A 90-year-old woman found dead in her Lafayette home on Saturday had been sexually assaulted and smothered to death, authorities said Monday.
Anna Elizabeth Vuori, a retiree who lived alone, died of asphyxiation due to an obstructed airway, according to an autopsy conducted Monday by the Contra Costa coroner's office.
No arrests have been made, and investigators have not determined the motive in Vuori's slaying, which has shocked residents of a city where authorities are now looking into three unusual deaths.
Five registered sex offenders live in Lafayette, and investigators are likely to question them about their whereabouts -- although sheriff's office spokesman Jimmy Lee said there is nothing specifically suggesting that the killer was a registered offender.
"We're looking at everything and everybody that might have had something to do with this," Lee said. The sheriff's office handles police services for the city of 25,000 residents.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/13/BAG6OG75F91.DTL
Anna Elizabeth Vuori, a retiree who lived alone, died of asphyxiation due to an obstructed airway, according to an autopsy conducted Monday by the Contra Costa coroner's office.
No arrests have been made, and investigators have not determined the motive in Vuori's slaying, which has shocked residents of a city where authorities are now looking into three unusual deaths.
Five registered sex offenders live in Lafayette, and investigators are likely to question them about their whereabouts -- although sheriff's office spokesman Jimmy Lee said there is nothing specifically suggesting that the killer was a registered offender.
"We're looking at everything and everybody that might have had something to do with this," Lee said. The sheriff's office handles police services for the city of 25,000 residents.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/13/BAG6OG75F91.DTL
