The next day a forensics team unearthed human remains, the underwire from a bra and the waistband from a pair of underwear. Creators Bridget Dobson Jerome Dobson Stars A Martinez Marcy Walker Nancy Lee Grahn David Kurtzman | Photo: Christopher Gardner, Blessed with a cheerful, open face and a mustache that would be the envy of any firefighter, Stephenson had been living rough in Santa Barbara for about three years. But for the longest time, the killer has gotten away with it. At the time of the killings, his wife, a doctor, had been suffering from severe dementia for seven years, and the once-wealthy family was now destitute. Charlene Smith was bound . Nadine came from a traditional Circassian-Middle Eastern family, reads her online biography. Last Wednesday, Hahn had an appointment to meet his partners in one of these ventures. Deputy Boyer tells the Weekly that thinking like a deviant led him to conclude that a perpetrator had hobbled the Bermans in the desert by removing their shoes. Former sheriff's deputy Boyer says, Pepe has skated and skated and skated. In 1874, when Judge Pablo de la Guerra died, Gray was one of 12 pallbearers who carried the coffin through a crowd of 2,000 mourners. Barry took note of the beautiful woman who had a way with men. Eckstein, Harriet, Santa Barbara Independent, 1996. Barry, who had chosen ironworking as his craft, settled into one of three weathered cottages on the El Capitan land overlooking the ocean. Then, in a narrow side channel of the wash, which easily could have been overlooked, the men discovered a grave-sized pile of rocks. I saw results within a week, he said. Then in the early 1970s, Barry moved to Santa Barbara County, where his father owned the historic and breathtaking El Capitan Ranch, a 3,638-acre property overlooking the Pacific Ocean. According to Carlson, this has long been the Holy Grail of the cosmetics industry. He was very smug., Some of Barry and Louise's fellow spiritualists believe that, in the truest sense, they are still alive. Eventually she made it back to California. Barry and Louise's remains were found seven rugged miles above the Palm Spring campground it's unlikely they hiked in, given that Louise had a sore ankle. Then more teams descended, not to mention helicopters from the Navy, Army and California Highway Patrol. This summer, the 74-year-old former police officer pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder. Once, he recalls how Domingos had a brush with death when he accidentally shot himself in the lip with a .22 bullet, the same kind of gun that would end his life just a few years later. Retired Inyo County Sheriff's deputy Leon Boyer, who has lived with the baffling case for three decades, today says, You can't commit a homicide and get away with it.. Name index of death index created by the California Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Section in Sacramento. Massacres do not form a defense, Minier told the judge. Lead investigator Dan Williams says they have a super strong person of interest, after the Weekly linked the unsolved desert murders to a modern atrocity: sexual predator Michael Joseph Pepe and his sentencing in Los Angeles in 2014 for vicious crimes against children in Southeast Asia. Neither Frederick Smith nor Courtney responded to questions from The Santa Barbara Independent. The letters usually included ciphers that he claimed contained clues to his identity. His redemption was the stuff of much media coverage. They were the nicest young people you could ever meet in your life, Gnesa said. Craycraft even flew to Cambodia when Pepe was arrested, but sources tell the Weekly he refused to talk to her about Saline Valley. The two investigators pressed him, and Pepe eventually said, Oh hell, I might have gone to the peace [sign] that day. Pepe said he didn't remember if he was on foot or in his truck, saying, I think I went off um checking up whatever area it was., Deputy Leon Boyers sketch of Mike the Marine; Credit: Photo by Doug Kari, Asked if he'd brought up the idea of a threesome at the camp, he responded, I do recall conversations like that coming up., An investigator said, Perhaps you had put feelers out towards the Bermans to see if they would be willing to participate in such an activity? The Marine responded, I don't think that's true.. His victims had long, straight hair, wore similar clothing, and had about the same build. Louise's faith in Radha Soami helped sustain her. On January 27, 1973, in his Biltmore cottage, Yanikian sat down to lunch with two senior diplomats from the Turkish consulate. By the time Han was 18, the political winds shifted. I had a bad feeling about him., When the various visitors broke camp, no one immediately thought to tell the authorities that the Bermans were still out there a serious oversight. Senior Skip Day is an event not officially sanctioned by local schools, but it's a day anticipated by many high school seniors. A 2007 movie, Zodiac, directed by David Fincher and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr., points to a man by the name of Arthur Leigh Allen, but no conclusive evidence backs up this theory. It was national news when Santa Barbara lawyers won a case before the Supreme Court allowing those with no fixed abode to register to vote. Have you ever felt a knife go through a human head?, In his confession, Kurtzman talked about flashes in his head, blood pulsing in his ears, and panic that gang members were crawling into the gazebo. As it turned out, the gun used in all three murders was a .38-caliber pistol (some sources say it was a .45-caliber gun) that had been purchased in October 1980. Wilson, and left in a state of insensibility., Originally from Illinois, Glancey had the personality and physique of an ax handle. The Sun researched three of the most notorious unsolved cases for