OH OH - Jerry, 28, Linda, 23, & Debbie Bricca, 4, Bridgetown, 25 Sept 1966

[JusticeWillBeServed]

On September 27th 1966, two concerned neighbors went to the Bricca residence after no one had seen them in a couple of days. The lights were on and the dogs were barking but no one was answering. After the neighbors opened the door, a foul smell was immediately detected. Sensing the worse, they notified authorities. Inside the house, the bodies of Jerry Bricca, his wife Linda and their daughter Debbie were found. They had each been stabbed multiple times in what was described as a gruesome scene. The murders were believed to have taken place on September 25th.

Fifty years later, this crime is still being investigated. Multiple theories have emerged but no one was ever charged, no motive was ever determined and the murder weapon was never discovered.

Death on a Quiet Street - April 2008

The (autopsy) report revealed that Jerry and Linda were bound before they were killed, which seems to contradict the theory that the murders were committed in the heat of the moment. Jerry was also gagged with a pair of socks that may have been taped into his mouth. (A piece of tape, according to one of the newspaper reports, was found on his chin.) Though newspaper stories at the time indicated Linda had been raped, the autopsy report does not list any such finding. Jerry was stabbed in the back and neck, while Linda was stabbed mostly in the chest, though her face was marked with shallow cuts, perhaps made while she fought the assailant. The position of their wounds (Jerry’s left back, Linda’s right front) seems to indicate a murderer who held the weapon—possibly a carving knife from a set displayed in the dining room—in his left hand.

The police believed that the family knew the murderer because there was no sign of a struggle. Some drawers were open and Jerry’s wallet was missing, but the motive did not appear to be robbery. The dogs were sedated, and author Jeffrey Tesch theorizes that the killer stayed for hours to clean up the scene. The Monday Enquirer, which usually arrived around dawn, was missing among the newspapers in the Bricca’s yard. It’s possible that the killer wrapped the murder weapon in the newspaper and placed it in the trash cans by the curb, which were emptied that morning. Theoretically, this means the killer would have been in the house through much of the night. By the time the bodies were found, roughly 48 hours after the murder, the odds of finding the killer were already against the investigators.

Who killed Bricca family? Fifty years later, one name stands out

Now, as then, the suspects start with a veterinarian, Dr. Fred Leininger. There were rumors that Leininger and Linda Bricca were having an affair and Linda wanted to call it off. She worked for Leininger part-time at the Glenway Animal Clinic that he owned.

"He was one person of interest," Det. Douglas Todd confirmed. "We have Mr. Leininger and then 50 other suspects."

But Todd said the affair theory – people told investigators Jerry was having one, too -- didn't hold a lot of water.

"There's a theory that it could have been something to do with an affair – husband or wife. The fact of the matter is we don't have any really solid proof of an affair with either of them. We have sightings of certain people together at certain times around Cincinnati, but it's just a little piece of evidence. It's not really a motive," Todd said.

Linda's work as a stewardess might have gotten them killed, according to one theory. Before the Bricca murders, two stewardesses who had worked with Linda were attacked and beaten in Seattle. One was killed; the other beaten so badly that she said he had no memory of the attack.

Linda was afraid and told a neighbor who sat for Debbie not to let her go outside by herself. She had said something about a drug case she knew about while working for the airlines.

Todd didn't put much stock in that theory, either.

There were also similarities between the Bricca murders and the stabbing death of 21-year-old socialite Valerie Percy, daughter of a U.S. Senate candidate, at their North Shore mansion three weeks before the killings in Bridgetown.

Lt. Vogel was intrigued enough that he went to Chicago to talk to investigators working the Percy case, but they didn't make a connection.

Horrific Bricca family murders still unsolved 50 years later

Now the detectives are hoping a new look at this old case could finally solve it.

"I think the answer is in that box," Todd said, pointing to large box of files and folders filled with notes, interviews and reports from 50 years of investigations.

"It's just a matter of having that one piece that puts it all together," Todd said. "If you don't have it, things are kinda left unraveled."

Todd and Williams say they keep going back over their files and reexamining evidence.

"We're actually working on something right now, going back to the technology 50 years ago - simple fingerprints," Todd said. "But that's about all I can tell you right now."

