Phoenix Police make an arrest in unit’s oldest cold case

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department arrested a suspect in its oldest cold case for the murder of an 18-year-old woman that happened almost 40 years ago.

Alfred Earl Green, 70, was charged and arrested for first-degree murder on Thursday, after police sent the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Green was arrested while serving a sentence for an unrelated case, according to a press release.

On January 16, 1986, Lachelle “Shelly” Waite was found dead in her West Valley home near 59th Avenue and Thomas Road. Since the beginning of the investigation detectives believed that Waite had known her killer.

Police found no forced entry into Waite’s home and personal items were taken from inside her home when she was killed. Waite worked near the Maryvale area and had just graduated from Maryvale High School.

Waite was a dance and choir student and she also helped tutored other students. Her mom said Waite planned to marry her high school sweetheart and looked forward to having a family.

How did Phoenix police solve its oldest cold case?

Back then detectives had a strong lead in the case, but there wasn’t sufficient evidence or advances in DNA technology to make an arrest. For nearly 40 years the case went cold.

“I’ve gotten close with Lachelle’s family over the years and I’ve learned what an amazing person Shelly was,” Detective Dominick Roestenberg said. “She was beautiful inside and out. She was caring, kind and had an amazing future ahead of her.”

Detectives never gave up on Waite’s case and in 2016 the Phoenix Police Department Cold Case Homicide Unit reviewed the case once more. Police found evidence collected at the scene of Waite’s murder that couldn’t be tested due to the lack of technology at the time.

In 2022, detectives requested the evidence be sent in for advanced DNA testing.

“Being able to finally let the family know and also let the community know that after 39 years, we’re still working on these cases, trying to get justice for them, for the victims and their families, speaks to what this unit is all about,” Roestenberg said.

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