A man accused in a 1989 cold case involving the rape and stabbing of a woman in her San Mateo home pleaded no contest to the charges and now faces life in prison, authorities said.

John Harris Jr. entered the no-contest plea to attempted murder and aggravated mayhem just as jury selection was about to begin on Sep. 4, the San Mateo Police Department said in a social media post on Tuesday.

Harris, 59, was arrested in 2021 in San Joaquin County after advances in DNA technology enabled investigators to revisit the evidence and resubmit it, resulting in a match, police said.

John Harris Jr. as he appeared in 1989 and in his 2001 booking photo. San Mateo Police Department

On Feb. 4, 1989, a man entered the victim's apartment in East San Mateo near Los Prados Park at about 4:15 a.m., g

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