Linked Crimes Articles

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Irvine Task Force to Probe Death of Woman
Los Angeles Times, 9 February 1981, pg. OC A8

Irvine police have assigned an eight-man task force to investigate the murder of an Irvine woman who was found dead at her home early Friday.
The victim, Manuela Elenore Witthuhn, 28, of 35 Columbus, was found dead by her mother. The autopsy showed she had been struck in the head by a blunt instrument, probably about midnight Thursday.
The woman's husband, David Witthuhn, who was out of town, became concerned when his wife did not answer the phone and asked her parents to check on her.
Irvine police said Mrs. Witthuhn's death does not appear to be related to other crimes in the area in recent months. However, the police patrol in the area has been stepped up. An Irvine police spokesman said the department has received a number of calls urging increased home security.

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‘Night Stalker’ Theory Connecting Eight Southland Slayings Disputed.
By John Hurst
Los Angeles Times, 2 August 1981, pg. A3, A24.

SANTA BARBARA- Is a psychopathic “Night Stalker” murdering Southern California couples in their beds?
Or has the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department been overeager—as two other police agencies claim—in linking eight southern California murders and a knife attack to one killer still on the loose?
The controversy and confusion began last week when the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said it believed there is a link between the murder of a couple found bludgeoned to death in a Goleta home Monday and the shooting death of another couple in a home a few blocks away 19 months ago.
Psychologist Draws Profile
Authorities also said they believe the same killer committed a nonfatal knife attack on another couple in the same neighborhood 22 months ago and went on to say they suspect a link to the bludgeon murders of a Ventura couple in March, 1980, and an Orange County couple in August, 1980.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s spokesman Russ Birchim said deputies have dubbed the killer the “Night Stalker,” and authorities said a “profile” developed by a local psychologist had indicated “a high probability” that the murderer would strike again even before the latest homicide.
“There is a person out there killing people,” said Sgt. William Baker, head of the sheriff’s major crime division. “We believe there is a strong possibility that the three (Santa Barbara cases) are connected.”
Regarding the Orange County and Ventura murders, Baker said:
“I would say there is a strong suspicion (That they are linked to the Santa Barbara cases) but to a lesser degree because I’m not as familiar with those jurisdictions’ cases.”
But authorities in Ventura and Orange County are skeptical that the murders in those jurisdictions are linked to the Santa Barbara cases.
“We see no connection between the killings,” said Ventura Police Sgt. Larry White, in charge of the Ventura homicide investigation. “We don’t know what if any link there might be.”
He contended that Santa Barbara County authorities “jumped the gun” with their announcement of a suspected link and said there had been no communication between the two departments immediately prior to that statement that a link is suspected.
Similarly, Orange County authorities are unconvinced.
“I think they (Santa Barbara County authorities) are very premature at this point,” said Darryl Coder, Orange County sheriff’s investigator. “They’re still coordinating their investigation. . .
“We had a double homicide in August of last year, he continued, “and we put out a bulletin (to other law enforcement agencies) that anybody with a double homicide contact us. . . We were contacted by just about everybody in the state. . . The fact that you have a male and a female killed on a bed does not make the cases the same. . .
“Shortly after our homicide,” Coder continued, “San Diego had a homicide, male and female in bed together. We ran down there and it turned out it was a dope ripoff.”
“It is not uncommon,” he went on, “to have a male and female (killed) in their house. Most people do go to bed at night, and because they are killed in bed does not make those cases that similar.”
The Santa Barbara crimes aside, Coder was similarly skeptical of any connection between the Orange County and Ventura murders. “We don’t feel that (there is a connection),” he said. “We never felt that.”
The eight homicides and the knife attack, committed between Oct. 1, 1979 and July 27, 1981, share several striking similarities, but there are notable differences.
In every crime the victims were a man and a woman in their bedroom, probably in bed. In each case, the scene of the crime was a comfortable to fashionable home.
