CA CA - KEARNEY, Patrick - The Trash Bag Murders

[CarlK90245]

I noticed that the 1976 El Segundo High School yearbook was recently added to Classmates.com, and includes a photo of John Lamay, the final victim of serial killer Patrick Wayne Kearney.

I am starting this thread because I knew John Lamay, and played on the same Pop-Warner football team as his brother Joe. John's mother and my mother are regular attendees of the same church.

Patrick Kearney

Kearney pled guilty to 21 murders, though he admitted to killing 35 young men. Juan Corona is the only serial killer in the state of California who has been convicted of killing more victims. William Bonin was also convicted of 21 murders.

John Lamay is mentioned prominently in most of the accounts of the Trash Bag Murders, since it was his disappearance that lead authorities to Kearney and his partner David Hill. Lamay's dismembered body was later found in a highway rest stop in Corona CA. AFAIK, his head was never found.

Hill was subsequently cleared of any involvement in the murders.

Here are a few articles on the Trash Bag Murders.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/patrick_kearney/1_index.html

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...pg=2965,743188&dq=patrick-kearney+first&hl=en

 

[CanManEh]

WoW Could you imagine living in or around california when this guy was killing people .the article says at the same time there were other seriel killers at work in the ares such as the zodiac killer the hillside strangelers the zebra murders never heard of those and willian bonin .And these guys weren't just killing a few people it was like 20 to 30 people exspecially the gay's .Thats just crazy these guys were prolific i can't imagine the state of terror cali must of been in back then . In all of that wouldn't it have been funny if one of the seriel killers captured one of the other seriel killers lol

 

[CarlK90245]

This bit got my attention from the TruTV article:

If all of his confessions are truthful, he also murdered two children, ages 5 and 8, along with four victims whose bodies were never recovered. At least seven of his victims remain unidentified.

Read More:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/patrick_kearney/1_index.html

I wonder who these four MP's and seven UID's are. I don't see any listed MP's or UID's who are attributed to Kearney.

I suppose "George" is still a UID, but I don't see him listed.

There are three male UID's listed in NamUs for Los Angeles County in late 1977, but none of the NamUs casefiles have enough detail to determine whether they are "George"

https://identifyus.org/cases/4437
https://identifyus.org/cases/4438
https://identifyus.org/cases/4440

 

[Ambercat]

This bit got my attention from the TruTV article:



Read More:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/patrick_kearney/1_index.html

I wonder who these four MP's and seven UID's are. I don't see any listed MP's or UID's who are attributed to Kearney.

I suppose "George" is still a UID, but I don't see him listed.

There are three male UID's listed in NamUs for Los Angeles County in late 1977, but none of the NamUs casefiles have enough detail to determine whether they are "George"

https://identifyus.org/cases/4437
https://identifyus.org/cases/4438
https://identifyus.org/cases/4440

I think the last link on your list is the most likely because the first two, the estimated year of death is 1977 and, it is my understanding that George was buried under a driveway in Culver City. This is what the Crime Library article says about George --

He led them to the site where he had buried one of his first victims, known only as George, behind his and Hill's Culver City apartment. The victim was killed around Christmas 1968. The police dug where Kearney indicated, and came up with a skeleton with a single bullet hole in its skull.

Also according to Crime Library, four of Patrick Kearney's victims have never been recovered and

At least seven of his victims remain unidentified.

 

[CarlK90245]

Here's another photo of John Lamay. This is his Junior year photo from the 1977 El Segundo HS yearbook. This photo was taken only a few months prior to his death.

 

[Ambercat]

These articles from the Daily Breeze have some more information about Patrick Kearney's victims --

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/14089511/Daily-Breeze-_Torrance_-CA_
mylifeofcrime.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/anguish-and-anger.doc

 

[Dillinger72234]

WoW Could you imagine living in or around california when this guy was killing people .the article says at the same time there were other seriel killers at work in the ares such as the zodiac killer the hillside strangelers the zebra murders never heard of those and willian bonin .And these guys weren't just killing a few people it was like 20 to 30 people exspecially the gay's .Thats just crazy these guys were prolific i can't imagine the state of terror cali must of been in back then . In all of that wouldn't it have been funny if one of the seriel killers captured one of the other seriel killers lol

Hello, Not all his victims were gay, as police tried to say. I was also nearly a victim of Patrick Kearney. My brother and I survived. I wrote the book on the killer called, The Trash Bag Murderer. I lived only a block away from him on Robinson Street in Redondo Beach and mowed his yard each week.

http://tony-stewart-crime-books.webs...s/show/2340145

 

[Dillinger72234]

I wrote about John LaMay and several other victims of this killer. What was LaMay like?

http://tony-stewart-crime-books.webs...s/show/2340145

Here's another photo of John Lamay. This is his Junior year photo from the 1977 El Segundo HS yearbook. This photo was taken only a few months prior to his death.

