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Murder
Murder
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1981 Aug 24 |
Mark David Chapman (b.1955) was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of rock star John Lennon. Links: USA, NYC, Murder, Pop&Rock 
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1981 Aug 27 |
Rene Soto clubbed to death Anselmo Covarrubias in LA County. Maria Suarez (21), a battered "sex slave" to Covarrubias and witness to the murder, was convicted of first-degree murder and sent to prison. In 2002 Gov. Davis rejected a recommended parole for Suarez. In 2003 Gov. Davis issued a parole. Suarez was released in 2004. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1981 Nov 3 |
In Milpitas, Ca., Anthony Jacques Broussard, a high school student (16), strangled and killed Marcy Conrad, his girl friend (14), dumped her body on a river bank and gave tours to his friends, who never reported the crime. The 1986 film "River's Edge" was later made based on the murder. On December 3, 1982 Broussard was sentenced in a San Jose, California court to 25 years to life for the strangulation death of Conrad. He was to be eligible for parole after 16 years and 8 months (July 1999). Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area, Teens Amuck
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1981 Nov 10 |
In South Africa Durban human rights attorney Griffiths Mxenge was found slain. Mxenge was stabbed 46 times by a police death squad that included Dirk Coetzee. In July 1985 his wife Victoria Mxenge was attacked by four men in the driveway of her home in Umlazi, Durban. She was stabbed and shot shortly after disembarking from a family friend’s vehicle. Links: South Africa, Murder
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1981 Nov 18 |
In Los Angeles Kazuyoshi Miura and his wife (28), visitors from Japan, were shot in a downtown parking lot. His wife went into a coma and later died in Japan. In 1985 Miura was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his wife for insurance money and in 1994 he was convicted of murder. In 1998 a Japanese high court overturned the sentence. In 2008 Miura was arrested in Saipan. He was extradited to the US and committed suicide by hanging on Oct 10, 4 days prior to arraignment on murder conspiracy charges. He was 61. Links: USA, Japan, California, Murder
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1981 Nov |
In California Henry Vila (62) and his wife Edith (59) were stabbed to death in their Albany hill home during a robbery. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Charles Jackson, a recently deceased Folsom inmate, as her killer. Links: USA, California, Murder, SF Bay Area, Robbery
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1981 Dec 9 |
In Philadelphia Mumia Abu Jamal shot and killed Officer Daniel Faulkner shortly after the officer stopped William Cook, Jamal’s brother (see July 3, 1981). Links: USA, Pennsylvania, Murder
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1981 Dec 15 |
In Garden Grove, Ca., market owner Packawan Wattanaporn was found strangled to death and Quach Nguyen was stabbed to death. Jaturun Siripongs was later convicted for the crime and faced the death penalty in 1998. He admitted to the robbery but not the killings. Links: USA, California, Murder, Robbery
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1981 Dec |
In California Betty Jo Grunzweig (37) was raped and stabbed to death in her home in Oakland’s Trestle Glen District. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Charles Jackson, a recently deceased Folsom inmate, as her killer. Links: USA, Murder, DNA, SF Bay Area, Rape
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1981 Dec |
In California Gail Leslie Slocum (34) was stabbed to death in her home in Oakland’s Rockridge District. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Charles Jackson, a recently deceased Folsom inmate, as her killer. Links: USA, Murder, DNA, SF Bay Area
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1981 |
Claude Dallas (30) killed Conley Elms and Bill Pogue, officers for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, who were investigating reports of bobcat poaching in remote southeast Idaho. Dallas served 22 years for the execution-style slayings and was released in 2005. Links: USA, Murder, Idaho
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1981 |
Cesare Battisti escaped from an Italian prison while awaiting trial on four counts of murder committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. In 2007 he was arrested in Rio de Janeiro. In 2008 Brazil's top prosecutor recommended his extradition. Links: Italy, Brazil, Murder
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1982 Jan 6 |
Truck driver William G. Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles of being the "freeway killer" who had murdered 14 young men and boys. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1982 Jan 21 |
Convict-turned-author Jack Henry Abbott was found guilty in New York City of first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of waiter Richard Adan in 1981. Abbott was later sentenced to 15 years to life in prison; he committed suicide in 2002. Links: USA, Writer, Murder