Coroner sending evidence from Bricca murder scene to FBI for DNA testing - April 2013

 

[Betty P]

Thanks for starting a thread on this case. For some reason, assumed there already was one here.

Interesting that there's still no word on the DNA testing that was done.in 2013. I guess we should assume it didn't belong to anyone they were aware of as a suspect?


ETA: This blog post, written by someone who lived nearby, has more details. It mentions that the morning paper had been retrieved, after the time it was assumed the murders took place.

http://historysstory.blogspot.com/2014/09/september-25-bricca-murders_25.html

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

ETA: This blog post, written by someone who lived nearby, has more details. It mentions that the morning paper had been retrieved, after the time it was assumed the murders took place.

http://historysstory.blogspot.com/2014/09/september-25-bricca-murders_25.html

From your link, about the dogs:

But instead he tied them up, gave the dogs a sedative to keep them quiet, (as he was a Veterinary Doctor, this would be no difficulty at all) and then closed them in the basement.

The Cincinnati Magazine article on this case also mentions the dogs being given a sedative. I think this gives more support to the veterinarian being responsible. I know Linda worked at a veterinary hospital but it still seems like an odd coincidence. Of course, this alone doesn't mean he's guilty but I wonder what other evidence they have that makes the current investigator doubt that Dr. Leininger is the killer.

 

[wannabe00]

Bumping. The Percy case is back in the news, so I am bumping this. Perhaps they did have the same killer.

 

[lenzius]

I just recorded a podcast about this very interesting case. The location where this took place is only a few miles from where I live. Also, J.T. Townsend is working on a new book about this case, and apparently has new information.

I also took a screenshot from the WCPO newcast on Youtube that clearly shows the name of the vet as an official suspect, something they have never officially released.

)
<modsnip>

 

[fred&edna]

Anyone in the Cincy area?

Think you’re an ace amateur sleuth or a crack private eye? Then match wits with local crime historian and Queen City Gothic author JT Townsend as he exhumes Cincinnati’s most infamous murder mystery in this riveting 4-week class. Based on his upcoming book Summer’s Almost Gone, this interactive class will focus on the 1966 Bricca family murders.

Townsend was given unprecedented access to the Bricca case file – laden with information that never saw the light of print. And as an armchair detective stalking a legendary mystery, Townsend is not shackled by the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt. All evidence is admissible – hearsay, rumors, gossip, and undertones.


University of Cincinnati | Communiversity


Some photos here on Townsend's FB:

JT Townsend, True Crime Detective

 

[Fede]

HEre is an image of a Cincimatti Enquirer clipping from 1967

 

[DropthePuck]

Recent article about J.T. Townsend's new book on this case.

Who killed the Bricca family? New book explores cold case

 

[Stella]

LE pretty much knew who the guilty party was IMO. However, Miranda was new and was scaring them from doing their jobs properly for fear of violating the suspect's rights, therefore blowing the whole case. Still, I don't understand why they didn't take his fingerprints; all they needed was a warrant. Miranda and his lawyering up shouldn't have made any difference.

 

[ghoulnextdoor]

Taken from the Hamilton Daily News Journal, published Thursday, September 26th, 1966

Concern mounted today in the greater Cincinnati area as authorities continued to hunt clues to the “maniacal” slaying of a young chemical engineer, his pretty wife, and their 4-year-old child. A television station posted a $1,000 reward for information and a suburban housewife started circulating petitions calling for adding more men to the Hamilton County Sheriffs Patrol County police said a large box of items collected from the home of Jerome Bricca, 28, in suburban Bridgetown would be sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington for analysis. Officers said several latent fingerprints were bund in the Briccas* upper middle - class tri-level home where the bodies were found Tuesday night. Bricca, his wife Linda Jane, 24, and their daughter Deborah were all stabbed repeatedly. Mrs. Bricca, who left a job as a stewardess for United Airlines to marry Bricca, had been raped, Dr. Frank Cleveland, Hamilton County Coroner said, All three had been stabbed “repeatedly”, he added, and there were indications, police reported, that both Bricca and his wife had been bound with adhesive tape before or during the attacks. A small piece of adhesive tape clung to Bricon's face and a sock had been stuffed into his mouth, LL Herbert Vogel, chief investigator for Hamilton County Police, said. Lt. Vogel placed the time of deaths between IG pm. Sunday and 6:30 a.m. Monday The family was alive late Sunday, Vogel said, because at that hour, the woman’s father, Adolph Bulaw, telephoned from his home in Barrington Mills, 111., to say that he and Linda Jane’s mother were about to leave on a vacation.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I've never understood why life saving personnel and/or the fire department was called to the scene when neighbors found the obviously-deceased bodies in the house. At the same time, why did those first responders then enter the premises when it was evident that the inhabitants were deceased and beyond immediate aid? This only served to seriously disturb the crime scene making investigation by trained detectives and forensic personnel more difficult if not impossible. This is not meant as a criticism of those dedicated men and women who serve in that capacity 24/7 but rather a question as to what was the protocal of such a situation in that jurisdiction in 1966.

