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Murder
Murder
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1977 May 14 |
Capt. Robert Nairac (29), an underground British soldier, was abducted from a border pub by an IRA gang, taken across the border into a Republic of Ireland forest, and shot through the head. In 2008 the Police Service of Northern Ireland press office confirmed the arrest of Kevin Crilly (57), an IRA veteran, on suspicion of involvement in Nairac's killing. On April 1, 2011, Crilly was acquitted of all charges against him. Links: Britain, Ireland, Murder, Northern Ireland 
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1977 Jul 11 |
In Argentina Bishop Carlos Horacio Ponce de Leon (b.1914) died in a car accident while driving with Victor Oscar Martinez to deliver evidence of junta crimes to the Vatican’s representative. The evidence disappeared. Links: Argentina, Murder
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1977 Aug 10 |
Postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, NY, accused of being the "Son of Sam" gunman responsible for six slayings and seven woundings. Berkowitz was sentenced to six consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences. Links: USA, New York, Murder
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1977 Aug 15 |
Police in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, found Mary Parsh (58) and her daughter, Brenda (27), lying nude side by side on a bed at home, their hands tied behind their backs. Each had been shot in the head. In 2007 Timothy Krajcir (63), a graduate from Southern Illinois with a degree in law enforcement, confessed to their rape and murder and at least 4 more. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1982 killing of a Southern Illinois University Carbondale student, Deborah Sheppard. and, in addition, was charged with five counts of murder and three counts of rape against women in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri, area from 1977 to 1982. In 2008, Krajcir pleaded guilty and was sentenced to another 40 years in prison for the 1978 killing of Marion resident Virginia Lee Witte. Links: USA, Murder, Missouri, Rape
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1977 Sep 9 |
Mary Ann Quigley (17) was killed near War Memorial Park in Santa Clara, Ca. In 2006 Richard Armand Archibeque (47) was arrested for her rape and murder based on DNA evidence. They had been classmates at Santa Clara High School. Links: California, Murder, DNA, Rape
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1977 Sep 10 |
Convicted murderer Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant, became the last person to date to be executed by the guillotine in France. Links: France, Murder, Tunisia
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1977 Sep 11 |
Lou Ellen Burleigh (21) of Walnut Creek, Ca., went missing. Roger Kibbe was later identified as a suspect confessed to her rape and murder. In 2009 Kibbe, who had become known as the I-5 strangler, was convicted of her murder and that of 5 others. In 2011 remains of Burleigh were found in a dry riverbed near Lake Berryessa. Links: USA, California, Murder, Rape
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1977 Sep |
In Philadelphia Helen "Holly" Maddux, a Bryn Mawr College graduate from Tyler, Texas, was murdered and stuffed into a steamer trunk for 18 months until her body was discovered. Ira Einhorn, "hippie guru" was arrested for the murder in 1979 but released on bail. He fled to hide in France. Fred Maddux, Holly's father, committed suicide in 1988. Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993. In June,1997, he was arrested in France. A French court ruled against extradition and released Einhorn. Einhorn was arrested in 1998 under a new extradition warrant. The events were broadcast as a TV crime story in 1999 titled "The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer." In 1999 The French Supreme Court ruled that Einhorn should be returned to the US. In 1999 a civil suit ordered Einhorn to pay $907 million to the Maddux family. Einhorn was extradited to the US in 2001. he was convicted of murder Oct 17, 2002. Links: USA, Pennsylvania, Murder
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1977 Nov |
In Argentina Hilda Palacios, Humberto Brandalisi, Carlos Laja and Ruben Cardozo were kidnapped. Prosecutors later said they were taken to the clandestine prison and torture center known as La Perla on the outskirts of Cordoba and killed the following month. Their bodies were then dumped in the street to make it look like they died in a shootout with officials. In 2008 former army chief Luciano Benjamin Menendez (81) was convicted of kidnapping, torturing and killing the left-wing militants. He was sentenced to life in prison. Links: Argentina, Murder
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1977 Dec |
