Sex Offender Convicted In Cold Case Mall Kidnapping

SAN JOSE, CA — A convicted sex offender faces a potential life sentence after he was convicted this week in the violent kidnapping of an Oakridge Mall worker three decades ago.

The jury handed down a guilty verdict against Thomas Loguidice, 67, following two days of deliberation.

According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, the 21-year-old victim worked as the acting manager of a President Tuxedo store. She was preparing to open the shop on Jan. 13, 1994, when Loguidice entered the showroom and forced her into a storage room at knifepoint.

Once inside, Loguidice bound her wrists and tied her to a pipe, left to take money from a cash register, and returned to sexually assault the victim while she was restrained, court filings said.

The San Jose Police Department exhausted several leads before the case went cold, but DNA collected at the crime scene was reexamined in 2022 by cold case investigators. According to the DA's office, DNA samples entered into the CODIS system matched the profile for Loguidice, who was in the database after being convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a preteen in San Benito County in 2012.

Loguidice is serving out a 40-year sentence in the 2012 case and will be sentenced for the kidnapping in January, which carries the potential for life in prison. Prosecutors said he was not indicted for the sexual assault component because the statute of limitations expired in 2000.

"We do not forget," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. "The passage of time does not minimize this defendant's violent and horrific acts, and he deserves to be held accountable. I am grateful for the terrific work of our Crime Lab, investigators, and prosecutors to bring this perpetrator to justice."