 

[dotr]

Feb 19 2020 rbbm.
Bricca murders: A new push to solve Cincinnati’s infamous cold case
''Jerry Bricca was last seen alive Sept. 25, 1966, as he placed garbage cans on the curb outside the family's home on 3381 Greenway Ave. On Sept. 27, concerned neighbors checked on the Bricca family after noticing that newspapers began piling up in the driveway, that the garbage cans had not been taken in, and that the family dogs had not been let outside.

"I think there's a disturbance in the TV room. Jerry goes down, is confronted. I think the adults are herded upstairs at gunpoint and then the killing started. Jerry undoubtedly was killed first -- 10 knife wounds, three to the throat. The throat is cut. Socks are stuffed in his mouth as a gag. A piece of tape is put around his mouth. Linda is stabbed on the bed, all wounds to the front -- six wounds. Debbie appeared to have been dragged away -- arms completely out, legs completely out. A stuffed animal (was) just out of her reach," Townsend said. "We lived up in the suburbs. My mom wanted to get Mace. People were getting guard dogs. We weren't even in the epicenter of the crime, really. It just wasn't supposed to happen here in Cincinnati."

Even though it's been five decades, Townsend believes this case can still be solved. He has five top suspects. Two are still alive.

"Be the suspect alive or dead, we need to close this case. You can close it with a dead suspect. You could certainly close it with a live one."

Townsend and his army of faithful west side followers on his Facebook page "Bricca Unlocked" say they won't stop until the evidence is retested.''

''Deters is now retesting every piece of evidence in the Bricca case. Unfortunately, the ancestry group used to match DNA did not find a match in the Bricca materials submitted.

But Deters said there's still hope.

"There's still some hairs that may be tested and they're going be tested very soon," Deters said.

If the county gets a DNA match that they think is from a suspect who has already died, Deters said he's even willing to exhume a body.''

 

[Richard]

The Bricca family: Jerry, Linda and Debbie, murdered 25 September 1966, Bridgetown, Ohio

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

Bricca Crime Scene
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It was about 10 p.m. on Sept. 27, 1966. Neighbors on Greenway Avenue, behind Western Bowl, hadn't seen the Briccas for two days and they were concerned. So two men went to the front door. It was unlocked.

Dick Meyer started to open the door and immediately recognized the horrible stench of death from his WWII days. He walked away in tears and called police.

When they arrived, they found the three Briccas had been stabbed to death in their bedrooms. Linda and Debbie were in their sleeping gowns.

The killer made sure no one survived. Linda was stabbed 10 times and Jerry nine. Debbie was stabbed four times and with so much force that the knife went all the way through her body each time...

LINKS:

West side family murders unsolved 50 years later

Marc Hoover: Unsolved Bricca family homicide | The Clermont Sun

The Bricca Family Murder - Welcome to DarkIdeas.net

Newly-released photos of the Bricca family before 1966 murders

 

[Richard]

Linda Bricca

Debbie Bricca

Jerry Bricca

 

[dotr]

Dare i respectfully wonder if the little girl's dna matched that of Jerry and Linda? imo, speculation.


WLWT Cincinnati


Bricca murders: A new push to solve Cincinnati’s infamous cold case

 

[Janitor101]

Dare i respectfully wonder if the little girl's dna matched that of Jerry and Linda? imo, speculation.


