The 45-Year Lie: How DNA Cracked The Shocking Case Of Lewis Randolph 'Randy' Williamson, The Man Who Passed A Polygraph

The recent identification of Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson as the killer of 17-year-old Esther Gonzalez has sent shockwaves through the true crime community and the field of forensic science. This case, which remained cold for over 45 years, is a stunning testament to the power of modern DNA technology, particularly because Williamson was the very person who reported finding the victim's body and was subsequently cleared by a polygraph test back in 1979. As of December 2025, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has officially closed the case, naming Williamson as the perpetrator, a man who lived the rest of his life as a free person after successfully deceiving investigators decades ago.

The resolution of this decades-old mystery not only brings a long-awaited answer to the family of Esther Gonzalez but also highlights a critical vulnerability in historical investigative techniques, specifically the reliability of the polygraph. Williamson's ability to evade justice for so long, only to be caught years after his death, serves as a powerful cautionary tale about the limitations of 20th-century forensics and the relentless pursuit of truth by modern cold case teams.

Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson: A Posthumous Profile

The life of Lewis Randolph "Randy" Williamson is now defined by a single, dark secret he successfully concealed for 35 years until his death and for 45 years until his posthumous identification. While details of his private life remain sparse in public records, the available information paints a picture of a man who managed to slip through the grasp of justice.

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• Full Name: Lewis Randolph "Randy" Williamson.
• Primary Association: The man who reported finding the body of 17-year-old Esther Gonzalez in 1979 and was later identified as her rapist and killer.
• Date of Crime: February 9, 1979.
• Location of Crime: Near Highway 243 south of Poppet Flat Road in Banning, Riverside County, California.
• Initial Investigation Status: Identified as a suspect and voluntarily submitted to a polygraph test, which he *passed*, leading investigators to clear him.
• Later Life: Williamson moved to Florida at some point after the 1979 murder.
• Date of Death: 2014.
• Location of Death: Florida.
• Posthumous Identification: Linked to the crime in 2025 (or late 2024 with 2025 coverage) through advanced DNA forensic genealogy.
• Autopsy Detail: A blood sample was collected during his autopsy in Florida, which was instrumental in the DNA match.

The fact that Williamson died in 2014 means he was never arrested, charged, or prosecuted for the heinous crimes against Esther Gonzalez. This tragic reality is a common outcome in cold cases solved decades later, offering closure to the family but no formal legal justice.

The Esther Gonzalez Cold Case: A 45-Year Pursuit of Truth

The murder of Esther Gonzalez is a devastating example of a case that went cold despite the presence of physical evidence. On February 9, 1979, Esther, a 17-year-old girl, was walking from her parents’ home in Beaumont to her sister’s house in Banning, California, when she was attacked, kidnapped, and brutally murdered.

The Brutal Crime and The Discovery

Esther Gonzalez was found bludgeoned to death and had been raped. Her body was discovered "dumped in a snowpack" alongside Highway 243. The person who made the call to the Riverside County Sheriff’s investigators reporting the discovery was Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson.

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Detectives quickly identified Williamson and brought him in for questioning. During this initial phase of the investigation, Williamson agreed to take a polygraph test, a common, though controversial, tool used by law enforcement at the time. The results of this test were pivotal. Williamson passed the polygraph, and investigators, trusting the technology, cleared him as a suspect, allowing the true killer to walk free. The case went cold shortly thereafter.

The polygraph, or lie detector test, measures physiological responses like heart rate and perspiration. While widely used, its scientific reliability has been consistently questioned. In this instance, Williamson's ability to pass the test effectively derailed the investigation for over four decades, demonstrating a catastrophic failure of the technology to detect a dangerous truth.

The DNA Breakthrough: Forensic Genealogy Solves the Unsolvable

The resolution of the Esther Gonzalez murder is a powerful illustration of how the convergence of old evidence and new technology, specifically forensic genetic genealogy (FGG), is revolutionizing cold case investigations across the nation. This technique was the key to unlocking the 45-year-old secret Lewis Randolph Williamson had taken to his grave.

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The Mechanism of Forensic Genealogy

In the original 1979 investigation, investigators had collected physical evidence, including semen, which contained the killer's DNA. While DNA analysis was not available then, the evidence was meticulously preserved—a critical factor in the case's eventual resolution.

Decades later, a crime analyst assigned to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office's cold case team focused on the preserved DNA. The sample was submitted for FGG analysis. This process involves creating a DNA profile from the crime scene evidence and uploading it to public genealogy databases (like GEDmatch or others used by law enforcement) to find distant relatives of the perpetrator.

By building out family trees from these distant matches, investigators can eventually narrow the focus down to a single person. In this case, the trail led directly back to Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson.

The Autopsy Sample and Final Confirmation

The investigative team discovered that Williamson had died in Florida in 2014. Crucially, a blood sample had been collected during his autopsy. With the assistance of the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida, investigators were able to obtain this sample.

A direct comparison between the semen found at the 1979 crime scene and the blood sample from Williamson's 2014 autopsy provided an irrefutable match. The DNA evidence confirmed, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Lewis Randolph "Randy" Williamson was the rapist and killer of Esther Gonzalez. This final piece of evidence officially solved the case, finally confirming the truth that the polygraph had failed to reveal so many years prior.

The Legacy of the 45-Year Cold Case

The case of Lewis Randolph Williamson and Esther Gonzalez serves as a vital historical marker. It is a stark reminder that while investigative tools evolve, the commitment to justice must remain constant. The successful resolution of this cold case, over four decades later, offers profound closure to the Gonzalez family, who had lived with the mystery and pain of Esther's murder for nearly half a century.

The case also solidifies the role of forensic genealogy as one of the most powerful tools in modern law enforcement. It allows cold case teams to revisit decades-old crimes that were previously deemed unsolvable, often finding justice in the most unexpected of places—even in the autopsy records of a man who thought he had successfully outsmarted the system. The entities involved, including the Riverside County DA's Office and the Broward County Sheriff's Office, demonstrated the inter-agency cooperation necessary to leverage these powerful new technologies and ensure that time is no longer a shield for murderers.

Ultimately, the story of Lewis Randolph Williamson is a chilling account of a double life—a man who lived free for decades, carrying the burden of a brutal crime. His posthumous identification confirms that in the era of DNA forensics, the truth has an unparalleled ability to endure and eventually surface, no matter how long the wait.