ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — The 40-year-old cold case involving the murder of 64-year-old Velma Nesset in Ector County has been solved by the Texas Rangers.
The Texas Department of Public Safety made it official in a press release on Wednesday.
On April 19, 1982, Nesset's body was found in a drainage culvert in the 4200 block of Tanglewood after she didn't show up for work.
According to the Odessa Police Department, Nesset was found to be sexually assaulted and stabbed to death.
Due to investigative efforts and forensic technology in 2020, police were able to identify then 58-year-old Billy Wayne Ludwigson as a suspect.
After being charged with murder in 2020, now 62-year-old Ludwigson has pled guilty to the murder of Nesset.
Ludwigson will be behind bars for the next 20 years.