Mary Alice Willey

This girl's name has been bounced around a bit as a possible Z victim, but I didnt know much about her until someone emailed me about her. The person that emailed me said that they were considering somebody that was once close to her as a Z suspect. Here are the details:

http://www.modbee.com/2008/10/08/455798/intriguing-details-emerge-on-1971.html

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail/95268.html

This girl was married to a guy who had a brother that worked for the bay area park service (Berryessa, etc). This same guy she was married to, moved to the Atlanta area (remember possible Z letters postmarked in Atlanta). This guy was 25 at the time of the Z murders.
In one of the articles above, it stated that police want to question him about her death.
Does anybody have anymore info on this woman, or her murder?

She wasn't a Zodiac victim. Read this article.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/24/MNU217OU14.DTL

Seagull wrote:

She wasn't a Zodiac victim. Read this article.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/24/MNU217OU14.DTL

Thanks Seagull, I see that the story is from Sunday, May 24, 2009, and that they were seeing if there could be a prosecution in her murder. Was there do you know?? 65 stab wounds to me sounds like a crime of passion, or a personal connection to a victim, not an execution. Seems like she could have simply been shot if they wanted her dead quickly.

One thing that cant be questioned is the fact that Willey's ex-husband lived very close to Atlanta in 1981! Lets not forget the possible Z letters postmarked from there in 1981!

Here is proof: http://resolution.forsythco.com/indexing/idx_name_indexed_entries.asp?NDKey=193501

Please tell me this is a coincidence.

Profit Corporation - Domestic - Information

Control No.: A901399
Status: Automated Administrative dissolution/Revocation

Entity Creation Date: 3/13/1969
Dissolve Date: 4/29/1988
Jurisdiction: GA
Principal Office Address: 300 INTERSTATE NORTH PKWY SE
ATLANTA GA 30339-2403

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Registered Agent

Agent Name: HUNTER ROBERT P JR Office Address: 300 INTERSTATE NORTH
ATLANTA GA 30339
Agent County:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Officers

Title: CEO
Name: HUTCHINGS, DONALD W.
Address: 300 INTERSTATE N
ATLANTA GA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: CFO
Name: MCGREGOR, ANDREW B.
Address: [Address Not Available]
ATLANTA GA


The Robert Hunter Jr mentioned above is not the same one from San Fran, is it? More Zyncronicity?

Also, this man was tied to this business (although AFTER the possible Atlanta Z letters)

Registered Agent

Agent Name: C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
Office Address: 1201 PEACHTREE ST NEATLANTA GA 30361
Agent County: FULTON

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Officers

Title: CEO
Name: MCGREGOR, ANDREW Address: 100 GALLERIA PKWY STE 1620
ATLANTA GA 30339


In the Atlanta Z letter section seen here- https://zodiackillersite.forummotion.com/t667p15-hello-it-s-me isnt the address where one letter was written to 1610 Peachtree St NE??

morf13 wrote:

Seagull wrote:

She wasn't a Zodiac victim. Read this article.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/24/MNU217OU14.DTL

Thanks Seagull, I see that the story is from Sunday, May 24, 2009, and that they were seeing if there could be a prosecution in her murder. Was there do you know?? 65 stab wounds to me sounds like a crime of passion, or a personal connection to a victim, not an execution. Seems like she could have simply been shot if they wanted her dead quickly.

Of the 65 stab wounds, 10 were considered serious the remainder were defensive wounds. She must have put up one hell of a fight.

This is what happen to her fellow members of the BLA for killing a SF Police officer, I doubt they would go after any BLA members on Mary Alice Willey's account.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/50070577.html

SAN FRANCISCO — Four former Black Liberation Army members accused of the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police sergeant walked free Monday, while a fifth man pleaded no contest to reduced charges.

Anthony Jalil Bottom, 57, raised a fist to his courtroom supporters after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors dismissed murder charges against Bottom, who has been incarcerated since 1971 for the murder of two New York City police officers. Bottom was not present during the Aug. 29, 1971, attack on the Ingleside Police Station, but prosecutors say he helped plan it.