In California Richard Phillips of Orange County murdered contractor Bruce Bartulis in Madera County. Phillips had enlisted Bartulis and another contractor in a plot to smuggle cocaine and provide stolen insulation and was convicted of murder in 1980. In 2013 the US Supreme Court refused to reinstate a death sentence against Phillips (63). Links: USA, California, Murder
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1977 1993 |
In Missouri a serial killer committed at least 12 murders during this period. In 2004 Kansas City police used DNA technology to charge Lorenzo Gilyard with 12 murders. Links: USA, Murder, Missouri
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1977 |
Emma Crapser (92) was killed in her Poughkeepsie, NY, apartment. In 1983 Dewey Bozella (b.1959) was convicted of her grisly murder on the testimony of two convicted criminals and served 26 years in prison before being finally in 2009 after the nonprofit Innocence Project intervened and turned over evidence that had been suppressed during his trial. Links: USA, New York, Murder
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1978 Jan 10 |
In Nicaragua Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal (b.1924), journalist and editor of La Prensa, was shot dead. His murder sparked the Sandinista-led uprising that later toppled Somoza. His wife, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, later became head of the country and in 1996 published her autobiography: "Dreams of the Heart." The murder also inspired Susan Meiselas, photographer, to go to Nicaragua from NY. She spent ten years photographing events in the area, later published as "Nicaragua." The Sandinista Party was founded by Carlos Fonseca. Links: Nicaragua, Murder, Journalism
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1978 Jan 15 |
Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, two students at Florida State University in Tallahassee, were murdered in their sorority house. Theodore Bundy was later convicted of the crime, and executed. Links: USA, Murder, Florida, Mass murder
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1978 Feb 9 |
Kimberly Leach (12) was killed by Ted Bundy in Lake City, Fla. Links: USA, Murder, Florida
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1978 Feb 15 |
Ted Bundy (1946-1989), American escaped serial killed, was recaptured in Pensacola, Fla. Bundy eventually confessed to 29 murders. Links: USA, Murder, Florida, Mass murder
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1978 Feb 28 |
Robert Rowe (d.1997) of Brooklyn killed his wife and 3 children with a baseball bat. He was tried and later released from a mental institution and became a father again. In 2001 Julie Salamon authored "Facing the Wind," a narrative of the Rowe case. Links: USA, NYC, Murder
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1978 Mar 10 |
Richard Hovey (26) abducted Tina Salazar (8) in Hayward, Ca., as she walked home from school. He left her by a roadside with fatal wounds later the same day. She died 8 days later. In 2006 an appeals court overturned his death sentence saying lawyers failed to inform a psychiatrist of his history of mental illness. Links: Murder, SF Bay Area, Mad Man, Kids
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1978 Mar 16 |
Red Brigade terrorists kidnapped Aldo Moro, Italian politician and 5 time PM, and killed 5 of his bodyguards. Moro, who was planning to form a government combining his Christian Democrats and the Communist Party, was later murdered by the RB. Alessio Casimiri a member of the Red Brigades was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for his role in the abduction. Casimiri escaped to Nicaragua and opened a restaurant. It was later reported that police decided not to rescue Moro. Links: Italy, Murder
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1978 Mar 28 |
Laura Beyerly (16) was last seen in the Los Altos, Ca., school parking lot. Her remains were found a year later in the Santa Cruz County hills on property belonging to the uncle of Scott B. Schultz. In 2006 police in Colorado arrested Scott B. Schultz, a boy friend with whom she had broken up. In 2007 Schultz faced just one year in jail in a plea deal. Links: USA, California, Colorado, Murder, SF Bay Area
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1978 Apr 9 |
David Leslie Murtishaw (24) murdered three film students, James Lee Henderson (24), Martha Bernice Soto (22) and Ingrid M. Etayo (22), in the Mohave Desert. Murtishaw was convicted and sentenced to death in 1979. He died in 2011 while on death row at San Quentin. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1978 Apr 22 |
Cynthia Waxman (11) was raped and killed whiled playing in a field in Moraga, Ca. In 2005 DNA evidence revealed that she had been killed by Charles Jackson, a convict who died at age 64 in Folsom Prison in 2002. Jackson was linked to at least 6 other victims. Links: California, Murder, DNA, Kids, Rape
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1978 May 11 |
