Unsolved Murder in Vallejo of George Pimental: Possible Connection to North Cal Murders and/or Zodiac?

Unsolved Murders of Berkeley and North Cal Professors: Possible Connection to EAR/ONS or Zodiac?

A researcher named Morf started this by noting these unsolved murders of professors from the University of California Berkeley, as well as a Stanford faculty member. But we couldn't find any more on this, so I am posting this in hopes others can find more info.

A man named George Pimental was murdered in or near Vallejo, California (scene of several Zodiac murders). Morf then found an article about a Berkeley chemistry professor named George Pimental, who was involved in a program to teach science to high school students. But we have not yet been able to confirm if this was the George Pimental who was murdered. Can anyone help us out?

Zodiac suspect Ted Kaczynski taught at Berkeley, later placed a bomb there and several of his known victims were Berkeley alumni. Kaczynski would NOT have liked a man who was spreading science and technology to a new generation of High School students.

The Vallejo element brings to mind Zodiac as a suspect.

Or perhaps we have a disgruntled former student or professor?

A Berkeley biochemistry professor named David Hackett was also murdered.

A Stanford faculty member Floyd Martin, a lab tech and chemist at the medical school, was murdered in a lovers lane area. Was Martin a lovers lane peeper? A rival to the Zodiac? Or was he set up? Zodiac was known to prowl lovers lanes. And the EAR/ONS targeted couples.

The Visalia Ransacker, thought by some police to later become the EAR/ONS, was suspected in the murder of Redwoods journalism professor Claude Snelling, which happened during the home invasion and attempted abduction of his daughter. Both Zodiac and EAR/ONS had an adversary relationship with the media.

Cimm has posted on the very EAR/ONS like murder of Martha Menzel, and living in her house at the time was a Berkeley psychiatrist. The EAR/ONS killed a psychiatrist, and Kaczynski expressed the desire to do just that. I don't know if he was a former or current U Cal Berkeley Prof or student. Could he have been the target or co-target?



If anyone can find more info on any of these incidents, please post it here.

It appears that the Berkeley Professor George Pimental died in 1986, I don't know how.

So the Vallejo George Pimental who was murdered is probably a different person. I do wonder if they are related - could the Vallejo George Pimental be the father of the Berkeley George Pimental?

Hopefully we will get more information soon, a Vallejo area researcher has just started to look into this a little bit.

Also, Berkeley Professor Hackett was murdered, as was Stanford chemist Martin and Redwoods Professor Snelling.

College of the Sequoias journalism professor Claude Snelling was killed on September 11, 1975. He was killed by the Visalia Ransacker during the attempted abduction of his daughter. The Visalia Ransacker is thought by many police to have gone on to become the EAR/ONS.

I am trying to find the years on the Hackett and Martin murders.

It appears the Berkeley Professor George Pimental dies in 1989, I don't know how. Thus it seems the George Pimental murdered in Vallejo is a different person. But I wonder if he is related to the Berkeley man - perhaps his father?

Martha Menzel was murdered on May 1, 1991, in the house she shared with a Berkeley psychiatrist. Within a day of her murder, a person in her small town of Lodi, CA had a pipe bomb attached to a gas can put into his car, another house on her block was burned down and a week earlier a house on her block was burglarized.

Of course all of these could be seperate cases with seperate offenders.

I sort of reached a wall on this, and with work and other research projects, thought I would put it out there and see if anyone else was interested in researching this and seeing what if anything can be found.

What caught my eye was that there seemed to be a cluster of Berkeley profs or PHD's, and other North Cal Profs, all being murdered in a 10 to 15 year time span. That seemed odd to me. It made me wonder if some of these could possibly be related.

For example, if we were to look at Ohio State University and the surrounding area, would we find four professors being murdered and a murder in the house of another with a ten year span? I doubt it.

It seemed a strange enough cluster, several with possible links suggesting Zodiac, EAR/ONS and/or Kaczynski, that I thought it worth noting. But it could be nothing, all could be unrelated cases. Though as far as I know, none have been solved and most have no apparent motive or good suspects

It looks as though the newspaper article above spelled the name of the Berkeley professor as PIMENTAL, with an "A".

