ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — More than forty years after the murder of an Odessa woman, a 62-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her death, according to an update from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Velma Nesset was murdered in 1982. The 64-year-old went missing on her walk to work at the Permian Mall, and her body was later discovered in a culvert. An autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
An initial suspect was arrested and confessed to the crime, but a 1983 trial ended in acquittal due to insufficient evidence and a false confession. The case then went cold for nearly 40 years.
In 2020, DPS identified Nesset’s case as eligible for advanced DNA testing. That led police to Billy Wayne Ludwigson.
In July 2020, the Texas Rangers and Odessa Police department arrested Ludwigson in Denver, Colorado. According to DPS, he confessed to the murder. Ludwigson would have been 20 at the time of the murder.
He was extradited to Texas in October 2020 and indicted on murder charges. On August 9, 2024, Ludwigson entered a guilty plea. A Ector County court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, per DPS.
Funding for the advanced DNA testing came from the DPS’ Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The program is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance. The DOJ/BJA provides funding for agencies across the U.S. for unsolved sex assault and sexually-related homicides.