Calif. Tech CEO Arrested and Charged in 30-Year-Old Murder Case of Laurie Houts

A tech executive from Calif. has been arrested and charged in connection with the 30-year-old murder of his former roommate's girlfriend.

John Kevin Woodward, president and CEO of Bay Area company ReadyTech, an online training company, was apprehended by police at JFK airport in New York on Saturday after arriving from Amsterdam, Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney said in a news release Monday.

Woodward, who resides in the Netherlands but is an American citizen, has been charged with the 1992 strangulation murder of Laurie Houts, a 25-year-old computer engineer who was "ahead of her time as a woman in the STEM field," according to a news release from the Mountain View Police Department (MVPD).

If convicted, Woodward faces life in prison.

PEOPLE has reached out to ReadyTech for comment. It is unclear if Woodward has obtained legal representation to comment on his behalf.

Woodward, 58, was tried twice unsuccessfully in the late 1990s for Houts' murder. The case was dismissed by a judge for insufficient evidence after a jury could not reach a verdict after the second trial, and Woodward moved to the Netherlands after the case had been dismissed, per the Santa Clara County DA.

On Sept. 5, 1992, Houts was found dead in her car in Mountain View, Calif. near a garbage dump about a mile away from her workplace. The rope used to strangle and kill her was still around her neck, and police say her footprints were on the inside of the windshield. Her "unrifled" pocketbook was also found nearby.

The Santa Clara County DA's Office says Woodward was a prime suspect from the beginning, as he was allegedly "openly jealous" of Houts, "having developed an unrequited romantic attachment to his roommate, her boyfriend."

Though Woodward's fingerprints were allegedly located on the outside of Houts' car, investigators in 1992 could never prove he was inside the vehicle.

However, in late 2020, investigators started to re-examine Houts' case, resubmitting items for analysis, per the MVPD.

"Over 80 latent fingerprints that were also collected at the time of Laurie's death were re-examined by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Identification Unit, which resulted in even more fingerprints matching Woodward," the MVPD's news release stated.

The new information, along with evidence from the original investigation that pointed to Woodward as a primary suspect, led to a warrant for Woodward's arrest for murder, police say.

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"I'm thrilled that we have a second chance to seek justice for Laurie after nearly 30 years. It's so rare that new evidence is discovered decades after a case is dismissed, giving us another shot at holding Mr. Woodward accountable," Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker of the Santa Clara County DA's Office told PEOPLE.

"The arrest of Mr. Woodward is a testament to advances in forensic science. Without those advances, we never would have been able to refile this murder case." Baker continued. "The fact that police didn't start regularly collecting DNA evidence until maybe 20 to 25 years ago makes cold case investigations very challenging. For example, Laurie's purse and wallet might have had a lot of DNA on them, but testing was impossible because they were contaminated with fingerprint dust."

Concluded DA Baker: "Today, the police prefer to start with DNA and then fall back on fingerprints. How times change."

"Laurie Anne Houts was a beloved family member and friend to many. Although she was only 5' tall, she had a huge heart and her humor and spunk were endearing to all," a statement from Houts' family issued through the MVPD read.

"The way Laurie lived and treated people was a stunning example of what was right in the world. She was a gem to so many, but her bright life was taken from us at the age of 25," the statement continued. "We are hopeful that justice can finally be served for Laurie and incredibly appreciative of the law enforcement agencies who have never given up on her."

To keep her memory alive, Houts' family established the Laurie Houts Memorial Girls Athletics Scholarship, whose donations go to graduating female seniors who have been involved in sports all four years and plan to get a degree within a STEM discipline.