LASD identifies suspect in 36-year-old murder case

A murder suspect has been identified in a 36-year- old cold case in Claremont, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.

Authorities responding to reports of a possible burglary found David R. Evans II, 57, beaten to death inside his home at 862 High Point Ave. on Oct. 13, 1985, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Evans, a vice president of Pomona First Federal Bank and a former school superintendent, was divorced and lived alone in the residence at the time of the murder, and investigators could not identify a suspect or possible motive at the time.

Evans’ vehicle was stolen from the scene of the crime but was recovered shortly afterward in Covina.

The case eventually went cold, but Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Lt. Hugo Reynaga said Wednesday that by 2006, developments in forensic technology allowed investigators to further analyze evidence from the crime scene and identify Hillery Marcus Dupleasis as a person of interest.

Dupleasis, who lived in the San Gabriel Valley at the time of the murder, was officially named a suspect in the killing and in the theft of Evans’ vehicle in 2020, Reynaga said. First-degree murder charges stemming from Evans’ death were filed against Dupleasis on May 2.

Dupleasis is currently in New York serving a sentence for an unrelated murder and is awaiting extradition to Los Angeles County, Reynaga said.

A motive for the murder had yet to be determined, and LASD Detective Shawn McCarthy said investigators believed Evans and Dupleasis had never met before the killing.