Charges were dropped against Richard Brown, 68, of San Francisco; Altadena residents Henry Jones, 73, and Ray Boudreaux, 66; and Harold Taylor, 60, of Panama City, Fla. The dropping of the charges was a condition of Bottom’s plea agreement, though prosecutors said it was due to insufficient evidence against the four men.

“This plea today is a gift that Jalil gave to the rest of his comrades to put this nightmare behind us,” said an emotional Brown outside the courtroom.

A final defendant, Queens, N.Y., resident Francisco Torres, 60, remains charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Sgt. John Young was killed by a shotgun blast after nine gunmen attacked the Ingleside Station. Prosecutors say the suspects, all members of a militant offshoot of the Black Panthers, then tried unsuccessfully to blow up the station. The alleged triggerman, Herman Bell, 61, pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter and received five years probation. Like Bottom, Bell is also in prison for the slayings of the New York City officers.

Special Assistant Attorney General David Druliner said the plea deal was the result of trying a case 39 years after the crime. Charges were filed against eight men in 2007 after new evidence was discovered. The charges were later dropped against one defendant.

“This plea is a reflection on the age of the case. It does not reflect that I or my office somehow felt sorry for these defendants,” Druliner said.

Gary Delagnes, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, said he had been skeptical state prosecutors could get enough evidence to convict the men. However, he said the two convictions prove the group was responsible for Young’s death.

“These guys killed John Young and the guilty pleas take away all doubt of that,” Delagnes said.

So these guys killed the cop, but no conviction for Willey?

Exactly! Those guys got off real light for killing a cop, they dropped the charges for most of them. You think they were going to go after any BLA members for killing Mary Alice when they felt she was the one who help set up and acted as a look out for killing Sgt. Young??

BTW- it was Robert E Hunter Jr.

Seagull wrote:

Exactly! Those guys got off real light for killing a cop, they dropped the charges for most of them. You think they were going to go after any BLA members for killing Mary Alice when they felt she was the one who help set up and acted as a look out for killing Sgt. Young??

BTW- it was Robert E Hunter Jr.

ok thanks

I've been doing some research on Mary Alice Willey. I stumbled on a 1973 article that indicates Mary Alice was not the decoy who filed a police report and then signaled BLA members with a flashlight when leaving the Ingleside Police Station to give the all clear for going in to kill Sgt. John Young on Aug. 29, 1971. Mary Alice was implicated as the decoy in this article-

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/24/MNU217OU14.DTL

In the early months of 1973 two women, Marilyn Buck and Rosemary McFadden were arrested for buying ammunition with false ID's. They were identified as supporters of the BLA. I was not able to find articles of their arrests but did find articles on their convictions and sentencing. Marilyn Buck was named as the prime suspect for being the decoy.





Here are a couple of articles from the time of Sgt. Young's murder that give the description of the decoy.





There is quite a bit about Marilyn Buck online. She was a career criminal and was ultimately imprisoned for many felonies including a 1981 Brinks robbery that killed two policemen and a guard, helping a federal prisoner to escape and she had escaped from prison herself by not returning after a furlough.

http://www.marilynbuck.com/about.html

In this link there is a picture of Marilyn Buck in the offices of the San Francisco Express Times!

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/warrior-poet-marliyn-buck-no-wall-too.html

She called herself a political prisoner, I'd call her a convicted felon and then some.

Some great finds there Seagull. What do you make of it? Could it be Mary wasn't as involved in those organizations as much as previously thought?

Have you tried to contact the reporter who wrote the SF article? (your first link)

That's some harsh prison time for buying ammo under a false name! I don't think the thug that killed Officer Zelms received that much time.

Willey's body,if I remember right, was found pretty close to where Johsn had her incident. I did a FOIA request from the FBI for Willey to see if they had any kinds of files on her, and they responded by saying that they didnt

I do think that Mary Alice was involved in the Black Power movement. Mostly because what her second husband, Patrick McDowell, had to say about her and because of the picture in the SFGate link of Mary Alice and Patrick with the posters and whatnot in the background.