Carol Schmal (23) and Lawrence Lionberg (29) were murdered in Chicago. Four men were arrested for rape and murder and 2 of the men were sentenced to death. In 1999 Kenny Adams, Willie Rainge, Verneal Jimerson and Dennis Williams were released after a journalism class proved their innocence. The men then filed a suit and settled with Cook County for $36 million. Links: USA, Chicago, Murder, Journalism, Rape
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1978 Jun 29 |
Bob Crane (b.1928), the man who played Colonel Robert Hogan in the TV show "Hogan’s Heroes," was found bludgeoned to death in Scottsdale, Az. John Henry Carpenter (d.1998 at 70), a prime suspect, was tried and acquitted in 1990. Links: USA, TV, Murder, Arizona
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1978 Jul 23 |
Franklin Bradshow was killed in SLC, Utah. His daughter, Frances B. Schreuder (d.2004), had persuaded her son to kill her wealthy father due to "his stinginess." Schreuder was convicted in 1983. Links: USA, Utah, Murder
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1978 Aug 16 |
James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he'd been set up by a mysterious man called "Raoul." Links: USA, Black History, Murder
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1978 Aug 20 |
In New Jersey 5 teenage boys disappeared. In 2010 Lee Evans (56) and Philander Hampton (53) were arrested and charged with their murder. Prosecutors said the boys were herded into an abandoned building and burned to death in a dispute over some missing marijuana. On Aug 20, 2010, Evans was freed from jail after relatives put up $950,000 in bail. His cousin remained in jail. On Oct 3, 2011, Hampton (54) was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Under sentencing guidelines he was only required to serve 20% of the sentence. In 2011 a jury found Lee Evans not guilty of 10-murder related counts in the deaths of the teens. Links: USA, Murder, New Jersey, Teens Amuck
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1978 Sep 11 |
Kippi Vaught and Rhonda Scheffler (17) were kidnapped from a shopping mall in Sacramento. Their bodies were found 2 days later east of town. Gerald Gallego (b.1946) and accomplice Charlene Williams (24) began a rape and murder spree that left 9 women and one young man dead. Williams served 17 years in prison. Gallego was sentenced to death but was still alive with appeals. Links: USA, California, Murder, Rape
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1978 Sep 28 |
Rosemary Cobbs (26), a graduate student at USC in Los Angeles, was beaten and shot to death by Stevie Lamar Fields (22). Williams had been out of prison for just 2 weeks when he went on a 3-week crime spree. In 2007 a federal appeals court reinstated his death sentence. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1978 Sep 29 |
Mary Vincent (15), was raped, maimed and left for dead in a canyon near Modesto, Ca. She lived and identified Lawrence Singleton as her assailant. He was convicted but released after serving 8 years of a 14 year sentence. In 1997 he was arrested for the murder of woman, Roxanne Hayes, a prostitute, in Tampa, Florida. A trial in Dec 1997 ended in a mistrial and another was set for 1998. He was sentenced to death in 1998, but died of cancer in 2001 in a Florida prison hospital. Links: USA, California, Murder, Rape
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1978 Oct 12 |
Nancy Spungen (b.1958), girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was found dead on the bathroom floor of their NYC hotel room. She had bled to death from a single stab wound to the abdomen. Links: USA, NYC, Murder, Pop&Rock
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1978 Nov 1 |
In Dallas, Texas, Jonathan Bruce Reed attacked Wanda Jean Wadle and her roommate, Kimberly Pursley. He'd apparently entered their apartment by posing as a maintenance man. In 1979 Reed was convicted and condemned to death for the rape-slaying of Wanda Jean Wadle at her apartment. In 2009 an appeals court ruled that Reed could be freed because prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from his jury in the belief that blacks empathize with defendants. Links: USA, Murder, Texas, Rape
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1978 Nov 18 |
In Jonestown, Guyana, California Rep. Leo J. Ryan and four other people, investigating the Jim Jones cult, were killed by members of the Peoples Temple. Greg Robinson, a SF Examiner photographer, Don Harris, NBC correspondent, Bob Brown, NBC cameraman, and Patricia Parks, a temple defector, were shot dead. Congressional aide Jackie Speier survived 5 bullets. The killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide. 918 people died at Jonestown, including 260 children. In 1982 John Jacobs and Tim Reiterman authored "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People." In 2010 Laura Johnston Kohl authored “Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look.” In 2011 survivors unveiled a memorial at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, Ca., with the names of all the dead. Links: USA, California, Suicide, SF, Murder, Guyana, SF Bay Area, Journalism
