Decades-Old Cold Case Solved: Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Murder of Odessa Woman

Billy Wayne Ludwigson, 62, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 1982 murder of 64-year-old Velma Nesset in Ector County (West Texas). Ludwigson’s arrest by Texas Rangers marks the conclusion of a lengthy investigation into the cold case.

Nesset, an employee at Permian Mall in Odessa, typically walked to and from work. Her co-workers and family reported her missing on April 19, 1982, when she failed to arrive for her shift. Concern grew as the hours passed without any word, prompting the Odessa Police Department to launch a search.

Tragically, Nesset’s partially nude body was discovered later that day in a drainage culvert. The autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.

Initially, police arrested a male suspect who confessed to Nesset’s murder. However, during the trial in 1983, he was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and the revelation that his confession was coerced. Following this setback, the case went cold, and for decades, no major leads emerged.

In 2020, advancements in forensic technology offered a glimmer of hope. Nesset’s case was identified as eligible for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a program funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance aimed at addressing unsolved sexual assault cases. SAKI provided the necessary funding for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research through Bode Technologies.

This cutting-edge analysis successfully identified Ludwigson as the perpetrator, confirming his identity through normal forensic DNA testing. In July 2020, the Texas Rangers and the Odessa Police Department arrested Ludwigson in Denver, Colorado. Upon his arrest, he confessed to the murder of Nesset.

Ludwigson was extradited to Texas in October 2020 and subsequently indicted by an Ector County jury on murder charges. On August 9, 2024, he pled guilty to the charges, bringing a sense of closure to the family and friends of Velma Nesset after decades of seeking justice.