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1982 Jan 22 |
Eduardo Frei Montalva (b.1911), former Chilean President (1964-1970), died from septic shock as he recovered from stomach surgery at a Santiago clinic. In 2007 his family filed a court complaint claiming that Frei had been assassinated by poisoning after a Belgian university investigation found mustard gas in the body of the former Christian Democratic leader. In 2009 a Chilean judge ruled that Montalva was assassinated and that his killing was covered up by people linked to the dictatorship of Gen. Pinochet. Six people were charged in the case. Links: Chile, Murder
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1982 Jan |
In Chicago Lloyd Wickliffe, a security guard, was killed in a McDonald's restaurant. Later Andrew Wilson (d.2008) told his lawyers that he, and not Alton Logan, had killed the guard. On March 17 Lawyers Kunz, Coventry and Miller signed a notarized affidavit: "I have obtained information through privileged sources that a man named Alton Logan ... who was charged with the fatal shooting of Lloyd Wickliffe ... is in fact not responsible for that shooting...” In 2008 Logan was still in jail waiting for a new trial. Links: USA, Chicago, Murder
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1982 Feb 13 |
In Guatemala 73 men and women from Rio Negro were ordered by the local military commander to report to Xococ, a village upstream from the reservoir zone which had a history of land conflicts and hostility with Rio Negro. Only one woman out of the 73 villagers returned to Rio Negro, the rest were raped, tortured and then murdered by Xococ's Civil Defense Patrol, or PAC, one of the notorious paramilitary units used by the state as death squads. The Guatemalan army invaded Santa Maria Tzeja and massacred 13 people. Villagers fled their homes following the massacre. In 2004 Beatriz Manz authored "Paradise in Ashes: A Guatemalan Journey of courage, Terror and Hope." Links: Guatemala, Murder, Rape
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1982 Feb 23 |
Tucapel Jimenez, a Chilean labor leader, was found with his throat cut and face shot in his car. Gen. Humberto Gordon Rubio (d.2000), secret police chief, was implicated in the killing. Links: Chile, Murder
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1982 Feb 27 |
Wayne B. Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period. Links: GeorgiaUS, USA, Murder
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1982 Apr 11 |
Ronald Allen (32), a member of Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland, Ca., was found shot to death on Easter morning near the Berkeley dump. A day earlier the father of 5 had gone out for a meal with his bakery brethren. Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area
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1982 Apr 12 |
In Manhattan 3 CBS employees were shot to death on a rooftop parking lot. Donald Nash (47) was charged with using a .22 caliber handgun kill Margaret Barbera, who was cooperating with a Federal investigation into a $6 million fraud, and Leo Kuranuki, Robert Schulze and Edward Benford, three CBS technicians who the police believe were coming to her aid. Mr. Nash was convicted in 1983 and sentenced to four consecutive 25-year terms in prison. Links: USA, NYC, Murder, Fraud
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1982 Apr 22 |
Robert Maurice Bloom (18) killed his father, stepmother and stepsister in a savage murder spree in southern California. He was convicted and sentenced to death until appellate attorneys uncovered documents that he was mentally ill and likely did not understand the consequences of his actions. Bloom was ordered released in 1997 pending a new trial. Links: USA, Murder
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1982 Jul 3 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal (b.1954), radio reporter and former Black Panther, was convicted for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in Pittsburgh. Jamal supporters said he was framed. Prosecutors said Jamal shot Faulkner after seeing the officer struggling with Jamal’s brother, William Cook, who had been stopped for a traffic violation. In 1996 Jamal was still on death row. In 1999 Gov. Tom Ridge signed a 2nd death warrant for lethal injection on Dec 2. In December, 2001, a federal judge affirmed his murder conviction but ordered that Abu-Jamal should either receive a new sentencing hearing or have his sentence commuted to life in prison because of an error by the trial judge in presenting rules of sentencing to the jury (see March 27, 2008). Links: USA, Pennsylvania, Black History, Radio, Murder
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1982 Jul 6 |
Crossan Hoover (17) beat and killed Richard Baldwin (36), the owner of a car restoration shop in San Rafael, Ca. Hoover and 2 accomplices robbed Baldwin’s home and dumped his body into the SF Bay. Mark Richards (29), a contractor who employed Hoover and another youth, was one of the three involved in the murder plot and had told his employees that he planned to take control of Marin County in a paramilitary coup that came to be called Pendragon. Richards was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. Hoover was sentenced 26 years to life. In 2007 Hoover’s murder verdict was overturned and a new trial was scheduled. In 2008 a federal appeals court reinstated Hoover’s murder conviction. Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area
