CA CA - RODNEY HALBOWER, Gypsy Hill Murders, 1976

[zwiebel]

Police in San Francisco have launched a new investigation into the homicides of several women around San Francisco, starting in 1976. They are linking them to a single serial killer.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...Answers-to-Unsolved-1976-Crime-248899201.html

 

[Tulessa]

I'm gonna keep up with this one!

 

[zwiebel]

Sorry, it's the FBI, not SF Police!

 

[zwiebel]

I'm gonna keep up with this one!

Someone just linked the story in the Holly Bobo thread, so I know nothing about it really, but it will be great if there is some justice or resolution for all these women, at last.

 

[zwiebel]

Summary:

6 women in their late teens/20s disappeared, then were discovered murdered in 1976, over a period of 4 months in 1976. LE will be canvassing neighborhoods over the coming days, seeking any new information.

Veronica 'Ronnie' Cascio. Pacifica, SF Jan 1976. Age 18

Tatiana 'Tanya' Blackwell. Pacifica, SF Jan 1976. Age 14

Paula Baxter. Millbrae, CA, Feb 1976. Age 17

Michelle Mitchell. Reno, NV Feb 1976. Age 19

Carol Lee Booth. South SF. March 1976. Age 26

Denise Lampe. Daly City, CA. April 1976. Age 19

 

[zwiebel]

Trying to think of any known serial predators around at this time.....

 

[i.b.nora]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/03/06/fbi-asks-for-information-in-1976-gypsy-hill-murders/

FBI Launches Task Force On 1976 Peninsula ‘Gypsy Hill Murders’ After DNA Lead
March 6, 2014 5:59 PM
KPIX / CBS / San Francisco


REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a task force to gather information on a series of cold case murders, dubbed the ‘Gypsy Hill Murders’ that took place in the first four months of 1976 in San Mateo County after linking the slayings to a murder in Reno.

The FBI announced at a press conference in Redwood City Thursday that they believe the 1976 murder of Michelle Mitchell, 19, in Reno may be linked to the Gypsy Hill Murder investigation, and that a joint task force involving the FBI and San Mateo County law enforcement agencies has been created to focus on the cases.

Cathy Woods was convicted of Mitchell’s murder. FBI spokesman Pete Lee said investigators still believe Woods was responsible for the murder, but given the new evidence, they also believe she had an accomplice.

*

KTVN-TV, the CBS affiliate in Reno reported a Reno Police Department spokesman confirmed to the TV station that it was DNA evidence recovered at Mitchell’s murder scene that ties all six murders together, and that the DNA does not match Cathy Woods.

More...

 

[zwiebel]

Wow. Does that mean they think a serial killer took a kind of break, to commit murder with another person, or they both worked together to kill all of the victims?

 

[gregjrichards]

I wonder why the killings started and why they stopped? I read online that Cathy Woods is a psychiatric patient who was the other perp a friend, partner another patient she met?

Is there a reason why they don't state whether the DNA of the perp is male or female? Would doing so negatively impact an investigation?

Sorry for so many questions I hope they find out who did all these crimes an hold them accountable for the victims families.

 

[i.b.nora]

This legal opinion from 1985 gives a little more info on Cathy Woods but also mentions a bunch of other people that supposedly were involved in the Mitchell murder as well:

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19851160696P2d464_11159

"696 P.2d 464 (1985)
Cathy WOODS, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Nevada, Respondent.
Supreme Court of Nevada.
March 5, 1985.
Rehearing Denied May 8, 1985.

Snippet

"The record reflects the following facts. On the evening of February 24, 1976, Michelle Mitchell's car broke down near the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, and she telephoned her mother to ask for a ride home. Mitchell's mother left immediately but could not find her daughter. Mitchell's dead body was discovered a few hours later in the garage of a nearby house. Her hands were bound with twine and her throat had been slashed.

For nearly three years no charges were brought in the Mitchell killing. In March of 1979, the Reno Police Department received the information that a mental patient at the Louisiana State University Medical Center at Shreveport, Louisiana, had told hospital staff that some years ago in Reno she had killed a girl named Michelle. The patient was appellant Cathy Woods, who had been committed to the hospital in February of 1979. Appellant told the hospital staff and subsequently Lieutenant Dennison of the Reno Police Department that she had offered to help the girl fix her car, had taken her to a garage on the pretext of getting some tools, had made a sexual proposal to her, and when rebuffed, had cut her throat. Appellant was subsequently brought to Reno and tried."

It goes on to talk about other people involved.

 

[SophieRose]

From a Nevada State Journal article 3/23/1976:

Police have thus far been baffled by the slaying, although they have several witnesses who reported seeing the girl and her car, a girl and a man together near the murder scene, and a man running from the area of the murder.

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.rgj.com/article/20140306/NEWS01/303060048/

Attorney Cal Dunlap, who as Washoe County district attorney prosecuted the Woods trial in 1980, said he and law enforcement always felt there was another person involved in the killing.

“Personally, it was always my view that there was a second person involved,” Dunlap said Thursday. “There were a variety of reasons, one of which were male footprints found and defense knew about it — footprints larger than Cathy Woods.’

“The victim was tied with her hands behind her back, and it would be difficult for someone to do that without some assistance without screaming or running around,” Dunlap said.

snip

Woods, 74, is incarcerated at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in northeast Las Vegas, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections website database.

 

[SophieRose]

http://gypsyhillmurders.com/

http://www.city-data.com/forum/true-crime/474413-gypsy-hill-killer.html


Could this missing person be another victim?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2989dfca.html

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_25290896/fbi-links-peninsula-cold-case-murders-reno-killing

Almost all of the victims were confirmed to have been raped before being killed, Lee said. Of the victims whose sexual assault could not be confirmed, it was because their bodies were too decomposed at the time of discovery.