this story. They also plan to erect electronic billboards nationwide with information on the crimes in order to encourage the public to come forward with information. As Carlson, Relis, and Bardach tell it, Han was about 12 when doctors, intellectuals, and professionals were rounded up as part of Chinas now infamous Cultural Revolution. Not just any property it was adjacent to President Ronald Reagan's Rancho del Cielo. [4][19], On March 30, 1981, Christiansen died after being stabbed once in the chest while walking in the exercise yard at Folsom State Prison. The most recent killing linked to the Golden State Killer occurred in 1986, and he has remained elusive ever since. Given the circumstances of her death, Shorts murder became sensational, and she was given the name Black Dahlia. The two were sweethearts. She gave so much to her patients.. Site design and development by Hop Studios Hop Studios It was the fourth time Gray had assaulted Russell. The number of currently unsolved California murders is absolutely shocking. On January 19, 1979, Patricia Laney, 21, was found shot to death, the day after she was reported missing, in Refugio Canyon near Santa Barbara. The young men were jacked out of their minds on adrenaline, testosterone, and hyperactive fantasies of revenge. Panic, his attorney later argued, is simply not murder.. He killed at least eight women and men in Santa Barbara, Ventura and . Marcus Knutson, a FBI special agent, believes the killer may have a collection of crime scene tokens stashed away somewhere. Blondes, Brunettes and Burlesque at Peek-A-View, Hakeem Rowe Talks Insane Career Arc and His Departure From No Jumper, ASTN is Happier Than Ever about his newest release Be So Cruel, RealestK Isnt Nearly As Toxic As TikTok Is, Erykah Badu Drops That Badu Cannabis Line, Best HHC Products to Elevate Your Cannabis Experience, CA Legal Cannabis Faces Its Biggest Blizzard Yet, Understanding The Possible Allergies To Hemp Oil. On Nov. 20, 1986, nearly a year after the couple vanished, Inyo County Sheriff's investigators Randy Nixon and Marston Mottweiler asked Pepe for a meeting. Then, using Korb's directions to a natural hot springs, they'd see Saline Valley in the Mojave. Ive been waiting 30 minutes. Actually, Yanikian had been waiting considerably longer than that. Alcohol flowed, and people often wandered around bare-ass naked. I quickly took care of that, he says. Domingos was three years older than him.His cousin said he looked up to Domingos. Yanikians defense was diminished capacity brought on by the trauma he experienced as a genocide survivor. [10], On December 26, 1979, Christiansen entered a plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity," in addition to his previous "not guilty" plea. Barry and Louise had strong spiritual grounding 'what has to be has to be,' recalls Ray Castellino, a Santa Barbara natural health care practitioner. The last attack was in 1986,. faces new murder charges, this time in Santa Barbara County . Domingos was 18 and Edwards was 17. He had just moved to Santa Barbara only a few years after the previous Press editor had been horsewhipped down State Street by the District Attorney, W.T. Startled by the arrival of Tramel and Kurtzman, Stevenson sat up, startling Kurtzman. Fiesta was just around the corner, but a new hot-button issue had just landed in Santa Barbara. Minier later expressed regret over his tactics; Yanikian was guilty of murder, he wrote in editorials, but the genocide should have been acknowledged. The point being, the more things change, the more they dont. Nadine Courtney, a beauty blogger and former Newlyweds reality TV star, told the Associated Press via email Saturday that she is Haobshs sister. That night, Stephenson was in his sleeping bag on the floor of the gazebo, listening to music on his boom box, when two 17-year-old military prep school studentsJames Tramel and David Kurtzmanstumbled upon him. Clarence Gray ranks as one of the great villains in Santa Barbara history, yet few people know his name. For them, Han provided a one-two punch of psychological comfort and medical relief. A lot of suffering patients will be without their Henry, said Cathy McNease, an herbalist and acupuncturist who worked with Han in the early 1990s. With rippling, wind-formed sand dunes, the valley boasts some of California's most magnificent scenery. According to Inyo County Sheriff's records obtained by the Weekly, Mike the Marine said that he might've spotted the couple hiking the Corridor with backpacks a comment now considered a key admission by investigators. One of his first patients was Steve Carlson, then an administrator at UCSB, who was struggling with hepatitis A. The next year, on July 19, 1987, a sheriff's spokesman told the News-Press, We believe the Bermans were the victims of foul play [but] we have absolutely no motive, and don't, in fact, have any evidence of a crime.. The Domingos and Edwards murders are just two of the 26 cold cases in Santa Barbara County, some of which are believed to have been committed by infamous serial killers. Ive used Henry as my primary care physician ever since.. He told the Sun that just before his death, Domingos landed a job driving a fuel delivery truck for Atlantic Richfield oil company. BLM ranger Albert, now retired, calls it the largest search effort in Inyo County history., Lucas, who rose to Inyo County sheriff before retiring in Arkansas, today says: I kept calling in more and more people. Her ex-husband, former L.A. firefighter Wes Westerman, now retired in the San Juan Islands, remains bitter about her radical awakening, complaining, She met people who brought in drugs. Santa Barbara prosecutors Hilary Dozer and Ben Ladinig, public defenders Christine Voss and Mindi Boulet, and Deputy County Counsel Michelle Montezwho represents the Sheriffs Officewill