WLWT Cincinnati


Bricca murders: A new push to solve Cincinnati’s infamous cold case

 

[Janitor101]

There seems to be renewed interest in this case so I thought I would add some questions and comments on this most interesting unsolved crime. I listened to a podcast recently (True Crime Garage?) and it was mentioned that either the suspect or one of the victims had a B+ blood type which is one of the more rare blood types in the group. If it was the suspects blood type, it would easily rule out many of the suspects on their list.
I think the vet is a fairly strong suspect but I have my doubts. Unless I miss my guess, this crime scene indicates a pretty organized type killer who had committed similar crimes in the past. He cut off the bindings and the tape used (except for a small piece), and took them with him when he left the crime scene. DNA testing and lifting prints from tape was far into the future back in 1966. The Bricca's newspaper from the morning following the murders was taken which indicates to me that he stayed in the house for hours that night. Does it mean he kept one of the victims alive? I can't think of a logical reason why he would have stayed there as nothing of value was taken from the scene except for a wallet. And if LE felt that Linda's dogs had been sedated, do they have proof of that? Were the dogs tested for drugs in their system?
I think this murderer was an ice cold, supremely confident, calculating and emotionless killer. These are all characteristics of a true psychopath and maybe the vet possessed all of these qualities but I'm not so sure.
What are your thoughts?

 

[dotr]

There seems to be renewed interest in this case so I thought I would add some questions and comments on this most interesting unsolved crime. I listened to a podcast recently (True Crime Garage?) and it was mentioned that either the suspect or one of the victims had a B+ blood type which is one of the more rare blood types in the group. If it was the suspects blood type, it would easily rule out many of the suspects on their list.

Regarding the blood type B that you referenced as belonging to either victim or perp (where was that info found, curious about it)...
FWIW.. rsbbm.
The Rarest and Most Common Blood Types by Percentage | Live Science
''In general, the rarest blood type is AB-negative and the most common is O-positive. Here's a breakdown of the most rare and common blood types by ethnicity, according to the American Red Cross.
O-positive:

• African-American: 47 percent
• Asian: 39 percent
• Caucasian: 37 percent
• Latino-American: 53 percent

O-negative

• African-American: 4 percent
• Asian: 1 percent
• Caucasian: 8 percent
• Latino-American: 4 percent

A-positive:

• African-American: 24 percent
• Asian: 27 percent
• Caucasian: 33 percent
• Latino-American: 29 percent

A-negative:

• African-American: 2 percent
• Asian: 0.5 percent
• Caucasian: 7 percent
• Latino-American: 2 percent

B-positive:

• African-American: 18 percent
• Asian: 25 percent
• Caucasian: 9 percent
• Latino-American: 9 percent

B-negative:

• African-American: 1 percent
• Asian: 0.4 percent
• Caucasian: 2 percent
• Latino-American: 1 percent

AB-positive:

• African-American: 4 percent
• Asian: 7 percent
• Caucasian: 3 percent
• Latino-American: 2 percent

AB-negative:

• African-American: 0.3 percent
• Asian: 0.1 percent
• Caucasian: 1 percent
• Latino-American: 0.2 percent''

 

[Fede]

Here is a recent article: The 1966 Murder of the Bricca Family

 

[Janitor101]

Here is a recent article: The 1966 Murder of the Bricca Family[/QUOT
Thanks for the breakdown of the ABO blood groups. This is an excellent tool to exclude persons of interest but I suppose it would require exhumation of a suspect's body in order to obtain a sample for DNA testing. I have to wonder why this hasn't been done as there is little hope of ever solving this case. Much of what I'm gleaning from articles and podcasts on this case are conflicting. In one of the podcasts, it was revealed that there may have been problems in the Bricca marriage and I would have to agree if, in fact, the blood type found during the autopsy belonged to someone other than her husband. The medical examiner never said outright whether or not Linda B. had been raped; only that she had intercourse up to two days prior to her death. The two podcasts I listened to were Bill Cunningham's radio show in Cincinnati and True Crime Garage. The one at TCG can be found at the Itunes stores for free so just type in true crime garage bricca murders ITunes and it pops right up. Same with Bill C's radio show..type it in with google. I would love to have Jt Townsend's book on this case but I refuse to fork over 30 bucks for it. He was actually given the entire case file to use for his book.