Florida inmate charged with 1986 OC dentist killing to appear in court

A Florida prison inmate serving time for a 1987 murder in that state made his first appearance in a Santa Ana courtroom Thursday afternoon on a charge of killing a semi-retired dentist in Orange County in 1986.

Steven Wyvern White, 66, is accused of the financially motivated murder of 79-year-old Dr. Cedric Horn, who was reported missing 30 years ago and whose body has never been recovered, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin.

His arraignment was rescheduled for May 20.

White, who was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars for killing 48- year-old James Albert Boyd in February 1987, was extradited from Florida to Orange County on Wednesday.

White allegedly made “incriminating statements” regarding Horn’s disappearance while being questioned by Orange County sheriff’s deputies last year in Florida, Yellin said.

Detectives suspect White befriended Horn in order to steal from him, the prosecutor said. A check for $60,000 was drawn from the victim’s bank account, which the defendant tried to spend after Horn disappeared, Yellin alleged.

White, posing as Boyd, attempted to withdraw money from the victim’s bank account and then tried to refinance his truck, the prosecutor alleged.

When White was arrested in June 1987, he had Boyd’s property on him, Yellin said. After White’s conviction for killing Boyd, police in Florida told sheriff’s deputies in Orange County that the defendant was in possession of property belonging to Horn, Yellin said.

Horn left his home for a business meeting in Northern California on March 7, 1986, with plans to visit his daughter in Oregon, as well, Yellin said. Horn, however, told his daughter during the trip that he changed his mind and was headed home, the prosecutor said.

The victim’s car was found in Houston on April 7, 1986, with Horn’s blood soaking a passenger seat headrest, Yellin said.

Last year, investigators established a DNA profile from the evidence in the car that matched the victim, the prosecutor said.

White faces a special circumstance allegation of committing another murder, meaning he would face at least life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the Orange County killing.

— Wire reports 

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