80-Year-Old Arrested in Decades-Old Double Murder

Stockton police arrested Donald Lee Clark, 80, on April 22 in connection with a double homicide that had gone unsolved since 1994. Prosecutors say Clark killed Eugene Cates and Lawrence Loehr, both 23, whose bodies were found at a construction site on Thornton Road in Stockton on May 23, 1994. The arrest came after what police and prosecutors described as renewed cold-case work and advances in forensic testing. Clark has since been charged with two counts of murder in San Joaquin County. ### Who were the two men killed in 1994? Eugene Cates and Lawrence “Larry” Loehr were longtime friends who were 23 years old when they were killed, according to local news reports and court coverage. SFGATE reported the two men were criminal justice students and were preparing for careers in law enforcement. Recordnet reported they were found dead after officers responded to the area in the early morning hours. (crimevoice.com) May 23, 1994, is the date authorities have repeatedly tied to the killings. The bodies were discovered in the 10000 block of Thornton Road, a north Stockton area that local reports described as a construction site. Early reporting from The Record said Loehr had been working as a security guard at the site. (sfgate.com) ### How did investigators make an arrest after more than 30 years? April 2026 brought a break after Stockton’s cold-case investigators reopened and reworked the file. Police said evidence from the original investigation had been submitted for analysis, and later reporting said newer forensic work helped identify Clark as a suspect. ABC10 quoted San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas as saying “new technology” and a cold-case task force helped move the case forward. (cslea.com) DNA Solves, a site that publishes case updates tied to forensic genealogy work, reported that a comparison between Clark’s DNA profile and DNA from crime-scene evidence helped identify him. That account aligns with other local reports that described advanced forensic testing as the breakthrough in the case. (cslea.com) ### What charges does Clark face now? Donald Lee Clark has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Cates and Loehr, according to Recordnet and other local outlets. SFGATE reported the case also includes special-circumstance allegations tied to multiple murders, as well as firearm and deadly-weapon enhancements. The same report said prosecutors contend Clark could face the death penalty if convicted. (dnasolves.com) April 24 was Clark’s first court appearance, according to multiple local reports. Recordnet reported he entered the courtroom in a wheelchair wearing an orange jail uniform. ### Where was Clark taken into custody? Stockton was where members of the U.S. (recordnet.com) Marshals Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Clark on April 22, according to police accounts carried by local outlets. He was then booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on the homicide charges. The Stockton Police Department has said its cold-case unit has expanded in recent years. (recordnet.com) A city page on unresolved homicides says the department has added investigators and resources and has been processing older DNA cases through the California Department of Justice lab. The city page does not name Clark, but it describes the broader cold-case push that preceded the arrest. (209times.com) ### What happens next in court? June 1 is the next court date cited in the Patch-derived and local follow-up reports on the case. Clark is expected to appear again in San Joaquin County Superior Court as prosecutors continue the murder case. San Joaquin County prosecutors have not publicly laid out a trial schedule in the reports reviewed here. (stocktonca.gov) For now, the next milestone is Clark’s June 1 court appearance in Stockton, where the case against him is set to move forward. (msn.com)