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1982 Aug 4 |
Ronald Smith of Canada killed two Americans in Montana during a drunken road trip. In March 1893 Smith was convicted and sentenced to death. Links: Canada, USA, Murder, Montana
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1982 Sep 25 |
Pennsylvania prison guard George Banks killed 13 people including 4 that were his own children. Links: USA, Pennsylvania, Murder, Mad Man
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1982 Nov 4 |
Dominique Dunne (b.1959), American actress and daughter of novelist Dominick Dunne, died in LA following strangulation by her former boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney. Links: USA, Murder, Film Star
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1982 Nov 16 |
Christian Klar (b.1952), a leading member of the German Red Army Faction, was arrested close to Hamburg. In the following trials he was convicted for his involvement in the 1977 murders of Siegfried Buback, Jurgen Ponto and Hanns-Martin Schleyer together with fellow RAF member Brigitte Mohnhaupt. Klar was set for release in Jan, 2009, after serving 26 years in prison. Links: Germany, Murder
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1982 Dec 7 |
In Suriname 15 politicians, journalists, union leaders, lawyers and soldiers, were rounded up and slain in a hundreds-year-old fort in Paramaribo. In 2007 Desire Bouterse, the former dictator, faced trial for the murders. In 2008 a military tribunal in Suriname ruled that those accused of a 1982 massacre, including the country's former dictator, must stand trial. Links: Suriname, Murder, Journalism
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1982 |
In southern California John Visciotti (26) shot and killed co-worker Timothy Dykstra (22) and wounded Michael Wolbert. Visciotti’s murder conviction was upheld but his death sentence was reversed due to a defense lawyer’s incompetence. In 2002 a penalty-phase retrial was ordered. The Supreme Court reinstated his death penalty. Links: California, Murder
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1982 |
In Arizona Karl LeGrand, a German citizen, stabbed to death a bank manager during a bungled robbery attempt with his brother Walter LaGrand. Karl was convicted and died by lethal injection Feb 24, 1999. Walter was executed a week later. A UN court in 2001 upheld that the US violated international law in the case. Links: USA, UN, Murder, Arizona, Robbery
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1982 |
Troy Wicker of Muscle Shoals, Ala., was shot to death. Judy Wicker later testified that she had had sex with Thomas Arthur and paid him $10,000 to kill her husband. Arthur was convicted and sentenced to death. His execution, set for Dec 6, 2007, was delayed because of a pending Supreme Court case involving lethal injections. Links: USA, Murder, Alabama
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1982 |
Tony Mirra, mobster friend of Donnie Brasco (aka FBI agent Joe Pistone), was shot to death. Links: USA, Murder, FBI, Mafia
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1982 |
Debra Sue Carter (21), a cocktail waitress in Ada, Oklahoma, was raped and murdered. For five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution's case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Williamson was sent to death row. Both were released 12 years later, when DNA evidence proved their innocence. In 2006 novelist John Grisham read Williamson's obituary in The New York Times and made him and Fritz the subject of his first non-fiction book: “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.” The book became a bestseller. Links: USA, Writer, Murder, DNA, Oklahoma, Rape
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1983 Feb 17 |
In California Denise Denofrio was found strangled to death in a car in Fairfield. Alan Hall was convicted in the case of voluntary manslaughter in July. In 1997 a suspected friend of Denofrio lured Hall into having sex and then severed his penis with a knife and escaped. Links: USA, California, Sex, Murder
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1983 Feb 19 |
A shooting at the Wah Mee gambling parlor in Seattle, Wa., left 13 men dead. Kwan-Fai Mak and Benjamin Ng were later found guilty on 13 murder counts and sentenced to life in prison. Links: USA, Murder, Washington
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1983 Feb 25 |