I think the Berkeley prof was PIMENTEL, who was quite prominent. There is no indication he died a violent death in 1989. I do not know if he was any relation to the Pimental who died in Vallejo - memebers of the same family do sometime spell last names differently, though it is rare.

Also trying to confirm if the man who was murdered in Vallejo was PIMENTAL or PIMENTEL.

God, do you think there could have been a mistake - that someone killed George PIMENTAL of Vallejo, because he read the newspaper article above saying George PIMENTAL was the Berkeley prof bringing science to high school kids? Or had some other grudge against the professor with the same name?

And certainly an unsolved murder in Vallejo makes one ponder a possible Zodiac connection.

OK, well I started my net working: SO far this is my first reply. The names have been X'd out an a couple other things.
Dear Zam,
I read your email about George Pimental, and I remember when he was murdered. I think my father, who was a XXXXXXXXX in Vallejo, knew him & his brother, if I remember correctly. I think he may have xxxxxxxxxxxx, or maybe they went to school together. I will check with my dad, and get back to you.

Last year I ran into Mr. Lafferty at a neighbor's house and we discussed the Zodiac and his book. I sure look forward to some resolution in that case, as Betty Lou Jensen and I were good friends at Hogan. Actually when I came out of my math class on Friday, Dec. 19, Betty Lou and the Fereday boy were sitting there. She was so excited as she introduced him to me as her new boyfriend. She was such a happy, kind, and talented person. We had art class together, and after their murder on Dec. 20, I was unable to continue in the art class. She sat at my table and was such an inspiration to me. She was a true artist. It was so hard to sit across from her empty seat, and of course no one wanted to sit there out of respect to her. It was a terribly scary time in Vallejo. I remember it took years before I would even go down Lake Herman Rd. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I wish I had more info; I know all of Vallejo was terrified during those years.

I'll talk to my dad, and see what he remembers about George Pimental, and let you know. My phone # is 707-XXX-XXXX, if you want to call.

It was good seeing you at XXXXX. XXXXXXXX You should come to it. Last Nov. my childhood next door neighbor and dear friend, xXXxxx (XXxx sister), passed away. During that time I reconnected with XXXXXXXX and XXXXXX. I don't know if you remember them; they lived on XXXXX St. It is nice to get in touch with everyone from the old neighborhood.

Take care and feel free to call if you have any questions.

OK, gang.... a little more research into our George P.
He was killed in 1971. For me, he is a for sure possible Z victim. One of the
37 victims that the Zodiac boasted about in his Exorcist letter.
This is more info. I received this evening, and I'm working on more. Stay tuned!
This is info. received from a Vallejo Contact.

Talked with my dad, and he did know the Pimental brothers George & Bill were uncles to a friend of my dad's, XXXXX. George P. was murdered in 1971; I'm pretty sure. I checked the Social Security Death Index and it lists a George Pimental, dying in Solano Co. in 1971. Dad & I both agree that he was found dead in his house on Idora St. Pretty gross circumstances; supposedly his penis had been cut off and put into his eye socket. My dad says there was some speculation that he was gay or maybe a sex offender. That was just rumor; don't quote us on that. George's brother, Bill, committed suicide about a year later. He had borrowed a friend's car, and was in a bad accident near Hwy 37 (Sleepy Hollow Road, my dad claims). There was no insurance on the car, and he just
couldn't live with the guilt, my
dad said. I don't know if there were fatalities in the accident, but it seems if it drove him to take his own life, maybe there were. My dad says they were close in age, but he doesn't know for sure how old they were. Supposedly, neither of them were married, but again, not exactly sure on that either. It is possible to get more info from S.S. death records. When I was doing genealogy several years ago, you could get them for free, but now there is a fee. Like I said, my dad was friends with xxxx, who went to Vallejo Hi, probably class of '48. He worked at xXXx XXX, was married (poss. Maria or Marie), and had a couple kids. He has passed away as well.
I never gave it any thought about a connection between him and the Zodiac. Of course, when I was young, whenever I saw a stocky man with glasses, I would get nervous. I would like to think that he is no longer alive, and maybe died a horrible death, like he did to so many others. Wishful thinking I guess!

