A 35-year-old unsolved mystery from the East Bay has been solved, however the murder suspect is not around to face justice.
32-year-old Maria Weidhofer, known to her friends and family as an artist, baker, and avid runner, was found strangled to death on a trail in Tilden Regional Park, near Berkeley, on November 16, 1990. Authorities found contusions on Weidhofer's body, and evidence of sexual assault, but no suspect was identified in the case until 2024.
Officials with the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department announced today that they positively identified Jon Lipari as their prime suspect last year, with the use of DNA and the Combined DNA Index System. The FBI began assisting on the case in 2020, more than 20 years after the DNA evidence was submitted to the system, which was in 1997.
Investigators don't believe Lipari and Weidhofer had had any prior contacts before the murder. Lipari would have been in his mid-30s at the time of the murder, and was living in Martinez, as KPIX reports via a press conference.
Lipari was more recently living in Gold Beach, Oregon, and investigators say that he was found dead in his home in November 2024 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to East Bay Regional Park District Police Detective Christopher Rudy, investigators had not spoken to Lipari, and there is no evidence to indicate that he was aware of the investigation or their identification of him as a suspect -- but perhaps he'd found out somehow.
"Even after 35 years of this horrific crime, we never gave up, and I really credit that again to our hard-working staff here at the park district and our police department," said Park District General Manager Sabrina Landreth in a statement to KPIX. "None of this would have happened without all of our important regional partners ... and I really want to extend our thanks to you for also being alongside us and not giving up. And lastly, to the [victim's] family, I know this doesn't bring complete closure, but I just want you to know, we always were here with you. This is a solemn day, but I do hope this does bring some little bit of answer and closure to you as you've been suffering through this."
Per KPIX, Weidhofer's brother Hans put out a statement from the family, saying, "Thirty-five years ago, our family was irreparably harmed because of the loss of Maria. In the ensuing years, our parents, Jane and Karl, struggled mightily with psychological repercussions, including the frustration of knowing the perpetrator was likely still free. Maria, the family, and the world have been carelessly cheated and deprived of her future. On behalf of our immediate and extended family, we would like to express our gratitude to law enforcement for their unceasing efforts in finally bringing some measure of closure to this tragedy. We shall remember Maria as a gentle soul, pursuing her dreams as an artist and baker in the Bay Area community she loved. Our wish is that she will be remembered for the person she was, and not for what happened to her."