A 10-year-old girl, Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville in DuPage County, Ill., was raped and murdered. Rolando Cruz was convicted and served 10 years on death row before a sheriff's officer recanted on his story and exonerated Cruz. In 1999 7 prosecutors and sheriff's deputies went on trial on charges of conspiracy to frame an innocent man. Cruz, a small-time criminal, started out as an informant in the case. Charges against 2 prosecutors were dismissed and 4 sheriff's officers and a prosecutor were acquitted in 1999. In 2005 convicted killer Brian Dugan was indicted by a DuPage County grand jury, a full decade after an expert concluded DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Links: USA, Illinois, Murder, DNA, Rape
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1983 Mar 3 |
Peter Ivers (b.1946), American musician, was found bludgeoned to death in his Los Angeles apartment. In 2008 Josh Frank authored “In heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theater.” Links: USA, California, Murder, Pop&Rock
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1983 Mar 7 |
In France Claude Vivier (b.1948), a French-Canadian composer, was found stabbed to death. A 19-year-old man was convicted of the murder. Vivier left behind 48 completed scores and part of a 49th. His 1976 "Siddartha" was a 30 minute orchestral piece written on commission from the CBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Vivier). Links: Canada, France, Murder
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1983 Mar 10 |
Dorka Lisker (66) was stabbed to death at her Sherman Oaks, Ca., home. Her son Bruce, age 17 at the time of the murder, was convicted of her murder in 1985 and was sentenced to life in prison. Lisker confessed to the murder in prison, but said he only did so in hopes of getting parole. In 2009 he was freed on bail after a judge overturned his conviction due to false evidence and sloppy defense work. Prosecutors decided not to retry him. Links: USA, California, Murder, Teens Amuck, matricide
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1983 Apr 6 |
Melida Anaya Montes ("Comandante Ana Maria"), Salvadoran FMLN guerrilla leader, was killed in Nicaragua, where many Salvadoran guerrillas took refuge under its leftist government. In 2007 her body was exhumed and buried in her homeland. Links: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Murder
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1983 Apr 27 |
In San Diego, Ca., Philip Buell, age 33 months, died from injuries of a fall while under the care of Ken Marsh. In 1984 Marsh was convicted of murder. He was freed in 2004, after spending 21 years in prison, before it was proven that he had been wrongfully convicted. In 2005 state prosecutors ruled that he should be compensated $756,000 for the time spent in prison. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1983 Jun 4 |
In Chino Hills, Ca., Douglas and Peggy Ryen and their 10-year old daughter, Jessica, were killed in the master bedroom of their home. Christopher Hughes (11), a neighbor, was also killed. Joshua Ryen (8) survived despite serious wounds. Kevin Cooper, who escaped from Chino prison on June 2, was arrested 47 days later and was convicted for the murders in 1985 and faced execution. Cooper claimed he was innocent and called for DNA testing of the evidence in 2000. In 2003 an execution date of Feb 10, 2004, was set for Cooper. Cooper won a last minute reprieve on Feb 9 pending a re-examination of the case. In 2005 a federal judge upheld his death penalty. Links: USA, California, Murder
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1983 Jul 14 |
In Texas Clarencio Champion (59), a party store operator in Mercedes, was stabbed during a robbery and died a week later. In 1998 David Castillo (34) was executed for the murder though he insisted on his innocence. Links: USA, Murder, Texas, Robbery
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1983 Aug 7 |
Cynthia Munoz (17) of Campbell, Ca., was found raped and murdered with stab wounds. In 2007 prosecutors with DNA evidence charged Christopher Melvin Holland (52) with the murder and sought his arrest. Holland was arrested in San Jose, Ca., on Oct 18, 2007. Links: Murder, DNA, SF Bay Area, Rape
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1983 Sep 25 |
Leslie Michelle English (2) was raped and murdered in Griffin, Georgia. Her uncle, Eddie Albert Crawford was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. After 20 years on death row Crawford was executed July 19, 2004. Links: GeorgiaUS, USA, Murder, Rape
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1983 Oct |
In Australia Edwina Boyle disappeared from her Melbourne suburb home. Her husband Frederick William Boyle (35) of Carrum Downs, dismembered her, and hid her body in a 44-gallon drum. In 2006 his son-in-law opened the drum a found her remains. A post-mortem showed she died of a bullet wound to the head. In 2008 Boyle was convicted of murder. Links: Australia, Murder
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1983 Nov 4 |
Dennis Nilsen (b.1945), serial killer, was sentenced in England to life imprisonment. He had killed at least 15 men over a 5 year period (1978-1983). All his victims were students or homeless men whom he picked up in bars and brought to his house either for sex or just for company. In 1993 Brian Masters authored “Killing for Company.” Links: Britain, Gays, Murder, Biography
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1983 Nov 19 |
