Man Convicted In 1981 Cold Case Murder Of Woman Strangled To Death With Her Own Pantyhose

Sonia Carmen Herok-Stone was only 30 years old when she was murdered in her home in Monterey County, California. She was strangled with her own pantyhose on Oct. 15, 1981, according to PEOPLE.

At the time of her death, she was a single mother living with her four-year-old daughter and working for Levi Strauss & Company.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office reported that detectives worked on the case at the time and identified Michael Scott Glazebrook as a key suspect. Then 25 years old, Glazebrook was Herok-Stone’s neighbor. He was charged and went to trial in 1983. However, there was a hung jury, and the District Attorney’s Office opted not to retry him for murder at that time.

Then, in late 2020, the case was reopened, and Deputy District Attorney Matt L’Heureux worked with the detectives at the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office to re-examine all the evidence in the case. They deduced that some of the evidence could be tested with DNA technology that hadn’t been developed when Glazebrook first went on trial.

Detectives got a warrant for Glazebrook’s DNA and discovered he was still living and working in Monterey County. They then sent his DNA and evidence from the crime scene to the Department of Justice’s DNA lab for testing.

In August of 2021, detectives learned that evidence from Herok-Stone’s murder was a match to Glazebrook’s DNA profile. They arrested Glazebrook later that month at his residence in Seaside, California. In honor of Herok-Stone, all the detectives wore Levi’s jeans for the arrest.

Finally, on Feb. 6, 2023, over 41 years after the murder, Michael Scott Glazebrook was convicted of first-degree murder with enhancements for using a deadly weapon and for committing rape, PEOPLE reported. This time, Glazebrook, now 67, was found guilty of Herok-Stone’s murder after an eight-day trial.

Sasha Stone, the victim’s daughter, told KSBW, “Sonia was a wonderful woman, and we're so happy to see justice for her.” She also added, “It's been a day that we've been waiting for, for a really long time.”