Man found dead in his home in 1983, California cops say. Now, 70-year-old charged

A 70-year-old man faces a murder charge in a cold-case slaying that dates back to 1983, California police reported.

Detectives arrested Michael Larry Manatt of Huntington Beach on Friday, Dec. 6, the Newport Beach Police Department said in a news release.

Manatt is accused of killing Ronald Gaskey in Gaskey’s Newport Beach home on Dec. 13, 1983, police said.

Gaskey, 35, a construction worker, was found dead in a second-story hallway by his ex-girlfriend after he failed to show up at work, The Orange Coast Daily Pilot reported at the time.

He had been clubbed in the head and face, police told the publication.

Detectives reopened the case a few years ago to revisit the reports and evidence, police said. They also conducted new interviews, leading to Manatt’s arrest.

Newport Beach is about a 45-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.

This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Man found dead in his home in 1983, California cops say. Now, 70-year-old charged."