One of the reasons given in the SFGate article for suspecting Mary Alice as the decoy was that she used the name Carol in junior high school. The name Carol George was given by the decoy to the officer at the Ingleside Police Station. Marilyn Buck also used the first name Carol as an alias. When finally arrested for the 1981 Brinks killing she was using the name Carol Durrant.

It is possible that Mary Alice knew either or both Marilyn Buck and Rosemary McFadden. When Buck was arrested on the ammo charges she had two fake California driver's licenses in Rosemary McFadden's name. Maybe Buck had false ID in Mary Alice's name at some point and that is the reason why LE thought Mary Alice was the decoy somewhere along the way.

Yes, it was a harsh sentence that Marilyn Buck received in 1973. She was also charged in Arizona and Oregon for similar crimes and was to be tried there after the California sentencing. Buck and McFadden were arrested by ATF and that made the charges federal. Buck's attitude during and after her trial and conviction may have played a part in the sentencing, she didn't show remorse, only arrogance and ended up getting the longest sentence possible.

I did try to contact the reporter who wrote the SFGate article but he no longer works for the Chronicle. I'm trying a couple of other things now.

morf13 wrote:

Willey's body,if I remember right, was found pretty close to where Johsn had her incident. I did a FOIA request from the FBI for Willey to see if they had any kinds of files on her, and they responded by saying that they didnt

Yes, Mary Alice was found near the John's incident. She probably wasn't killed there, just dumped.

Good of you to ask for any FOIA documents on Mary Alice. Since there were none it's doubtful that she was ever arrested, at least not on charges related to the BLA.

Seagull wrote:

I do think that Mary Alice was involved in the Black Power movement. Mostly because what her second husband, Patrick McDowell, had to say about her and because of the picture in the SFGate link of Mary Alice and Patrick with the posters and whatnot in the background.

One of the reasons given in the SFGate article for suspecting Mary Alice as the decoy was that she used the name Carol in junior high school. The name Carol George was given by the decoy to the officer at the Ingleside Police Station. Marilyn Buck also used the first name Carol as an alias. When finally arrested for the 1981 Brinks killing she was using the name Carol Durrant.

It is possible that Mary Alice knew either or both Marilyn Buck and Rosemary McFadden. When Buck was arrested on the ammo charges she had two fake California driver's licenses in Rosemary McFadden's name. Maybe Buck had false ID in Mary Alice's name at some point and that is the reason why LE thought Mary Alice was the decoy somewhere along the way.

Yes, it was a harsh sentence that Marilyn Buck received in 1973. She was also charged in Arizona and Oregon for similar crimes and was to be tried there after the California sentencing. Buck and McFadden were arrested by ATF and that made the charges federal. Buck's attitude during and after her trial and conviction may have played a part in the sentencing, she didn't show remorse, only arrogance and ended up getting the longest sentence possible.

I did try to contact the reporter who wrote the SFGate article but he no longer works for the Chronicle. I'm trying a couple of other things now.

You're probably spot on here Seagull.

I wonder if LE thought this or if it was a reporting error.

traveller1st wrote:

Trav....why did you post this?? I know that Willey''s ex-husband moved to the area near Peachtree in Atlanta

At this thread, http://zodiackiller.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=6332&view=next&sid=37266d440a20afe17f0edca9453d6c83 seagull posted an article that stated that a couple other possible z victims lived on or around OAK & FELL in SF.

Then I came across this:

Next stop: San Francisco
Shortly after the breakup, Mary Alice dropped out of Cal Poly and joined the migration of young people drawn to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district.
She settled into an apartment on Page Street, just a few blocks from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury, and in fall 1970, enrolled at San Francisco State using her married name, Mary McGregor. Page ST is next to Fell & Oak, probably a coincidence but worth noting

morf13 wrote:

Trav....why did you post this?? I know that Willey''s ex-husband moved to the area near Peachtree in Atlanta

Oh I was just skimming through and I thought maybe you were looking for the envelope with the peachtree reference on it.

traveller1st wrote:

morf13 wrote:

Trav....why did you post this?? I know that Willey''s ex-husband moved to the area near Peachtree in Atlanta

Oh I was just skimming through and I thought maybe you were looking for the envelope with the peachtree reference on it.

Okay cool