In most cases the weapon was a bludgeon. But in another it was a gun. In one it was a knife with the threat of a gun. In the latest, it was a gun and a bludgeon.
No Sexual Molestation.
In none of the cases has sexual molestation of the victims been reported.
In at least one case, the victims were tied up, but in some cases authorities deny that binds were used and in others they refuse to say.
In four cases, nothing is believed to have been stolen from the victims’ homes. But in one case, a small amount of cash was taken, according to police.
In the Santa Barbara County murders, the male victims were found on the floor and the females in bed, according to police. But in the Ventura and Orange County cases, all the victims were reportedly found in bed.
In all the Santa Barbara cases, the victims were unmarried couples, leading to speculation that the killer might be a demented moralist.
But in the Ventura and Orange County murders, the couples were married.
In Santa Barbara County, all three crimes occurred within a square mile. All were near a creek bed that meanders through Goleta, an area adjacent to Santa Barbara that is made up largely of newish tract homes.
In two of the Santa Barbara crimes, the same caliber gun was used, according to police, but ballistics tests on recovered bullets have not yet determined whether or not the same weapon was used in the two cases.
These are the crimes under investigation”
—Early on Oct 1, 1979, a Goleta couple, who asked not to be identified, were accosted in their bed by a man armed with a kitchen knife. According to a source, the intruder shined a flashlight on them and, threatening to “blow your head off,” forced the woman to tie up the man with cord. If the intruder had a gun, according to sources, the couple never saw it in the darkness.
The intruder put a pair of shorts over the head of the woman, according to a source, and forced her into another room and tied her up, continually threatening murder.
In the meantime, the man, still bound, was able to get out of the house and yell for help. The intruder ran from the home, jumped on a bicycle and, with a neighbor chasing him, made his getaway, according to sources.
Police recovered the bicycle, which was stolen, and the kitchen knife, but refused to say whether they obtained fingerprints. Police say a small amount of cash was taken from the couples’ home, the only known robbery in the cases.
Because of the darkness, the couple were able to give only the sketchiest description of their assailant: A man, probably white, medium height, medium to slender build, late teens or early twenties, wearing dark clothing.
—During the early morning of Dec. 30, 1979, a few blocks from the home of the unidentified Goleta couple, Dr. Robert Offerman, 44, an orthopedist, and Debra Manning, 35, a psychologist, were shot to death in the bedroom of Offerman’s condominium.
Offerman was found on the floor and Manning on the bed. Police won’t say whether either victim had been tied up.
—On March 16, 1980, attorney Lyman Smith, 43, and his wife Charlene Smith, 33, were found bludgeoned to death in a bedroom of their expensive home in a quiet residential neighborhood of Ventura, about 35 miles from Goleta.
Police said at the time of the murder that both bodies were found in bed and early reports indicated that a fireplace log found on the bed was believed to be the murder weapon.
Police now are tighter-lipped and won’t comment on the weapon or whether the victims were tied up.
—On Aug 21, 1980, Keith Harrington, 24, a medical student, and his wife of four months, Anne Harrington, 27, a nurse, were found bludgeoned to death in the bedroom of their home in fashionable Miguel Shores in south orange County, more than 100 miles from Ventura where the previous victims were killed.
Both victims were found in bed. They reportedly were not tied up.
—Last Monday, 11 months after the Harringtons were murdered, Cheri Domingo, 35, and her boyfriend, Greg Sanchez, 28, were found bludgeoned to death in a bedroom of the spacious Goleta home that Domingo had been housesitting while it was up for sale.
The house is probably 150 miles from the Harrington home, but it is only a few blocks from the condominium in which Offerman and manning were killed.
As in the Offerman-Manning killing, Sanchez was found on the floor and Domingo on the bed, according to authorities.
And, in addition to being bludgeoned, Sanchez was shot once with a bullet of the same caliber that killed Offerman and Manning, police say.
“You’ve got people being shot to death,” said Santa Barbara county sheriff’s Sgt. Baker. “You’ve got people being bludgeoned to death. So now you’ve got something that brings them together. Because now you’ve got some elements you have bludgeoning and shooting.
But Santa Barbara County sheriff’s officers refused to give details of why they suspect a link to murders in Ventura and Orange County.

