SAN DIEGO—A 67-year-old man who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a retiree in Escondido more than 35 years ago was sentenced July 22 to 15 years to life in state prison.
Nathan Eugene Mathis was arrested in April 2018 at his home in Ontario concerning the death of 75-year-old Richard Finney, who was stabbed about three dozen times at his East Mission Avenue apartment.
On the morning of Nov. 13, 1986, Finney was found dead in a living room chair at his home, according to Escondido police. Money, jewelry, and other items belonging to the victim had been stolen.
Though knives, fingerprints, and blood were located inside Finney’s apartment by investigators at the time, the case went cold until technological advances allowed for further examination of the evidence….