Man admits to 2003 Henderson cold-case murder after DNA linked him to crime scene

A man linked to a Henderson cold-case murder by his DNA has admitted to committing the crime.

Ricky Lee Trader, 48, was arrested last year in Reno after being released from prison, where he had served time for another murder.

Authorities accused him of stabbing to death 28-year-old Theresa Romano in 2003 and said new DNA testing tied him to the crime scene.

On Tuesday, Trader pleaded guilty to a count of second-degree murder for Romano’s death. His plea deal specified that the defense and prosecution agreed to a 10 to 25-year sentence in prison.

In a separate 2003 murder case, he was sentenced in 2006 to life with the possibility of parole after 10 years for the stabbing death of Robert Wittwer.

Trader pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing Wittwer, whose body was found on Sept. 10, 2003, just days after Romano’s was discovered. He was paroled in 2021.

Chief Deputy Special Public Defender Jin Kim-Steadman declined to comment on the plea.

Henderson police were dispatched to the house on Gold Street where they found Romano’s body on Sept. 4, 2003, after a friend discovered her body.

She had stab wounds on her neck, police said in a report, and her bra and skirt had been pulled up. Under her torso, investigators found a pair of scissors, which they believed to be the murder weapon.

Police connected Trader to the crime years before his arrest.

A woman arrested on unrelated charges in 2003 told police Trader had appeared at her house a couple days before Wittwer’s death. Trader “was mumbling about ‘there was blood all over the place and she wouldn’t shut up,’” according to police.

Trader’s fingerprints were matched to items in Romano’s residence in 2004.

And in 2010, detectives interviewed Trader in state prison.

He told them he and Romano had a relationship that “developed because of illegal drug activity” and that he and Romano “had engaged in casual sex,” according to the police report. He also recalled detectives taking a DNA sample from him around the time of her death. He denied the claims the police informant made.

Police reviewed the case in 2021 and requested new DNA testing. Henderson police sent swabs to the Metropolitan Police Department’s forensic lab and in May 2024, authorities matched swabs from the victim’s fingernails and underwear to Trader.

Detectives talked to Trader last July when he reported to his parole officer in Reno. At the time, he denied having sex with Romano or killing her, but said he might have been at her house the day before the murder, according to the report.

His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20.

A previous version of this story misstated when Trader would be eligible for parole.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.