return to court April 12. Everybody loved him, he said. He committed an act of justice. In addition, Han was intrigued by the prospect of deploying stem cells in the manufacture of skin-regenerating cosmetics. The younger Haobsh left a scarce Internet trail (he had a Facebook page with one profile picture visible to the public). When the Press newspaper offices were destroyed in an arson fire, Gray was the chief suspect, though no charges were ever filed. Copyright 2023 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. In 1980, an unknown assailant abducted 19-year old Kym Morgan from a Los Angeles discotheque. [7][8][6], Lydia Preston The NCIS, the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's Office and Inyo County Sheriff's Office all knew and shared with one another the fact that Pepe had been the key suspect in an old double murder, but they never went public with it. One of the most notorious, and perhaps gruesome, murders connected to Santa Barbara County is that of Elizabeth Short, whose nude body was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, in 1947. Hans mother encountered high rates of ovarian cancer in the women she treated, becoming a pioneering expert in the disease. Yet it wasn't until eight days after their disappearance that a search-and-rescue team headed by Sgt. If they did, I could shoot a German delicatessen owner and have witnesses say I was justified.. He didnt get upset by excitable, agitated, difficult patients. Han graduated from medical school, and in the early 1980s he became aware that two post-graduate positions opened up at UCSBs psychology department. In response to the uprising of Tiananmen Square, Han reportedly signed a statement in support of the protestors. There were no children, a source of significant friction. Words were exchanged. Jennie, whom Neely remembers as vivacious like Emily, waitressed for two years at Saigon Noodle House about six years ago, said the restaurants manager, who preferred to be identified as David. I recall Emilys love of serving me delicious sand cupcakes she had prepared during outdoor play. Neely recommended grieving families light a candle to honor Emily and her parents. But when the two got back to their dorm, Tramel bragged to other students: We bagged a Mexican. When no one believed him, Tramel led them to the scene. But Tramel asked: Have you ever killed a deer with your bare hands? The story got uglier when some local businesspeople were discovered pouring bleach on food discarded in dumpsters to discouraging homeless foraging. Another three days passed before a deputy ran the license plate on the Datsun truck. Martinez hopes the incident will shed. The late summer of 1988 brought flash flooding to Saline Valley. We have found that there appears to be a high degree of probability that this subject is responsible for the double murder in our county., The police never said how they came to this conclusion. The Investigation, and the Legacy of Dr. Henry Han, Pierre Haobsh, 26, spoke only twice Tuesday in Judge Raimundo Montes De Ocas courtroom. There is some doubt about this, since the Zodiac never took credit for the murders. Powered by WordPress VIP. Santa Barbara may be paradise, but its inhabitants have been killing each other in ways mundane and spectacular since the days of Adam and Eve. He worked four days a week, seeing about 15 patients a day. Back in California, he formally joined Radha Soami, pledging to follow the Path of avegetarian diet, moral behavior, daily meditation and abstinence from drugs and alcohol. A California man convicted of killing a Santa Barbara County family, including its 5-year-old daughter, will serve life in prison, a judge ruled Friday. Since Han set up shop in Santa Barbara in the 1980s, there was never anything the least bit woo-woo or New Age about the medicine he practiced. A guide to Santa Barbara's philanthropic community. He was taken into custody at gunpoint without incident. It was just the kind of guy he was.. Similar to some of the attacks on the couples in Vallejo and Napa, the killer forced one of his victims to bind the hands of the other with pre-cut lengths of narrow rope. Thirty-six hours later, detectives developed leads that implicated Pierre Haobsh, an Oceanside resident and a business acquaintance of Han, in the murders, which authorities say were motivated by financial gain. Haobsh was recently involved in a business transaction with Mr. Han, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a Friday briefing. In 1880, Gray again sought his partys nomination for District Attorney. The only vehicles seen in the Corridor on Jan. 6, 1986, were three dirt bikes and Pepe's pickup. After serving nine years in prison, he was transferred to a care facility, a sick old man. Michael Joseph Pepe handcuffed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Credit: AP Photo/Heng Sinith. Dental records confirmed the remains were Barry and Louise. If you believe an Independent.com user or any material appearing on Independent.com is copyrighted material used without proper permission, please click here. You just have to wait it out, Carlson recalls being told. Thor Nis Christiansen was born in Denmark, and emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was five years old. He said he'd quit smoking, [but] he wanted to trade some canned goods for a pack of cigarettes., After the trio of dirt bikers returned, talk turned to the couple from Santa Barbara had anyone seen them that day? Though more than a half-century-old, the mystery of the Zodiac lingers, and police believe he could still be at large. He did the one-on-one with the patients; his assistants mixed the herbal concoctions. He came alone, hung around, ogled at girls with no clothes on and had a sexual motivation.. 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