The man accused of rape and murder in Boston in 1988 is finally on trial. Here’s what you need to know.

In July 1988, Judy Chamberlain’s body was found in the basement of a building on D Street in South Boston. She had been strangled and submerged in a large sewage pump. Decades later, registered sex offender Richard Vega was identified as a suspect. His trial begins this week, with jury selection beginning Monday, according to the office of Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden.

Vega, 61, is accused of premeditated murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Vega has been in prison since 1990, when he was convicted of raping a woman in Revere. He is also known for using the aliases Carl Vega, Ricardo Vega and Ricardo Mazzerino.

Chamberlain was found by a maintenance worker in the former Fargo building at 451 D Street. Investigators found that Chamberlain had been strangled from behind and sexually assaulted, according to court documents filed by the district attorney’s office.

Authorities took a DNA sample from her body during the initial investigation, which was later submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS). The database is used to compare DNA samples from unknown offenders with those of known offenders in other cases, according to Hayden’s office.

In 2011, Vega was identified as a suspect after his DNA profile was matched to that of Chamberlain’s suspected killer. Investigators began to look into Chamberlain’s death again, but did not have enough evidence at the time to convict Vega.

They learned he had been charged with rape in 1987, released on bail, and taken into custody again in 1990. In that case, Vega was found guilty of three counts of rape in connection with the attack on a 72-year-old woman in Revere. He was sentenced to 19.5 to 20 years in prison for those offenses and was required to provide a DNA sample, according to court documents.

As his sentence neared the end, prosecutors requested that he undergo civil indoctrination under the state’s sexually dangerous persons law. A jury found him sexually dangerous in 2008 and extended his sentence, according to Hayden’s office.

In 2019, former Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins launched a new Unsolved Homicide Initiative to “look at unsolved homicide cases with a fresh eye, renewed interest, and a deep commitment to helping citizens who have lost a loved one to violence.”

As a result, investigators learned that Vega was working as a flooring subcontractor in Boston and on the North Shore at the time of Chamberlain’s death. The Fargo building was undergoing major renovations, and a witness told investigators that they had hired Vega to do the work in the building.

Investigators questioned Vega. He denied working for this witness or in the Fargo building in general. Vega was shown photos of Chamberlain, but he denied ever seeing her before. He also denied ever paying sex workers before, as investigators believe Chamberlain was working as a sex worker at the time of her murder.

Vega was informed of the biological evidence linking him to her death, but he continued to deny any connection to Chamberlain in connection with the Fargo building, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

Eventually, enough evidence was gathered to present the case to a Suffolk County grand jury, and on August 30, 2021, an indictment was filed charging Vega with Chamberlain’s murder.

“This trial is a good outcome for DNA science and a good outcome for the investigators who investigated this horrific crime when it happened and for those who reopened it when new evidence emerged. But most importantly, it is a celebratory moment for Judy Chamberlain’s family and friends, who after so many years will have the opportunity to see an answer from the accused for Judy’s tragic death,” Hayden said in a statement.

After news of the charges broke in 2021, Chamberlain’s brother released a statement to The Boston Globe.

“Our family has waited 33 years for someone to be arrested for the brutal death of our sister Judy,” he said in the statement. “We thank everyone involved in his arrest. Our sister can now rest in peace and our family has closure. We love and miss you, Judy.”

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