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1978 Nov 26 |
Albert Miles, governor of the maze prison, was murdered when gunmen forced their way into his home and shot him while restraining his wife. Two men were later convicted of his murder and given life sentences. Links: Murder, Northern Ireland
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1978 Nov 27 |
San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supv. Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were gunned down inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. White used 4 bullets on Moscone and turned himself in at the city’s Northern Police station and made a 24-minute taped confession. Moscone became the 3rd US mayor to die in a political killing. Diane Feinstein automatically became acting mayor of SF. She was then elected by the board members to serve out Moscone’s term. Links: USA, SF, Murder
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1978 Nov 28 |
Armida Wiltsey (40) of Lafayette, Ca., was found raped and strangled near the Lafayette Reservoir. In 2003 DNA evidence linked Darryl Kemp, a Texas inmate, to the murder. Kemp had been recently paroled from prison, where he served time for killing a nurse in 1957. His death sentence in that case was commuted when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1972. In late 2008 a jury said that Kemp should be executed. Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area
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1978 Dec 14 |
In Northern Ireland John Murdie McTier, Belfast Prison officer, was driving home with two colleagues when a number of shots were fired from a passing car by the IRA. Both his passengers survived the attack but Mr. McTier died three days later from his wounds. He was survived by his wife and three small children. Links: Murder, Northern Ireland
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1978 |
Amy Sue Seitz (2) was kidnapped, raped, mutilated with pliers and murdered by Theodore Frank in Ventura County, Ca. His diaries noted molestations over 20 years. Frank was sentenced to death twice but died in prison of a heart attack in 2001. Links: USA, California, Murder, Rape
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1978 |
Hedayat Eslaminia and his family fled Iran. He was a minister of the Shah and reportedly fled with a fortune. In Jul, 1984, he was kidnapped and slain by his son Reza in California. Links: California, Iran, Murder
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1978 |
In Italy the murders of 4 women were related to Maurizio Minghella (23). In 1982 he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the killings. In 1995 he was given partial liberty and prosecutors say he then killed 4 prostitutes. In 2002 his trial continued in Turin. In early 2003 he escaped and was soon captured and sentenced to life in prison. Links: Italy, Murder
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1979 Jan 12 |
Kenneth Bianchi, LA's Hillside Strangler, was arrested in Bellingham. He and his cousin Angelo Buono (d.2002 at 67) sexually assaulted and murdered as man as 13 young women (12-28) in 1977-1978, and dumping their bodies on LA-area hillsides. Bianchi testified against Buono to escape the death penalty. Buono was convicted on 9 of 10 murder counts and was sentenced to life in prison. Links: California, Murder
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1979 Jan 29 |
Brenda Spencer (b.1962), a teenager in San Diego, shot up an elementary school, killing 2 people and wounding 9. She told police she did it because, "I don’t like Mondays." Links: California, Murder, Teens Amuck
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1979 Feb 4 |
In San Mateo, Ca., a robbery at the Pay Less Super Drug Store at 666 Concar Drive left 3 young employees dead. Michael Olson (23), Billy Baumgarnter (17) and Tracy Anderson (16) were all shot in the back of the head. An estimated $20,000 was stolen. By 2007 the case was still open with no arrests. Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area, Robbery
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1979 Mar 25 |
In Northern Ireland Gerard Evans (24) disappeared after leaving a dance. His body was found in 2010. He had been abducted, executed and secretly buried by the IRA for passing information on IRA activities to the police. Links: Murder, Northern Ireland
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1979 Mar 29 |
Larry Singleton was convicted by a San Diego jury on multiple counts for the 1978 rape and mutilation of Mary Vincent. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was paroled in 1987. Links: USA, California, Murder, Rape
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sustainable development information to research going green!
