Johnny Ray Klein, suspect arrested in cold case murder
AMARILLO, TEXAS -- It was a homicide that had gone unsolved for more than 20 years, and now, it's a cold case that can be closed. Investigators with the Amarillo Special Crimes Unit have arrested the man they believe to have shot and killed Florencio Calzada in December of 1986.
The case was reopened at the end of October of this year when Special Crimes was contacted by a person who said they had information regarding the 1986 homicide.
It was around 4:15 in the morning December 8th almost 24 years ago, when a passerby spotted the body of a man in a bar ditch at I-27 and FM 285 near Wayside. The man was later identified as 31-year-old Florencio Calzada.
It was discovered that Calzada had been shot once in the head. He had been driving a white/tan 1976 Cadillac, and had been involved in a minor accident at the same location around 10:15 pm the night before. A local farmer helped him pull his car out of the ditch, but he slid back into the ditch and was stuck again. Sometime between this time and when he was found Calzada was shot, and at the time a motive was not determined. No one was ever charged in the murder.
The case was reopened, after the person came forward in October this year, and was assigned to Sgt. Kevin Dockery. With the new information, several people were contacted who had information on who had committed this murder, including an eye witness.
Through the course of the investigation, enough information was gathered to present a case to the Randall County District Attorney's office.
On Monday, November 29, Randall County DA James Farren issued a warrant for the arrest of Johnny Ray Klein, 48, for this murder. Klein was arrested around 8:30 Monday evening, in Wichita Falls, with the assistance of Wichita Falls Police Department and the Wichita County Sheriff's Department.
Sgt. Klein talked with Klein after his arrest and he was later booked into the Wichita County jail on the murder warrant. Bond was recommended at $100,000. Klein will be returned to Randall County Jail sometime next week.
Klein's name was not found in any of the paperwork from the original investigation indicating he had been a suspect.
"When we went through the files on this case, we didn't find Mr. Klein's name in there. The reason I say that, I bring that up a lot of times we go through these old cases we'll find the suspect was either known or his name is in the report. And for whatever reason, his name wasn't shown to be the suspect," said Lt. Gary Trupe, Amarillo Special Crimes Unit.
Now the family is one step closer to getting some closure.
"To bring some closure to that family. Sgt. Dockerty spoke with the family this(Tuesday)morning and told them about it and they were ecstatic. They were always wondering kind of what happened to their family member," said Lt. Gary Trupe.
