Suspect Beat Married Poet to Death, Discarded Body on Hillside, Police Say

Larry Devon Welch was named by Ventura police as the now-deceased man accused of murdering Danielle Clause, a California case which was unsolved since 1991.

“After over three decades, the Ventura Police Department (VPD) has made a significant breakthrough in the 1991 murder case of Danielle Clause,” police wrote in a news release on May 7. “Using advanced forensic genetic genealogy techniques, law enforcement has identified Larry Devon Welch as the perpetrator, which is a pivotal moment in resolving this long-standing mystery.

“Welch passed away in 1999. There was no known connection between Welch and Clause at the time of her murder,” police wrote.

Public records show Welch would be 74 years old today; his last address was in Homeland, California. He also had addresses in Hemet, Oxnard, and Winchester, California, and P.O. boxes in Ventura and Bakersfield. He died in 1999, public records show.

According to a 1991 article in the Ventura Star, accessed through Newspapers.com, Clause had “battled with cocaine and heroin addiction” but did “A-level work in drug and alcohol studies” and was “also a poet.” She wrote a poem with her sister called “Sheltered Heart” that contains the image of a “bruised and bleeding heart” that was “attacked by cruel viciousness,” that article reported.

The Body of Danielle Clause Was Found on a Hillside, With ‘Multiple Blunt-Force Injuries to Her Head’

“Through extensive collaboration with local and national law enforcement agencies and nonprofits, it’s with great pride that I share this success story,” said Ventura Police Chief Darin Schindler, in the news release. “From the initial investigation in 1991 to recent advancements in forensic techniques, I’m honored to highlight the perseverance of detectives as they continued to seek justice for the victim and her family.”

On July 16, 1991, the release says, “the body of 42-year-old Clause was found on the hillside located at the top of Tioga Drive near downtown Ventura. The autopsy showed that she had been sexually assaulted and had died due to multiple blunt-force injuries to her head. Once investigators at the time explored every avenue, the case was suspended and considered cold,” the release says.

In 2021, Ventura Police detectives and forensic specialists “retested crime scene evidence for DNA. Forensic genetic genealogy was pursued, and a family tree was developed. Phenotyping was used to verify distinct characteristics of the suspect, and after collecting family DNA samples, Larry Welch was positively identified,” they wrote.

Danielle Clause’s Sister Described Her as an ‘Artist’ Who Had a ‘Mighty Soul’

Ventura PDDanielle Clause.

“My sister was so much more than a victim of a brutal murder. She was artist, a daughter, a sister, a mother, and a wife. She was a good person with a mighty soul, and she was taken way too young,” Marcie Forte, Danielle’s sister, said in the news release. “I didn’t really believe that the police were going to solve this, because there are other crimes being committed all the time. I was proven wrong because the Ventura Police and everyone associated with this cold case did a phenomenal job and I am so grateful. I’m so grateful that I lived to see at least a meter of justice and that they found out who did this.”

“The Ventura Police Department’s unwavering commitment to securing justice for victims and their families endures, regardless of the elapsed time. Presently, VPD has over 25 cold cases, spanning homicides, missing persons, and unidentified deceased individuals,” the release says.
In a video posted by the City of Ventura, Darin Schindler, the police chief of Ventura police, said police “had recently achieved a breakthrough” in the cold case homicide.

Retired Lt Douglas Auldridge said in the video that the body of Clause was found in a hillside. She was found partially unclothed with multiple blunt-force injuries. She was last seen at a street corner talking to a male, he says in the video. Her husband called police to report her missing, Auldridge said.

A Ventura Police Officer Dusted Off the Danielle Clause Case File After Studying Techniques Used to Catch the Golden State Killer

Ventura PDVentura Police Officer Tyler Buck.

“At the crime scene you tend to overcollect evidence,” Auldridge says in the video. He said that’s because authorities didn’t know what would be significant later.

The video contains crime scene photos.

About 25 years later, Ventura Police Officer Tyler Buck developed a significant interest in cold cases, he said in the video. He was hoping to “help move the case forward.” He devotes several hours a week to the department’s cold cases.

He said that he investigated two victims of the Golden State Killer and watched the genetic genealogy techniques used to apprehend a suspect in that case. He said Clause’s case file was more than 1,000 pages long.

He could see that Auldridge and his team at the time had done a great job gathering evidence and there was a “great DNA profile of the suspect,” Buck said in the video.

He learned about genetic genealogy from the Golden State Killer case. The murder weapon was a rock. It had never been tested; that was true also of the victim’s fingernail clippings, he said.

The department connected with a non-profit agency to provide funding. The profile was uploaded to all of the genetic genealogy database, according to forensic specialist Gabrielle Wimer, who also spoke in the video. They built out part of the suspect’s family tree.

A living family member had emerged and had developed a family tree. Detectives went to San Diego to connect with her. She provided a breakdown of her entire family tree and a DNA sample, Wimer said.

She was a first-cousin match of the suspect. In revisiting her family tree, it was learned she had only two male first cousins. They were focusing on a set of brothers, the Welches. One was alive and one was deceased, according to Wimer.

DA Erik Nasarenko said in the video that authorities developed a profile on both brothers discovering distinct characteristics of each brother. They learned that Larry Welch the deceased brother had brown hair and hazel eyes. The living brother had blonde hair and blue eyes. The suspect had brown or green eyes and brown hair, consistent with the appearance of Larry Welch, Nasarenko said.

But police needed DNA from the living brother to rule him out. The living brother was contacted by authorities. They met with the living brother “who was very helpful,” according to Nasarenko. He voluntarily provided a sample of his own DNA for analysis, Nasarenko said. Virginia State Police confirmed the living brother was not the suspect. He was a full sibling of the suspect. This result confirmed the suspect DNA found at the crime scene belonged to Larry Welch, authorities said in the video.

Wimer said that Larry Welch had a PO box in Ventura. He was seen by an eyewitness with Danielle that night. He had a vehicle that matched a vehicle in the case, Wimer said.

“We finally found him,” Wimer said.

Authorities shared the news with Clause’s sister. Detectives’ evidence collection was ahead of its time, Wimer said. “Police officers in the 1990s couldn’t take it any further,” she said.

Marcie Forte, Clause’s sister, said in the video that she remembered going to see her sister’s body. “She was so badly beaten that she was unrecognizable. I didn’t want my mother to see her like that. It was just devastating. Holidays. I always prayed . . . that I’d be able to know who did this. Thirty-one years later, my prayers were answered. They did a phenomenal job, and I’m so grateful that I lived to see at least a measure of justice.”