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1979 Apr 28 |
Carlos Muniz Varela, a Cuban travel agent and an activist for Puerto Rico's independence, was killed in Puerto Rico. Links: Murder, Puerto Rico
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1979 May 1 |
In Northern Ireland Frederick Lutton (39), a recently retired police reservist, was murdered by two IRA gunmen. Links: Murder, Northern Ireland
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1979 May 21 |
Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 1978 murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. The verdict set off the "White Night Riots," involving thousands of protesters outside City Hall. $400,000 worth of property damage resulted including 14 police cars. Links: USA, SF, Murder
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1979 May 29 |
US District Judge John Wood (b.1916) was assassinated in San Antonio as he was about to preside in a drug conspiracy trial against Jimmy Chagra. Joe Chagra (1946-1996), Jimmy’s brother, conspired in the killing and served as a prosecution witness against Charles V. Harrelson. Joe served 6 1/2 of 10 years. Charles Harrelson (d.2007) was convicted of the murder. Prosecutors said a drug dealer facing trial had hired Harrelson to kill the judge, who was known for giving maximum sentences. In 1985 Harrelson’s son Woody began an acting career with a role in “Cheers.” Links: USA, Murder, Texas
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1979 Jun 16 |
In Aleppo, Syria, Captain Ibrahim el-Yousuf, the officer on duty (in charge of moral and political steering and head of Ba’ath Party Unit) at the Military Artillery school, committed a massacre, killing 32 cadets and wounding 54 others. The culprits targeted cadets from the Alawite sect, however the then minister of information Mr. Ahmad Iskander Ahmad stated that they included Christians and Sunni Muslims. Immediately after the massacre, a country-wide campaign was started to uproot the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Links: Syria, Murder
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1979 Jun 20 |
Robin Samsoe (12) was kidnapped in Huntington Beach, Ca. Her dismembered and decomposing body was found 12 days later in the Angeles National Forest. Rodney Alcala was arrested and convicted of the slaying in 1980, but the sentence was overturned. He was convicted again in 1986 but a judge faulted the ruling in 2005 and a retrial was scheduled. Alcala pleaded innocent to 4 other sex-torture killings that dated back to 1977. Links: California, Sex, Murder, Kids
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1979 Jun 20 |
ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart was shot to death in Managua, Nicaragua, by a member of President Anastasio Somoza's national guard. Links: Nicaragua, USA, Murder, Journalism
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1979 Jul 3 |
Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. He served five years. Links: USA, SF, Murder
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1979 Jul 23 |
A Miami jury convicted Theodore Bundy of first-degree murder in the slayings of Florida State University sorority sisters Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy. In 1980 he was convicted of the murder and rape of Kimberly Leach (12). Bundy eventually confessed to more than 30 killings and was executed in 1989. Links: USA, Murder, Florida
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1979 Jul 28 |
Rachel Moncrief (50) was stabbed to death at Camino Camper in Santa Clara, Ca. In 2011 DNA evidence on a marijuana cigarette linked David Dixon (61) of Richmond, Ca., to the murder. Links: USA, Murder, DNA, SF Bay Area
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1979 Aug 14 |
In northern Wisconsin Rob Pfiel (27) was killed by a shotgun blast to the back of his head. 2 months earlier Rusk County sheriff’s deputies killed his 3 dogs because they had gotten loose. Rusk County DA Robert Rogers (d.1984), his wife Cherie Barnard, and 3 brothers were later accused of plotting to kill Pfiel, who had threatened to get even. In 2005 police arrested 2 of the Rogers brothers for Pfiel’s murder as well as Barnard. Links: USA, Murder, Wisconsin
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1979 Aug 25 |
Cannie Bullock (8) of San Pablo, Ca., was raped and killed. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Joseph Cordova Jr., inmate in a Colorado prison, as the murderer. In 2007 Cordova was sentenced to death. Links: USA, Murder, DNA, SF Bay Area, Kids, Rape
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1979 Sep 16 |
Hafizullah Amin took the presidency of Afghanistan following the killing of Nur Muhammad Taraki. Amin was later executed and replaced with Babrak Karmal. Links: Murder, Afghan
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1979 Sep 26 |
The body of a young woman was found in Blackie’s Pasture in Tiburon, Ca., She had been stabbed over 40 times with an ice pick and burned. In 2007 DNA evidence identified her as Tammy Vincent (17). She had testified this year against several people arrested during a raid in SeaTac, Wash., of 2 establishments believed to be prostitution fronts. Links: California, Murder, DNA, Washington, SF Bay Area
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1979 Oct 21 |
In SF the body of Mary Frances Bennett was found at Lands End. She had been stabbed at least 25 times. In 2010 DNA evidence tied her murder to David Joseph Carpenter, who was on death row at San Quentin for 7 other murders. Links: USA, SF, Murder
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