New DNA evidence resulted in the arrest of a homicide suspect seven years after the brutal stabbing death of a Fairfield woman in her home.
Ricardo Cruz, 34, was arrested Tuesday morning in connection to the November 2003 killing of 55-year-old Kathryn Iola Vitagliano, who was found stabbed to death in her home located in the 2000 block of Robin Drive.

According to the Solano County District Attorney's Office, recently discovered DNA evidence found at the scene linked Cruz, the ex-boyfriend of one of Vitagliano's daughters, to the killing.

Investigators identified Cruz, a former Vallejo resident who has since moved to Santa Rosa, as a suspect in Vitagliano's death late in 2010 and on Monday, the DA's Office brought homicide charges against him in Superior Court, according to the DA's Office. Cruz was taken into custody by Fairfield and Santa Rosa police officers, along with cold case units from the DA's Office, during a car stop in Santa Rosa.

Authorities have spent years investigating Vitagliano's death after she was discovered by her older daughter lying face down on the floor between the home's kitchen and living room with multiple stab wounds to her head, neck and arms, according to a report by the Solano County Coroner's Office.

A retired psychiatric technician at Napa State Hospital, Vitagliano had moved to the area in 2002 and lived with her two daughters.

At the time of her death, neighbors reported to police that they did not hear or see anything out of the ordinary at the home, which is surrounded by a high fence, and police said there were no signs of a break-in.

In 2006, a $50,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of Vitagliano's killer after Fairfield police detectives petitioned Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in June 2005 for a reward to assist in identifying any suspect in the case.

Vitagliano's death was Fairfield's 11th homicide of 2003, a number that would increase to 12 before the year came to a close.

Cruz was booked into Sonoma County Jail in Santa Rosa and is awaiting transportation back to Solano County.