More than three decades after a Washington mother was found dead inside her home, investigators have made an arrest in a case that had gone cold.
In November 1992, Janice Randle was found dead on her bed inside her Graham, Washington, home, with her young daughter nearby in a crib.
At the time, her husband, James Randle, told authorities she may have died from a drug overdose, citing a past history of painkiller use.
The couple had been separated and were going through a divorce.
The case was initially treated as a death investigation and possible overdose.
However, autopsy results later revealed there were no drugs in Randle’s system, prompting investigators to reclassify the case as a homicide.
Despite that shift, only limited evidence was available, and detectives were unable to establish probable cause for an arrest.
The case remained unsolved for decades.
The investigation was revived in recent years after family members came forward with new information, including accounts of alleged confessions made by James Randle.
Those leads gave investigators a fresh perspective and a new path forward.
Authorities say the renewed investigation ultimately established probable cause to arrest the 68-year-old suspect, who was living in a care center in Everett, Washington.
He was taken into custody on April 1.
Investigators now believe Janice Randle died as the result of a violent struggle with her husband, with newly uncovered evidence contradicting the original account from 1992.
“This case stands as a powerful example of how advancements in technology and investigative practices can bring justice — even decades later,” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Most importantly, it is a testament to the unwavering commitment of the detectives and investigators who refused to let Janice’s story be forgotten,” officials added. “Their diligence, compassion and determination have given Janice’s family the closure they have sought for so many years.”
Court documents obtained by Fox 13 Seattle indicate the suspect allegedly admitted to two family members in the years after Janice’s death that he killed her and staged the aftermath to appear as a drug overdose.
Investigators also noted Janice had visible bruising and signs of a struggle, though her death was initially ruled undetermined.
The records show the couple had been in a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time, and the suspect had a prior domestic violence conviction and made threats in the weeks leading up to her death.
Jail records show James Robert Randle was booked into the Pierce County Jail April 1 on a first-degree murder charge with bail set at $1 million.
The break in the case was driven in part by Randle’s daughters, one of whom was just 18 months old and in a crib next to her mother the night she died and helped bring renewed attention to the investigation decades later.
Janice’s oldest daughter, Katie Wakin, credited both her family and investigators for finally bringing the case back to light.
“The blessing of having a lot of my mom’s best friends fill in the gaps for us as kids because she was gone,” Wakin told Fox 13 Seattle. “I’ve had the pleasure of bonding with my siblings, and we’re very, very close.”
Wakin was 14 years old when her mother was killed and said she never expected to see an arrest.
“I don’t want to say I gave up hope, but I never thought I would see this in my lifetime,” she said. “I accepted that. I was at peace with that— until about a year ago.”
That shift came when her younger half-sister, Kourtney Lewis, who was just 18 months old at the time of the killing, began digging into the case in 2025 while trying to learn more about her mother for her own children.
“I never looked at some of the documents … just the basic documents when someone dies,” Lewis told Fox 13 Seattle. “When I looked at them, I knew. I knew exactly what was happening. And, so, I said, ‘I need to figure this out.’”
Together, the sisters gathered information and pushed for answers, efforts that ultimately helped investigators reexamine evidence and zero in on the suspect.
For Randle’s family, the arrest marks a long-awaited step toward closure after more than 30 years.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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