 

[i.b.nora]

http://gypsyhillmurders.com/

http://www.city-data.com/forum/true-crime/474413-gypsy-hill-killer.html


Could this missing person be another victim?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2989dfca.html

Authorities ask that all tips be directed to the FBI San Francisco field office at 415-553-7400, and callers are asked to press 0 and advise an operator they're calling in regards to the Gypsy Hill cases.

I think you should call about that missing person.

 

[LeighAnnR]

Check out the Court Docket info for the poor gal convicted (most likely erroneously) for Michelle Mitchell's murder. She filed for a new trial TODAY, due to DNA evidence! I wonder if her defense team got the DNA evidence that go the FBI on the case?

http://www.washoecourts.com/print_casedesc.cfm?case_id=C79-1210

Also, check out the article from the women who allegedly confessed to the murder:

http://newspaperarchive.com/us/nevada/reno/reno-evening-gazette/1977/08-17/page-7

They implicated a "Tony Lima" in Michelle's death. Wonder if they have his DNA?

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.rgj.com/article/20140306/NEWS01/303060048/

Attorney Cal Dunlap, who as Washoe County district attorney prosecuted the Woods trial in 1980, said he and law enforcement always felt there was another person involved in the killing.

“Personally, it was always my view that there was a second person involved,” Dunlap said Thursday. “There were a variety of reasons, one of which were male footprints found and defense knew about it — footprints larger than Cathy Woods.’

“The victim was tied with her hands behind her back, and it would be difficult for someone to do that without some assistance without screaming or running around,” Dunlap said.

snip

Woods, 74, is incarcerated at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in northeast Las Vegas, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections website database.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19851160696P2d464_11159

A footprint in the garage matched Lima's shoe size. Murnighan said that Lima lost something in the garage; a blue cigarette lighter was found on the scene.


According to this article Tony's full name is Tony James Lima and was 27 at the time of his arrest in 1977.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...e/1977-08-13/page-8+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

A Tony James Lima born in 1950 died in San Mateo County in 1991.

 

[SophieRose]

<modsnip>

Carol Booth's body was found in South San Francisco, not far from her home. SSF is a city just south of San Francisco and located in San Mateo County, where the other bodies were found.

 

[i.b.nora]

RE: Carol Booth, age 26

Disappeared March 15 on her way home from work. I don't think we know where she worked. Her body wasn't found until May 4 on or near a dirt path, near Colma Creek, near Kaiser Medical Center, South San Francisco.


RE: Paula Baxter, 17

Disappeared after she left Capuchino High School in Millbrae at 8:15 PM. Not sure when her body was found but it was just a couple of short blocks away in a grove of eucalyptus trees next to the LDS Church on Ludeman Lane, Millbrae.

 

[bessie]

Thanks, guys. I had a horrible toothache last night, and had to stop in the middle of what I was doing. lol I was trying to compile the basic details from the older articles, and the newly released FBI info, into one post. If anyone is interested in searching for other possible victims, this will make the job easier.

​

Clockwise from top left: Paula Baxter, Denise Lampe, Michelle Mitchell, Tanya Marie Blackwell, Veronica &#8220;Ronnie&#8221; Cascio, and Carol Lee Booth &#8220;Beedy", six women killed in 1976 cold cases on the Peninsula and in Reno.

1. 1/7/76 -- Veronica "Ronnie" Cascio, 18, of Pacifica; stabbed 32 times in the neck, chest and abdomen with an 8" knife. Abducted while waiting for a bus near the Sharp Park Golf Course at Bradford Way and Fairway Dr. Body recovered the next day from a creek bed on the golf course.
2. 1/24/76 -- Tanya Blackwell, 14, of Pacifica;raped, stabbed to death in a manner almost identical to Cascio. Left home on Heathcliff Dr to walk to 7-11 convenience store on King Dr in South San Francisco. Body located June 6, covered with leaves in a wooded area off Gypsy Hills Rd in Pacifica, near the summit of Sharp Park Rd.
3. 2/4/76 -- Paula Baxter, 17, of Broadmoor; sexually assaulted, stabbed four times with a 3" knife. Skull crushed with a concrete block. A Capuchino High School student, she was last seen leaving the school parking lot around 8:15 p.m. Her abandoned car was discovered nearby. Body found Feb 6 covered in leaves near a grove of eucalyptus trees behind an LDS church on Ludemann Lane in Millbrae.
4. 2/24/76 -- Michelle Mitchell, 19, of Reno, NV; throat slit, hands tied behind her back. On Feb 24, 1976, her yellow VW bug broke down across from the University of Nevada in Reno. Witnesses reported seeing "someone" helping her to push the car onto a parking lot near the Agricultural building on Evans St at around 8:10 p.m. Later that night, a half block away, a couple returning home from an evening out discovered Michelle's body in their garage. LE recovered a cigarette butt left by the killer.
5. 3/15/76 -- Carol Lee "Beedy" Booth, 26, of South San Francisco; sexually assaulted, stabbed multiple times. Last seen walking from a bus stop on El Camino Rd. On May 4, her body was found in a shallow grave on a driving range near Colma Creek, close to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, South San Francisco, CA. Investigators think she was chosen because she "looked like a teenager".
6. 4/1/76 -- Denise Lampe, 19, of Daly City; sexually assaulted, stabbed 20 times in the chest and arms. Lampe's body was found the same day inside her 1964 Ford Mustang parked between Macy's and Denny's, in the Serramonte Shopping Center, Daly City, where she worked as a cosmetics salesperson.

**Good recap in this article:

Gypsy Hill victims exhibited 'startling' similarities
By Erin Ivie -- 03/06/2014 05:03:10 PM PST

Gypsy Hill Murders