A George Pimental with an A was listed in the 1968 Vallejo phone directory. He lived at 471 Woodrow. He is not listed in the 1973 Vallejo directory.

The 1968 Vallejo directory does not have anyone listed with the last name Pimentel. The only Pimentel listed in the 1973 directory is an Abelardo Pimentel who lived at 526 Jersey.

U.C. Berkeley bio of Professor George Claude Pimentel: died June 18 1989 of cancer.

NYT obituary:

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/21/obituaries/george-c-pimentel-chemist-who-led-mars-study-was-67.html?pagewanted=1

other info:

http://georgecpimentel.tripod.com/selected-biographical-summaries.htm


http://chemeducator.org/bibs/0004006/00040242.htm



GEORGE CLAUDE PIMENTEL 1922-1989
A Biographical Memoir by
C. BRADLEY MOORE
Published by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC 2007
http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/gpimentel.pdf

Thanks Tracers, for finding those. That is the George from Berkeley. Not the same George.
The one we are looking for died in Vallejo, and in 1971. He was known by some long time
residences of Vallejo. He also died a strange death, enclosed in above article. So, Solano County, and 1971..... if anyone can dig anything more up.... that would be great!

Zincerely, Zam*

PZ* My contacts statement: I checked the Social Security Death Index and it lists a George Pimental, dying in Solano Co. in 1971.

PZZ* My Contacts Dad * friend knew the Pimental Brothers from Vallejo, and of their deaths. One a murder............( the other a suicide?)

yes, I know. I was just posting info to prove they are not the same person, since posts in this thread seemed to suggest they could be the same person and asked people to post more info as they found it. Also, 1986 was not the correct date of the professor's death and he died of natural causes, so I was just clearing up some misinformation.

Thanks Tracers, LOL* yesssss..... we needed that in the beginning.....trying to dissect if they were the same people.... Thank goodness for a connection in Vallejo, and I hit the jack pot as her DAD knew both the Vallejo Pimentals. I have a few more feelers out..... keep Z fingers crossed.

Also, didn't you think it was interesting that there was a Ron Pimental ( with an A also, I think... ) in Graysmiths Yellow Book!??? Also, Sandy.... where are you.... you have more info. on this... IF
you are privy to share???????

I posted yesterday on this ,but I don't see it now, so I will do it again .
My thoughts about the east bay rapist and Zodiac, is that they were nothing alike. Zodiac was thought to be a homosexual ( not that there is anything wrong with that ), but he never ever tried to rape any of his female victims.
The east Bay rapist would brake into homes, then tie up the husbands while he raped the wife or girl friend. He would put a cup and saucer on the husbands back , so he could hear him if he dared to move.
This is only my opinion, based on the facts of both cases.

It has been a couple of decades since I really read the Yellow Book--who was Ron Pimental?

A "little" update on what happened to George Pimental.

Hi:  was an index finger, not the other.  Was very gruesome, --- involved in act of homo. activity --- had a "date" set up by a local bartender.  It was 1971.

(I will pull out the Yellow Pages to refresh my memory on the Ron Pimental in Graysmith's book.)

Interesting cases....I found some of these articles and passed them onto AK. I never really went further into looking any closer at the men or how they dies, but I knew AK was interested in the college professor angle. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what, if anything you guys find.

morf13 wrote:

Interesting cases....I found some of these articles and passed them onto AK. I never really went further into looking any closer at the men or how they dies, but I knew AK was interested in the college professor angle. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what, if anything you guys find.

This is why it's good to look at everything. ONE clew could lead to others. Just like this did, it took us BACK to Vallejo. So, we need to REALLY Look at this more, but now from the Vallejo angle and connection. Please try to find is Date of Death in the Solano Country in 1971. I would also like to see the actual Vallejo Times Herald Newspaper Articles on this..................