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California Couples Killer Quiet Since 1984… But Police Fear He Could Strike Again.
The National Examiner, 23 April 2002, pg. 34-35. [issue devoted to “America’s Greatest Murder Mysteries”]
Death Count: 10
The California Couples Killer hasn’t struck since 1984 [actually 1986], but cops are haunted by the idea that he could resume his deadly rampage at any time.
“Serial Killers don’t just stop,” declares Larry Pool, of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Thanks to advances in DNA testing, detectives in southern California recently linked 10 homicides [to get 10 they must be including the 4 Goleta murders. In reality the DNA count is 6 murders and three non-murder rapes] between 1979 and 1984 [1986] to one man, and Pool has been leading the search for the killer.
He fears he’s in prison for a lesser crime, counting the days until he is released. “He colud get out tomorrow and do it again,” says Pool.
The couples killer first struck in 1979. Abraham Himmel and Jennifer Horinek, both 33, were sound asleep in their home near Santa Barbara when they were awakened by the man. Shining a bright light into their eyes, he ordered them to keep perfectly still.
As he stared at her naked body, Horinek bolted from the house. Himmel also ran to safety. They escaped, but the next couple wasn’t so lucky.
Several weeks later, the killer broke into the home of Alexandra Manning and Robert Offerman, who were found bludgeoned to death [they were shot].
Eight more couples [actually even counting Goleta there were only three more couples and two single women victims—a total of eight victims, not couples] –were bludgeoned to death, always with something the killer found in their home.
In 1980, Charlene and Lyman Smith were beaten to death with a log from their fireplace in their Ventura County home. A short time later, newlyweds Keith and Patrice Harrington were murdered in Laguna Niguel.
While cops don’t know who he is, they’ve concluded that the Couples Killer is out for revenge: He feels he’s been wronged by a woman and wants to punish her and the man in her life.
The killings stopped in 1984 [1986]. Maybe the killer is in prison or an accident left him unable to kill again. “He might have fallen from a motorcycle and become a paraplegic,” says Pool. “But it’s very doubtful he would have just stopped.”

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Tie Hinted in Pair of Goleta Murders
By Eric Malnic
Los Angeles Times, 29 July 1981, pg. A20.

Goleta- There may be a connection between the murder of a couple here this week and the 1979 murder of a couple in the same neighborhood, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies said Tuesday.
Investigators of the 1979 murder developed a psychological profile of the killer that they said indicated he might strike again.
In the latest case, the bodies of Cheri Domingo, 35, and her boyfriend, Greg Sanchez, 28, were found about noon Monday in the front bedroom of a home.
Both had been beaten severely on the head and Sanchez had also been shot at least once.
Deputies said the woman had been house-sitting at the residence since the death several months ago of a relative who owned the property.
Neighbors said they heard loud reports and a scream about 3 a.m. Monday but ignored the sounds, thinking they resulted from someone setting off fireworks.
The bodies were discovered about eight hours later by a real estate agent who came to look at the house.
About three blocks away, on Dec. 30, 1979, orthopedic surgeon Robert Offerman and Santa Maria psychologist Debra Manning were found shot to death in Offerman’s condominium.
Profile Developed
Deputies revealed few details about the 1979 crime, but officers indicated that a profile developed from evidence indicated that the murderer was a psychopath who might kill again.
There were a number of similarities in the murders. They occurred in the same neighborhood, they occurred at about the same time of day and the victims in both cases were unmarried couples whose bodies were found together in a bedroom.
Officers investigating the latest case said Sanchez was an electronics technician who lived in the Santa Barbara area. Mrs. Domingo, a divorcee, was laid off two weeks ago from her job at a computer hardware firm.
The woman had two children—a 15-year-old daughter who was staying with friends the night of the attack, and a 14-year-old son who lives with his father in the San Diego area.

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Young Couple Murdered in Niguel Shores.
By Jerry Hicks
Los Angeles Times, 23 August 1980, pg. OC B1

