Here is an article which was written on 24 November 1969 about 13 (at the time) unsolved murders in the Los Angeles area.
Of course, seven of the thirteen people mentioned in the article were murdered by the Manson family in two separate incidents. But at the time, however, police had not connected the Tate and LaBianca killings, and in fact viewed them as having been committed by different perpetrators.
It is possible that the Manson family was responsible for some of the other murders as well, but it is also possible that Zodiac, or someone else may have been involved.
Note that the second to last paragraph in this article mentions a woman who was stabbed to death and found on 16 November 1969. This victim was referred to as "Jane Doe number 59" and also has been called "Sherry Doe". Her case is still unsolved.
"Sherry Doe" was found in the same area as the first mentioned murder victim, Marina Elizabeth Habe. Her death is also unsolved. Because they were dumped in almost the same place, it is possible that the same person or persons was responsible for both murders. Although I know of no link between Marina Habe and Manson, there is some thought that "Sherry Doe" may have been seen at his ranch just prior to her murder.
I do not know the final outcome of investigations into the following deaths:
Dorren Gaul, 19 of Albany, N.Y. found murdered Saturday, 22 Nov 1969
James A. Sharp, 15, of Crestwood, Mo. found murdered Saturday, 22 Nov 1969
Rose Tashman, 19, found 22 May 1969, raped and strangled
Virginia Lynn Smith, 13, found 23 June 1969, raped and strangled
Here is the article text:
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13 ‘OVERKILLS’ ARE UNSOLVED
Monday, November 24th, 1969
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 – Unsolved murder is not a stranger to the Los Angeles area.
Since the beginning of the year there have been 13 brutal slayings, most of which have been called “senseless” or “thrill murders” by police. They are not what could be called ordinary murders – those committed for revenge, punishment or in fits of anger.
Authorities refuse to speculate on whether there is any connection between the 13 killings. The only apparent relation is that the murders were brutal – one of which was termed “overkill” by the county coroner – and they remain unsolved.
The murders range from the Benedict Canyon massacre of actress Sharon Tate and four other persons to the beating death of an unidentified young woman.
The latest occurred during the weekend. The mutillated bodies of a nude 19-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were discovered Saturday. The victims were identified as Dorren Gaul, Albany, N.Y., and James A. Sharp, Crestwood, Mo. The faces of Miss Gaul and Sharp had been so badly mutilated police at first believed they were wounded at point-blank range with a shotgun. The victims had been beaten to death.
The string of slayings began Jan. 1, when the body of Marina Elizabeth Habe, daughter of screenwriter Hans Habe and actress Eloise Hardt, was found in heavy brush off a mountain road in the Santa Monica Mountains. Police said she apparently had been abducted from the driveway of her mother’s home in West Hollywood. She had been stabbed to death.
On May 22, the body of Rose Tashman, 19, a former college student, was found in an isolated area in the Hollywood Hills. She had been raped and strangled. Police believe she had been abducted, from the Hollywood Freeway after she stopped her car at an offramp because of a flat tire.
The body of another young girl, Virginia Lynn Smith, 13, was found June 23 in a creek bed in a deserted canyon near her home in Claremont. She had been raped and strangled. Her nude body was found by two hikers. The vivacious brunette with blue eyes had been vice president of her class at school.
The mass murder of actress Sharon Tate and four other persons followed on the night of Aug. 8 or the morning of Aug. 9. The Hollywood names involved brought international publicity. Miss Tate, coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger, men’s hair stylist Jay Sebring, Polish emigree Voityck Frokowsky and 18-year-old Steven Parent had been shot or stabbed to death. There were footprints in pools of blood about the house rented by Miss Tate and the word “Pig” was scrawled in blood on a door. The only main clue police have revealed is that amber-rimmed eyeglasses, believed to be those of the killer, were found at the scene.
The following night, on Aug. 10, the knife-slashed bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Leno A. LaBianca were found in their home in Los Angeles. The grisly scene was similar in some respects to that at the Benedict canyon home. Police theorized the slayings were the work of a “copy cat” killer.
On Nov. 16, the body of an unidentified woman, about 25, was found in a brush-covered ravine in the Hollywood Hills. Police said the woman had been slashed with a knife over most of her body.
The motives in all of the murders remain unclear and authorities admit that the longer time lapses the harder it may be to solve the crimes.
LINK:
http://www.cielodrive.com/archive/?p=707
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Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:17 pm