Man Extradited to Oregon to Face Murder Charges in 1983 Josephine County Cold Case

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Justice is prosecuting 72-year-old Mark Sanfratello for the 1983 Murder of Teresa Peroni in Josephine County. He has been extradited to Oregon and was arraigned in court yesterday.

40-Year-Old Cold Case Suspect Finally In Court

Four decades after the disappearance of Peroni, a Josephine County woman, Sanfrantello is back in Oregon to face a murder charge in this long-unsolved case.

The investigation began in the summer of 1983 after Peroni, then 27, was reported missing shortly after attending a party in the Selma area, and her disappearance was deemed suspicious.

Peroni was last seen walking into the woods with Sanfratello, her boyfriend at the time. However, despite an initial investigation by the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office, there was not enough evidence to move forward with charges against Sanfratello at the time.

A human skull was then discovered on nearby private property in 1997, but no other remains were found.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said:

What happened to Teresa Peroni left her family with decades of uncertainty and grief.

The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office reopened the case last year, with support from the Oregon Department of Justice, the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office, and Chico Police. Investigators re-interviewed witnesses, collected new DNA evidence, and used modern forensic testing to obtain new evidence.

Sanfratello was arrested on June 28 this year by Chico Police in California and was arraigned yesterday in Josephine County Circuit Court after being extradited to Oregon.

On June 27, a Josephine County Grand Jury indicted him for Murder in the Second Degree, in connection with Peroni’s disappearance and death.

Senior AAGs Brad Kalbaugh and John Casalino, who will lead all litigation, worked with investigators to obtain the indictment. The case is being prosecuted by the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ) Criminal Division.