Clay County man to be sentenced Thursday following guilty plea of murder in California in 2008

A Clay County man has pleaded guilty to the home invasion rape of an elderly woman in San Jose, California, 18 years ago.

Under the conditions of his plea, James Whisenand, 45, of Brazil, will serve 25 years in prison for the attack that was finally solved through the District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit, police, and advancements in forensic science. The sentencing hearing will take place on October 22, at 9 a.m. in San Jose.

The victim died of natural causes in 2011. However, the DA’s Office was notified in 2024 that DNA left at the senior living apartment was matched to the sex crime registrant living more than 2,000 miles away.

DA Jeff Rosen said: “Years and distance do not matter. This office will never stop seeking justice for the people who have been hurt in our community. I just wish I could have told her that we got him. I wish she was here with us today.”

According to the district attorney, on January 6, 2008, Whisenand entered the 61-year-old woman’s first-floor apartment. Wearing a ski mask, Whisenand punched the victim in the face, breaking her nose, and then choked her before sexually assaulting her multiple times. No suspects were identified at the time.

In March 2024, the DA’s Crime Lab was notified that the suspect’s DNA from the crime scene, uploaded to the national CODIS database in 2008, matched Whisenand, a sex registrant for a misdemeanor sexual battery conviction in 2023. The DA’s Cold Case Unit, San Jose Police Department, and Crescent City Police Department worked together to confirm Whisenand’s DNA in August 2024.

In September 2024, Whisenand was arrested thanks to the assistance of Indiana State Police, the U.S. Marshals, the Clay County Sheriff, and Brazil, Indiana police. Authorities convinced him to come down to the local police department to fill out forms related to his sex registration. He was met by San Jose Police Department Special Victims Unit Sgt. Sean Pierce and Det. John Moutzouridis, the original detectives who investigated the assault in 2008.

Santa Clara County Court records show that in 2008, at the time of the rape, Whisenand lived with his then wife on Meridian Avenue, just two blocks from the victim’s senior living facility.