 

[CarlK90245]

I wrote about John LaMay and several other victims of this killer. What was LaMay like?

http://tony-stewart-crime-books.webs...s/show/2340145

I just noticed your message. Sorry for the delay in responding.

John was sort of a quiet type. He was the type who liked to hang around with friends at weekend get-togethers, but he was a bit socially awkward, and usually didn't contribute alot to the discussion.

My older brother knew him better than I did, as I was only in Junior High School when he was killed. He didn't advertise his homosexuality, and he didn't have an effeminate manner as some gays do, but some of the local people knew that he was gay. Neither my brother nor I knew that he was gay.

<modsnip>

A friend of mine who lived about a block from him spoke on the ESHS Facebook page about the last time he saw John, that they were having a BB gun fight and John was getting the best of him. That suggests that he was much more playful and mischievous with people that he knew well.

By the way, I am about halfway through the book, and find it quite interesting. It sort of hits home that in addition to John, there are dozens more with stories just like his. Each one of these boys and men all had families who are still feeling the pain of what Kearney (and maybe Hill) did.

One name that you mentioned in the book was Detective Roger Kahl. Det. Kahl was usually in charge of cases that involved minors in El Segundo, and he was a good guy. Sadly, Det. Kahl died of Leukemia back in 1992 at the age of 51, and he is still missed by many people in El Segundo.

You also mentioned the name Michael Trainor in the book as one of one of John's friends who was interviewed by Police after John's remains were found. Michael "Angelo" Trainor is also now deceased. He died in the early 90's.

 

[CarlK90245]

According to Dillinger72234's book, there are at least five victims who remain missing, and whose bodies are probably located in the Palos Verdes landfill.

* Larry Gene Walters, 20, last seen on November 10, 1975

* Oliver Peter Molitor, 13, reported missing on March 21, 1976.

* Larry Armendariz, 15, last seen on April 18, 1976

* Michael Craig McGhee, 13, last seen on June 11, 1976.

* Robert Benniefiel, 17, last seen in Fall of 1976.

 

[Ambercat]

According to Dillinger72234's book, there are at least five victims who remain missing, and whose bodies are probably located in the Palos Verdes landfill.

* Larry Gene Walters, 20, last seen on November 10, 1975

* Oliver Peter Molitor, 13, reported missing on March 21, 1976.

* Larry Armendariz, 15, last seen on April 18, 1976

* Michael Craig McGhee, 13, last seen on June 11, 1976.

* Robert Benniefiel, 17, last seen in Fall of 1976.

When Patrick Kearney said that he "disposed of the body...you aren't going to find them," it meant he threw them in the trash?

Even so, it would still be good, just in case he is mistaken or didn't want them recovered for some reason or another to see them in NamUs.

 

[CarlK90245]

When Patrick Kearney said that he "disposed of the body...you aren't going to find them," it meant he threw them in the trash?

Even so, it would still be good, just in case he is mistaken or didn't want them recovered for some reason or another to see them in NamUs.

Yes, the book states that he disposed of the parts of some of his victims' bodies in various trash bins around the Redondo Beach area. He alludes to one instance where Kearney claims that he was dumping body parts in the trash bin behind a Winchell's donuts, and the police entered the parking lot with lights and sirens going, but they were there for some other reason, and he calmly left the scene.

 

[Ambercat]

I hadn't realized this until recently, but I was reading several newspaper articles from the LA Times published after Patrick Kearney's arrest. One of his victims, John Woods, 23 years old, was found in his (Woods') apartment in Hollywood on June 21, 1976. Before reading this, I had thought all of Kearney's victims were dumped outdoors after being murdered.

 

[rhinestonecowboy77]

Hi All,

I'm a researcher writing about Kearney and would love to talk with any of you about your memories of the victims, living in SoCal during the time when Kearney was active, and anything you know about the investigation.