Tracers

Thanks for the info, that clarifies that we have two different men, a George PimentEL of Berkeley, and a George PimentAL of Vallejo.

Zam

Great info. Thanks. A longshot, but could you ask your source if the George Pimental of Vallejo who was murdered had a relative who was a professor?

Also, if he was any relation to the man mentioned in the Graysmith book "Zodiac" named Ron Pimentel, an Oakland CA private detective who investigated the Zodiac case. And did someone say Ron Pimentel also died?

tracers wrote:

It has been a couple of decades since I really read the Yellow Book--who was Ron Pimental?

Credit to Robert Graysmith's "Zodiac" pg 212




Would be interesting to know if there was any relation.

AK,
I asked my 2 contacts so far, and they are not aware of any connection.
The name Pimental is a Portuguese name, an it appears there are quite a few
living in No. CA.

Tahoe,
Thanks for pulling that Yellow Book out and posting the article on
Ron Pimentel, with an E. He was a private eye type guy, an get this... I hear
that he is also dead....but of what..and when ???? This is curious....... wonder what
more we can find out on this possible connection. Did he die of natural causes?

I LOVE Team Work* This information was sent to me by Seagull* Thanks Seagull Totally appreciate it and YOU!

Here is information on our Vallejo George Pimental's DOB & DOD.

DOB- April 8, 1904
DOD- Nov. 8, 1971 Solano County

SSN- 555-XX-XXXX

That is almost the exact two year anniversary of the Zodiac bus bomb letter of Nov. 9, 1969.

AK Wilks wrote:

That is almost the exact two year anniversary of the Zodiac bus bomb letter of Nov. 9, 1969.

Interesting AK* Thanks for posting that. mmmmmm I think we are on to something. He was 67 years old when he was murdered.
Also a "little" more info per Seagull on George's Family....


He was on a 1920 Census

Vallejo CA
Father- S William, 54, born CA
Mother- Rose, 54, born Portugal
Siblings
Frank, 24
Edward, 22
Anthony, 18
William, 20
George,16
Arthur, 14
Mary, 12

Also found him on a 1944 voter registration. There were no other voter registations for him after this year.

Vallejo Precinct #75

George Pimental 405 Grant , Occupation Packer, Dem
His brother Arthur was also at the same address, he was a clerk also Dem

How sad that someone mistook Georges index finger for his penis ?
If he was a child molester the other ,rather than a index finger would be something a person might do to the molester.
But the index finger must be another kind of a message ? Let your fingers do the walking ? Or this ones for you ? I see you ?
Geez, I had some real good ones for the other. It had to do with the old school books about Dick , Jane , and Spot their dog.

For the killer to do that ,he wanted to send a message or clue to whom ever found him perhaps ?
I wonder how this story got so turned around ?
I looked for a family member of George's, and found William F. Pimentel born 1-4-1901 died 8-3-1972 in Vallejo.
Same William born 1-4-1900 died almost two weeks later on 8-15-72 Vallejo. Both had the same S.S. numbers. That was found on Ancestry.com. I wonder how much is correct on that site ?

My friend Ron Pimentel was born 10-8-34 died on 1-23-94 one week shy of the four yr anniversary of my suspect coming into my work.
Ron died about two yrs after my last conversation with him, he was very healthy the last time we spoke.
I do need to find out how he died, because he was for sure being watched by my suspect.
The poi went after anyone who was willing to help me stop my secret admirer/ suspect/ possible Zodiac

It seems all of Georges brother's and one sister have passed away. The youngest one who was Mary Caroline Pimental/ Loutsch born 5-19-08 died in Solano co.on 3-2-97 Anthony BD 12-12-02 died July 1986, William F BD 1-04 1901 died 8-3-72 and again on 8-15-72 . Looks like they all stayed in the Vallejo area.
Maybe Zamantha is free to go with me to Vallejo tomorrow , for some 187 checking ? And some picture taking ? ( She likes to take pictures ) I enjoy the hunt for info.