Man who murdered Nipomo woman to be released from prison

May 7, 2026

Alberto Tamez, Jr.

By KAREN VELIE

A man who robbed, raped and murdered a Nipomo woman in 1974 is slated to be released in San Luis Obispo County after spending m0re than 50 years in prison.

The California Board of Parole granted 75-year-old Alberto Tamez, Jr. parole during a hearing in Dec. 2025. After the governor took no action, Tamez is now eligible for parole from the California Men’s Colony.

On the evening of June 17, 1974, wife and mother Genevieve Adaline Moreno was working her shift at Old Blues Bar in Nipomo when her husband Richard Moreno returned to pick her up as was their nightly custom.

He walked in to find an empty bar, the cash register open and emptied and his wife nowhere to be found. He immediately called law enforcement.

Early the next morning, law enforcement found Adaline Moreno’s body in a field approximately a quarter mile from the bar, beneath a grove of eucalyptus trees. She had been robbed, kidnapped, beaten, sexually assaulted, and murdered.

Law enforcement discovered Tamez with bloodstains on his shirt and hands, and foxtails and other debris on his clothing. Tamez later admitted to striking Adaline Moreno, robbing the cash register, dragging her from the bar to the eucalyptus grove and beating her as she screamed and begged him not to hurt her.

On Sept. 3, 1974, Tamez pleaded no contest to first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in state prison with the possibility of parole.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow released a statement voicing his opposition to Tamez’s parole.

“To all who knew and loved Genevieve Adaline Moreno — I want you to know that this office has stood by her memory and will continue to do so. What happened to Genevieve was a horrific, senseless act of violence. She was an innocent woman doing her job, and she was robbed of her life, her dignity, and her future by a man who showed her no mercy. No amount of time erases that truth.

“I am deeply troubled that our criminal and victim justice system has reached a result where the man who brutally murdered Genevieve Moreno over fifty years ago will now walk free. My office fought this outcome at every stage — opposing his attempt to vacate his conviction, and making clear to the courts that Alberto Tamez, Jr. was not a peripheral figure or a legal technicality. He was the killer. He admitted it. The evidence was overwhelming.

“Genevieve Moreno deserved better. She deserved the full protection of justice, and it is my solemn obligation as District Attorney to ensure that her story is not forgotten and that her life is honored. To see her killer released is a painful outcome that this office did not support and did not accept without a fight.

“As your District Attorney, I will continue to use every lawful tool available to ensure that violent offenders are held fully accountable for the harm they inflict on our community’s most vulnerable. Justice for Genevieve Moreno demanded that Alberto Tamez, Jr. remain incarcerated. We fought for that outcome. We are deeply disappointed that the Board of Parole Hearings granted parole, and that the Governor chose to take no action to reverse that decision. We will remain vigilant in protecting the people of San Luis Obispo County.”