Police believe convicted serial killer is responsible for 1998 murder in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — A convicted serial killer on death row in California is now facing a new charge for a 1998 murder in Salt Lake City.

Itisha Camp was found strangled to death with a scarf 26 years ago. The suspect left DNA on her. However, it hadn’t been tested against a national database until a cold case team took another look at this case.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the DNA was a match for Chester Turner.

“In 2023, one day I loaded that information up into the CODIS, (and it) found a hit with a person,” he said. “In this case, [it was] the defendant who was in California.”

Turner has a history of killing women who lived or worked on the streets.

“The defendant has been convicted of 14 different homicides of young females, going from 1989 to about the year 2000,” Gill said.

Not only did Turner’s DNA match, but he had been living in Salt Lake at the time of Camp’s murder. Additionally, he had been violating his parole for auto theft and drug sales in California.

Though he’s already facing the death penalty, Gill said they’re charging him now with aggravated murder in Utah. He said police are exploring extradition to Utah so Camp’s family can finally see justice served.

Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.

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