Man Pleads Guilty In 1980 Sacramento Killing After DNA Match

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A man has admitted guilt in a 1980 killing where another man's body was discovered Miller Park in Sacramento.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully announced Friday that Robert Blockton pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the use of a knife in the 1980 killing of Charles Redmond.

He also pleaded guilty to a 2010 case involving the illegal possession of bullets because of a 1992 felony conviction.

Redmond's body was discovered Nov. 3, 1980, by a security guard who was patrolling the boat docks along the Sacramento River at Miller Park. He had suffered multiple stab wounds. The security guard saw a man matching the defendant's description running from the scene.

Blockton was arrested in January 1981, but the District Attorney's Office dismissed the case because of a lack of evidence.

In 2007, the police received a tip naming a possible different suspect. The case was reopened by cold case detectives and semen found on the victim was sent to the District Attorney's Crime Lab for a possible profile. In 2008, Blockton refused to give a DNA sample.

After his arrest in 2010, Blockton's DNA was obtained and a match was made between the semen found on Redmond and Blockton.
The murder case against Blockton encountered many difficulties from locating witnesses whose memories have faded to Blockton's competency issues after a stroke he suffered in 2003, according to the DA's office.

According to the DA's office, the maximum term for manslaughter in 1980 was six years in prison. Blockton will be sentenced to the middle term of four years, plus one year for the use of a knife and an additional eight months for the illegal possession of ammunition for a total sentence of five years, eight months in prison.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 25 in Sacramento Superior Court.