overstreet, supervising deputy district attorney, said outside the courtroom that in her years as a prosecutor, she had never had anything happen such as Hamel's January confession and apology after a 20-year-old crime.
Maureen Burford, the elder of Gretchen Burford's daughters, said that after her mother died she had a powerful, direct experience of her mother's presence.
"I could feel my mother there with us in our grief: expansive, nurturing, wise. Her life no longer seemed limited in its form," she said.
"It is my conviction that we never become our behavior ... but as adults, whatever we inherit, life can be a journey of transformation, no matter where it is lived -- whether it is in prison or at home," she told Hamel.
Younger daughter Martha Burford said her mother had become a criminal defense attorney in her 40s, actively seeking to change young juvenile defenders' lives. Gretchen Burford chose to be a child advocate.
"I've never known anyone with so much life force who could change ... people's lives. ... This was the magic of my mother," she said.
Most of Hamel's victims are women, she said. The irony is that her mother, a woman, "would have helped you and would've tried to turn your life around. (And) two women -- my sister and I -- have sought to spare your life."
Gretchen Burford did not believe in the death penalty, her family has said.
Former State Senator Becky Morgan, who served on the Palo Alto school district board, said outside the courtroom that Gretchen Burford had been her best friend. When Burford died, Morgan was the one who broke the news to Burford's children.
"She was the sister I never had. It was pretty traumatic," she said. "I was about to give up on the police solving the crime. It was 17 years when they found him."
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jerome E. Brock said he believed Hamel's apologies are sincere. He said Gretchen Burford is remembered by the courts for her compassion. It is a cruel irony that Hamel is exactly the type of person Burford would have tried to help, he added.
In addition to the life sentence without parole to be run consecutively with a one-year weapons-enhancement conviction, Brock imposed a $10,000 fine for restitution, which he suspended.
He accepted the prosecution's request to drop charges in a separate robbery trial. Hamel was ordered returned to Texas, where he is already serving a life sentence plus 60 years for robberies and assaults. Schembri, the detective who reopened the case, said the sentencing feels good. "It's appropriate," he said. In January, the district attorney's office stopped funding a dedicated cold-case investigator and cold-case prosecutor due to budget cuts. Those cases are now looked at on a case-by-case basis, a spokesman for the district attorney's office has said.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 23 March 2008: SAN JOSE / Suspect in '78 death fights extradition
John Coté
Sep. 2, 2006
Scott B. Schultz, 45, who was arrrested in Colorado last week on suspicion of murder in a Los Altos cold-case homicide that happened 28 years ago. The victim was Schultz's former girlfriend, Laura Beyerly. Both were 17 when she disappeared on March 28, 1978. Ran on: 09-02-2006 Scott B. Schultz
Scott B. Schultz, 45, who was arrrested in Colorado last week on suspicion of murder in a Los Altos cold-case homicide that happened 28 years ago. The victim was Schultz's former girlfriend, Laura Beyerly. Both were 17 when she disappeared on March 28, 1978. Ran on: 09-02-2006 Scott B. SchultzHandout

The suspect in the killing of a Los Altos High School student 28 years ago is contesting extradition to California after authorities arrested him last week in Colorado, attorneys said Friday.

During a court appearance Friday in Larimer County, Colo., Scott B. Schultz refused to agree to be transferred to San Jose and asked a judge to consider setting bail, attorneys in the case said. A bail hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Schultz is battling extradition until Santa Clara County prosecutors provide documents outlining the information that led to his Aug. 23 arrest in Loveland, Colo., in the 1978 death of his former girlfriend Laura Beyerly, defense attorney Mark Workman said.
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Prosecutors have refused to provide the documents, citing California confidentiality laws in juvenile cases, Workman said. Schultz and Beyerly were both 17 when she disappeared. "My client can't know the new information about his arrest?" Workman said. "That's astonishing to me."

Prosecutor Charles Constantinides could not be reached for comment.

Schultz, 45, is being held without bail on a California arrest warrant in Beyerly's death. She disappeared March 28, 1978, after attending her first-period class at Los Altos High. Her remains were found more than a year later in the Santa Cruz Mountains near property belonging to Schultz's uncle.

Prosecutors say Beyerly had broken up with Schultz, and witnesses saw the two arguing in the school parking lot the day she vanished. Schultz has denied having contact with Beyerly that day, said Michael Schembri, the cold-case investigator at the district attorney's office.

