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Thursday, 14 February 2008 05:28

Former Amador County Convict Arrested

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slide14.pngA former Amador County convict was arrested this week in San Luis Obispo. Prosecutors filed murder charges Wednesday against Freddie Joe Lewis, 54, who was sentenced in 1994 in Amador County to six years in prison for committing a lewd act on a child. He is accused of killing 59-year-old Sharon Ostman who was found beaten three years ago in a downtown creek in San Luis Obispo. Lewis was charged with murder, sexual penetration with a foreign object and being a habitual sex offender, according to the city’s Chief Deputy District Attorney. 

If found guilty, he would be considered a habitual sex offender because of his previous sex offense in Amador County, and could face 25 years to life in prison. According the San Luis Obispo’s website, Detectives arrested him Monday at a San Luis Obispo parole office after new physical evidence found in the nearly three-year-old case helped support a murder charge. Ostman was a homeless woman who’s half-nude body was found last July. An autopsy report showed that she had been sexually assaulted, suffered blunt-force head injuries and had bruises on her thigh and kneecaps.

Lewis was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender and being drunk in public in 2003. It was reported in 2004 that Lewis had been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in a San Luis Obispo motel and was never charged in that case. The former U.S. marine grew up in San Luis Obispo but spent many years living around the country. He also worked as a cook and truck driver in the Lake Tahoe area. Although Lewis was a prime suspect in the killing, it was not until last week that officials had enough evidence to arrest him. Lewis is scheduled to be arraigned today in San Luis Obispo Court.  San Luis Obispo.com contributed to this story

Read 1556 times Last modified on Wednesday, 19 August 2009 01:55