Angela Bugay (5) was abducted in Antioch, Ca., [see Nov 26]. Links: USA, Murder, SF Bay Area, Kids
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1983 Nov 26 |
Angela Bugay of Antioch, Ca., 5-years-old, was found in a shallow grave in Concord, Ca. She had been kidnapped a week earlier. Larry Graham, who dated Angela’s mother, was later arrested as a suspect and prosecutors in 1995 received a court order to draw his blood for DNA evidence. In 1996 police matched the DNA of Graham, with samples recovered from the girl’s body and arrested him on charges of murder. Use of the DNA evidence was cleared in 1998. Graham was convicted Aug 20, 2002, and sentenced to death Oct 22. Graham (58) was found dead in his cell on June 16, 2009, of apparent suicide. Links: USA, California, Murder, DNA
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1983 |
In Regina, Canada, JoAnn Wilson (43) was found in the garage of her home, beaten, hacked and shot in the head. Her former husband, Colin Thatcher, former cabinet minister in Saskatchewan's government, was sentenced to life in prison for her murder. In 2006 he was granted full parole. Links: Canada, Murder
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1984 Apr 1 |
Marvin P. Gay Sr. (d.1998 at 84) shot and killed his son, Motown singer Marvin Gaye during an argument in Los Angeles. It was one day before the singer’s 45th birthday. Gaye’s hit songs included "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "What’s Going On," and "Let’s Get It On." Mr. Gay pleaded voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 5 years probation. Links: USA, California, Murder, Pop&Rock
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1984 Apr 6 |
In SF Joan Baldwin (43) was killed and mutilated at an Earl Scheib paint shop at 555 Bryant St. In 2006 police arrested parolee Dwight Culton (57) based on DNA evidence. Links: SF, Murder, DNA
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1984 Apr 10 |
In San Francisco Mei “Linda” Leung (9) was kidnapped, raped and killed. Her body was found hanging over a pipe in the baxement of her apartment building at 765 O’Farrell St. In 2009 DNA evidence tied Richard Ramirez (b.1960), known as the “Night Stalker,” to her murder. The evidence also indicated a possible 2nd attacker. Links: USA, SF, Murder, Kids, Rape
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1984 Apr 17 |
Yvonne Fletcher, a British police officer, was killed from rifle shots fired from a window of the Libyan embassy in London during a demonstration against Moammar Khadafy. Diplomatic relations were soon severed and not restored until 1999. Libya later gave Fletcher’s family some compensation. In 2004 a joint British-Libyan investigation into the murder was launched. In 2009 Moamer Kadhafi officially apologized for the shooting. Links: Britain, Libya, Murder
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1984 Apr 20 |
Julie Connell (18), a senior at Arroyo High School, disappeared in Hayward. Her body was found 5 days later in Palomares Canyon near Castro Valley. In 2000 DNA evidence revealed that Robert Rhoades (47), a Yuba City man on death row, had kidnapped, raped and stabbed her to death. Rhoades was convicted in 2007. Links: USA, California, Murder, SF Bay Area, Rape
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1984 Apr 27 |
In Oregon Billy Gilley Jr. (28) murdered his parents and a sister (11) with a baseball bat and ran away with his other sister Jody (16). She soon contacted the police and Billy was arrested. In 2008 Kathryn Harrison authored “While They Slept: An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family.” Links: USA, Murder, Oregon
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1984 Jun 18 |
Alan Berg, a Denver radio talk show host, was shot to death outside his home. Two white supremacists of the Aryan Nations Church were convicted of civil rights violations in the slaying in 1987. Links: USA, Colorado, Radio, Murder
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1984 Jun 30 |
Hedayat Eslaminia, a former government official under the Shah of Iran, disappeared while living in exile in Belmont, Ca. The family had reportedly fled Iran with a fortune in 1978. Hedayat (57) suffocated and died in a steamer trunk. His son Reza (26), a member of the "Billionaire Boys Club," was later charged with the abduction and murder. Reza was convicted and sentenced to life. In 1992 Joe Hunt, head of the club, was also tried for the killing of Eslaminia, but a hung jury forced a mistrial. In 1998 Rexa's conviction was overturned based on unfair evidence and a new trial was scheduled. Arben Dosti’s conviction was reversed in 1998. A new trial was scheduled for Oct. in San Mateo. In 2000 charges against Reza Eslaminia were dismissed. Links: USA, California, Murder, SF Bay Area
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1984 Jun |
In Nevada Gerald Gallego was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. Charlene Williams, his former accomplice and mother of his child, testified against Gallego. They were involved in sex-slave murders in the late 1970s. Charlene was released from prison in 1997. Links: USA, Murder, Nevada
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