Michael Joseph Schembri was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 2 September 2008: SAN JOSE / Suspect in '78 death fights extradition by John Coté

Scott B. Schultz, 45, who was arrrested in Colorado last week on suspicion of murder in a Los Altos cold-case homicide that happened 28 years ago. The victim was Schultz's former girlfriend, Laura Beyerly. Both were 17 when she disappeared on March 28, 1978. Scott B. Schultz, 45, who was arrrested in Colorado last week on suspicion of murder in a Los Altos cold-case homicide that happened 28 years ago. The victim was Schultz's former girlfriend, Laura Beyerly. Both were 17 when she disappeared on March 28, 1978. Ran on: 09-02-2006 Scott B. SchultzHandout
The suspect in the killing of a Los Altos High School student 28 years ago is contesting extradition to California after authorities arrested him last week in Colorado, attorneys said Friday.
During a court appearance Friday in Larimer County, Colo., Scott B. Schultz refused to agree to be transferred to San Jose and asked a judge to consider setting bail, attorneys in the case said. A bail hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Schultz is battling extradition until Santa Clara County prosecutors provide documents outlining the information that led to his Aug. 23 arrest in Loveland, Colo., in the 1978 death of his former girlfriend Laura Beyerly, defense attorney Mark Workman said.
Prosecutors have refused to provide the documents, citing California confidentiality laws in juvenile cases, Workman said. Schultz and Beyerly were both 17 when she disappeared. "My client can't know the new information about his arrest?" Workman said. "That's astonishing to me." Prosecutor Charles Constantinides could not be reached for comment.
Schultz, 45, is being held without bail on a California arrest warrant in Beyerly's death. She disappeared March 28, 1978, after attending her first-period class at Los Altos High. Her remains were found more than a year later in the Santa Cruz Mountains near property belonging to Schultz's uncle.
Prosecutors say Beyerly had broken up with Schultz, and witnesses saw the two arguing in the school parking lot the day she vanished. Schultz has denied having contact with Beyerly that day, said Michael Schembri, the cold-case investigator at the district attorney's office. He was living in 2020 in San Jose, CA, USA. He and Mark Steven Schembri were related to.

     Patricia A Suess married Michael Joseph Schembri, son of Joseph G. Schembri and Isabel Andreatta, on 12 July 1975 at Santa Clara Co., CA, USA.
     As of 12 July 1975,her married name was Schembri.

     Joseph David Schembri was born on 6 April 1953 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA. He married Deborah A Bradley on 14 May 1977 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     Joseph David Schembri was living in 2020 in San Jose, CA, USA.

     Mary Ann Muzzin was born circa 1964.
     She was living in 2021 in Foster City, CA, USA.

     Tyler Joseph Schembri was born on 9 November 1993 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     He was living in 2021 in Lawrence, KS, USA. He and Robert Michael Schembri were related to.

     Eric Joseph Schembri was born on 2 February 1987 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Deborah A Bradley was born circa 1957. She married Joseph David Schembri, son of Isabel Andreatta, on 14 May 1977 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     As of 14 May 1977,her married name was Schembri.

     Marieelena Campbell Schembri was born on 9 January 1985 in Alameda Co., CA, USA.

     Michelle Marie Schembri was born on 20 February 1988 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Michael Saviour Schembri was born on 18 June 1990 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Karen A Schembri was born on 18 June 1990 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Lawrence Charles Scicluna was born on 11 February 1951 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Diane Ellen Hurd on 17 October 1970 at Santa Clara Co., CA, USA.
     Lawrence Charles Scicluna was living in 2021 in Auburn, CA, USA.

     Diane Ellen Hurd was born circa 1952. She married Lawrence Charles Scicluna, son of Charles Joseph Scicluna and Rosemary Catherine Scerri, on 17 October 1970 at Santa Clara Co., CA, USA.
     As of 17 October 1970,her married name was Scicluna.

     Charles Joseph Scicluna was born on 19 January 1952 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Valerie Joyce Churchill on 3 December 1983 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Charles Joseph Scicluna was living in 2020 in Auburn, CA, USA.

     Valerie Joyce Churchill was born circa 1949. She married Charles Joseph Scicluna, son of Charles Joseph Scicluna and Rosemary Catherine Scerri, on 3 December 1983 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     As of 3 December 1983,her married name was Scicluna.

     Deborah Scicluna was born on 6 September 1957 in San Francisco, CA, USA. She married (?) Kellerman.
     Her married name was Kellerman.

     Barry Stephen Scicluna was born on 4 January 1955 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Tana R Steinle on 3 September 1975 at Auburn, Placer Co., CA, USA.

     Tana R Steinle was born circa 1957. She married Barry Stephen Scicluna, son of Charles Joseph Scicluna and Rosemary Catherine Scerri, on 3 September 1975 at Auburn, Placer Co., CA, USA.
     As of 3 September 1975,her married name was Scicluna.

     Michael A. Scicluna was born on 9 February 1956 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Elizabeth F Wheeler on 30 June 1984 at Auburn, Placer Co., CA, USA.

     Elizabeth F Wheeler was born circa 1961. She married Michael A. Scicluna, son of Charles Joseph Scicluna and Rosemary Catherine Scerri, on 30 June 1984 at Auburn, Placer Co., CA, USA.
     As of 30 June 1984,her married name was Scicluna.