71-year-old Syracuse man arrested in connection to 1975 cold case murder

Monday, January 26, 2026 at 1:19 PM

By Staff report

The Indiana State Police announced the arrest of a 71-year-old Syracuse man last week who was accused of murdering a man in San Diego in 1975.

According to Indiana State Police detectives that included the Cold Case Unit, in 2024 San Diego California Cold Case detectives first contacted local police about assisting with the 1975 murder of 34-year-old Edmund LaFave. After providing assistance to the case for the next year ISP investigators were able to identify Johnnie Ray Salisbury, 71, of Syracuse, as a suspect in the murder.

Investigators from the San Diego Police Department recently flew to Indiana, resulting in Salisbury being taken into custody after an arrest warrant was served on Wednesday, Jan. 21 in North Webster.

According to police, LaFave was found dead in the bedroom of his home on Feb. 25, 1975. The victim had been stabbed multiple times and severely beaten.The case had gone cold until decades later when investigators used Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technology and other forensic evidence to identify Salisbury.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, FBI and SDPD’s Cold Case Unit worked closely with Indiana State Police, Syracuse Police Department, and Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in taking Salisbury into custody.

Salisbury was booked Kosciusko County Jail where he awaits extradition to California.

Anyone with further information on the case is asked to call their Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.