ONEOFTHEIR OWN

Claire Hough was nearing her 15th birthday whenshetraveled from Rhode Island to San Diego to visit her grandparents.

Shenever got to blow out any candles.Somebody killedher first.

Hermurderin Augustof 1984 became oneofthe county’s mosttroubling unsolvedhomicides brutal inits detailsand frighteninginitslocation:scenic TorreyPines State Beach, visited bythousandsof people annually.

Theseries

Today: Acoldcase.ADNAhit.And finallyjustice.Or wasit?

Sunday, Feb.13: “Imusthave had sex withher.” Doubtscreepin asa detectivespringshistrap.

Sunday, Feb.20: “Theyarenot going to get away withthis.” Awidow’squestdeliversadramatic courtroom twist.

Asthe years went by, SanDiego police cold-case detectives revisitedtheslaying fromtime to time, lookingthroughthe files for missed clues andasking criminalists ifthere was somenew way to extractDNA fromthe evidence.

It turned out therewas.

Whathappened nextisthe stuffof Hollywood movies,mystery novelsand true-crimepodcasts— atlonglastananswer to thequestion ofwhat happened to Claire Hough. A triumph,itseemed,of tenacity and technology.

But the DNA results becamemore complicated than that, and more tragic Story beginson A12.

Cordero Garciasaidhehad receivedthreats byphoneand text for a monthabouthis reporting.Hehadtakenthemseriouslyenough to enroll 10 days before the attackinthe Federal

SEE SAFETY • A20

Today, anOpinionspecial sectionpresents commentaries abouttheslain journalistsin Mexico anddisplaysthephotojournalismofAlfonso Margarito MartínezEsquivel,who was killedlastmonth. Inside