Laguna Niguel—Police Friday were seeking leads in the slaying of a young newlywed couple found in a bedroom of their fashionable Niguel Shores home Thursday evening.
The victims were Keith Eli Harrington, 24, a fourth-year UC Irvine medical student, and Patrice Ann Harrington, a pediatrics nurse. The bodies were found at 6:30 p.m. by Harrington’s father, Roger Harrington, who owns the house.
The couple, found in their bed, had been beaten to death with a blunt instrument, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Andy Romero.
Weapon Not Found
Investigators say they have discovered no motive for the murders. It was not known late Fridaywhether anything was missing from the home. The couple may have been killed as early as the night before, but police officials were awaiting an autopsy report, which should be ready today.
No murder weapon was found, and the sheriff’s office had no clues, Romero said, adding, “This one is a real mystery to us right now.”
Niguel Shores is an enclosed private community of about 950 homes just north of coast highway. While the entrance has a security guard, there are several places which offer easy access to the homes.
The elder Harrington had apparently been at another residence he owns since Wednesday, Romero said. He told investigators he had not seen or talked to the couple since then.
The victims apparently died of “massive trauma to their upper bodies,” Romero reported.
Married Four Months.
The $300,000 home occupied by the couple at 3381 Cockelshell Drive is on a corner lot.
The Harringtons met at UCI Medical Center about a year ago. He was in his third year of medical school, specializing in emergency medicine. She was then a pediatrics nurse there.
They were married about four months ago.
Mrs. Harrington left the medical center to work for a private family. The couple temporarily moved to san Francisco, where Harrington was pursuing special studies. They recently moved back to the Laguna Niguel house.
Word of the murders spread quickly through Niguel Shores Friday morning, stunning residents.
We’ve had very few incidents at all that the police would consider a crime,” a homeowners spokesman said. “This is tragic, but we’re not anxious for a lot of publicity about it.”
Brian Brenner, a friend of the Harringtons at UCI, said Harrington was “one of the most brilliant people I ever met; he was fun-loving , full of life, energetic, raring to go all the time.”
Harrington was born Oct. 10, 1955 in Santa Monica. He was a graduate of Palisades High School in Los Angeles County, and received a bachelor of science degree from UCI in 1973.
He entered medical school in 1977 and would have graduated in December.
Harrington has three brothers, two of them doctors and the third a lawyer.

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Families of Slain Couple offer $25,000 to Find Killer
By Gary Jarlson
Los Angeles Times, 19 September 1980, pg. OC A1

Making an appeal on “a personal, as well as societal level,” the families of a Laguna Niguel copule murdered last month offered a $25,000 reward Thursday in an effort to find out who killed them.
Keith Harrington, 24, a fourth-year medical student and his 27-year-old wife, a pediatrics nurse, were beaten to death in their Niguel Shores home the night of Aug. 20.
Investigators have not established a motive for the killings, nor has the weapon, described as a blunt instrument, ever been found.
“We basically need help,” Bruce Harrington, eldest of the three surviving brothers, told a press conference at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
“Our appeal from a personal level is to people of the community, to those who know something they maybe haven’t connected with the crime,” Harrington said. “Perhaps someone saw something thrown from a car, or he may have seen somebody driving away.
“Our appeal on a societal level is that what happened to Keith and Patty can happen randomly to anyone else.”
The reward, which has been deposited in a savings account, will be paid for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers. All information will be handled in strict confidence, Harrington said.
In addition to Bruce Harrington, family members at the press conference included the dead woman’s parents, Francis and Rita Briscoe, Keith Harrington’s two other brothers ron and Douglas, and their father Roger Harrington.
It was Roger Harrington who discovered the bodies. The couple had been living in a house he owned while Keith completed his medical studies at UC Irvine.
There were no signs of forced entry sand nothing appeared to have been taken, sheriff’s deputies have said.
“That there is no apparent motive is the saddest and most frustrating factor in their deaths,” Bruce Harrington said. “This was a senseless and apparently non-motivated crime.
“There would be a degree of comfort if we could say this was a robbery or that they had enemies. But they were warm and compassionate people; there is nothing in their background that can help us,” he said.
Interviews with friends, business associates and schoolmates have not produced any information, Harrington said.
Niguel Shores has a front gate operated by security personnel, but they reported nothing unusual the night of the murders.
However, Harrington pointed out, someone on foot would have little trouble gaining access to the houses in the community.
Since the murders, Harrington said, neighbors of the couple have taken additional precautions, including buying dogs.
Something like this (the murders) is not supposed to occur in a community like this. But it has,” Harrington said.

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Pair Fatally Bludgeoned
Los Angeles Times, 17 March 1980, p. A1.

Ventura—Police today are looking into the bludgeoning murder of Lyman R. Smith, 43, a prominent Santa Paula attorney, and his wife. The couple’s bodies were found by a 12-year-old son Sunday afternoon. Smith reportedly was under consideration for a judicial post by Gov. Jerry Brown.