Concord Police make arrest in cold case murder after 29 years

CONCORD, CA (Jan. 30, 2023) — On Thursday, January 26, Concord PD detectives arrested 55-year-old James William Grimsley for the 1994 murder of Terrie Ladwig. The arrest came with assistance from Salt Lake City’s Safe Streets Task Force.

Ladwig was murdered in her Concord apartment on December 2, 1994 and the case has remained unsolved until recently. Concord PD has kept this “cold case” open and under investigation since that time.

According to the website gayhistory.wikidot.com, Terrie Ladwig was a transgender woman born in the Philippines. She married Navy submarine crew member Steven Ladwig in 1994, a few months before the killing. Police quickly cleared Steven Ladwig as a suspect because he was stationed on a submarine at the time of the murder. An article on SFGate.com dated January 1995 stated that the Navy gave Steven an “other than honorable” discharge shortly after his wife’s death.

Recent developments led to the identification of Grimsley as a suspect. The truck driver was living in Utah at the time of his arrest. He was 26 in 1994 when Terrie was found strangled at home.

Concord PD worked closely with the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office and the Contra Costa County FBI Safe Streets Task Force to obtain the warrant and locate Grimsley.

Grimsley remains in jail in Salt Lake City  with bail set at $1 million. Authorities expect to extradite him to Contra Costa County this week.

Anyone with information to provide can contact Concord PD Detective James Cartwright at 925-603-5829