Cold Case: Arrest Made in Quarter Century Old Redlands Murder

An Arizona man was waiting extradition Tuesday to California, where he's facing charges of murder for the 1988 death of a Redlands woman, police announced.

63-year-old Jimmy B. Morrison was arrested Monday with the assistance of the Pima County Sheriff's Department, according to Redlands Police Spokesman Carl Baker.


Morrison is suspected of killing Catherine Dade, who was 56 at the time of her death and the director of the Guadalupe Boys Home in Yucaipa, where Morrison was the assistant director, according to Baker.  The murder happened on June 15, 1988.

"Dade’s body was discovered that same day in her south Redlands home after she failed to show up to work," Baker said in a press statement.  "She had suffered blunt force trauma and other injuries."

According to Baker, Morrison was pegged as a suspect in Dade's death after she was killed, but the district attorney's office declined to file charges at the time.  No other arrests were made and the case went cold.

"Redlands detectives reopened the case in 2005 and more recently the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Unit decided to file charges against Morrison," Baker said.  "On Aug. 23, Redlands detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Morrison and coordinated with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department to make Monday’s arrest."

The Pima County Sheriff's Department arrested Morrison around 8:20 a.m. at his home in that jurisdiction, and he was booked into their jail system in lieu of $1 million bail while he awaits an extradition hearing, according to Baker.