AUSTIN – A man who pleaded guilty to a decades-old cold case murder in Ector County will spend the next 20 years in prison. Billy Wayne Ludwigson, 62, was arrested by the Texas Rangers after a years-long investigation. He pleaded guilty to murdering 64-year-old Velma Nessett and was found guilty by an Ector County jury in August.
Employees at the Permian Mall in Odessa, Nes., typically commuted to work on foot. On April 19, 1982, her coworkers and family became concerned when she failed to show up for work, and a report was filed with the Odessa Police Department. Nesset’s half-naked body was later found in a drainage ditch. She had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
Odessa police arrested a male suspect who confessed to the crime. However, during his trial in 1983, the suspect was acquitted due to lack of evidence and a false confession. Over the next few years, there were no major developments in Nessett’s case.
And in 2020, Nessett’s case was identified as being of interest to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Program funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA). The Department of Justice/BJA provides investigative funding to agencies across the country to further investigate unsolved sexual assaults and sex-related homicides in hopes of bringing justice to victims and their families.
The SAKI grant was used to pay for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research through Bode Technologies. This test revealed the identity of Billy Wayne Ludwigson, which was confirmed by standard forensic DNA testing. In July 2020, Texas Rangers and Odessa police arrested Ludwigson in Denver, Colorado, and obtained a confession to Nessett’s murder.
In October 2020, Ludwigson was extradited to Texas and indicted on murder charges by an Ector County jury. On August 9, 2024, Ludwigson, now 62 years old, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Additional photos (Billy Wayne Ludwigson):
Left to right: Marijuana Possession (1982), Murder (2020)
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