Clayton CA 1968: Five Dead By Fire Five siblings murdered in Clayton, killer still on the loose after 42-years —claycord CLAYCORD.com
Pete BennettSeptember 27, 2015City of Clayton, City of Walnut Creek, Dead Bankers, Mormon Murders, The Walker Family Murders
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Five siblings murdered in Clayton, killer still on the loose after 42-years
You can contact Sgt. Michael Finney at 925-671-3220 Concord PD
Related:
Fire Pandero Court
December 8, 2010 10:30 am ·
62 comments
It was just after midnight on Sunday September 8, 1968. Six siblings on
Panadero Court in Clayton were tucked into bed. Their parents were on their way home from a
function at John Muir Hospital, when all of a sudden, somebody threw an
explosive device through the front window of the home, which immediately
engulfed the house with smoke and flames. The family would never be the same
again.
42-years-ago, that one explosive device killed five young brothers & sisters, and today, the murderer is still on the loose.
The blaze happened at 1042 Panadero Court in Clayton, which is near Pine Hollow & Mitchell Canyon.
After a thorough investigation, arson investigators determined the fire was deliberately set. They found flammable liquid in the living room of the home and several explosions were heard by neighbors. They say other pieces of evidence proved the fire was arson, as did the burn pattern inside the home. Further investigation revealed a device was thrown through the front window, which landed on the couch and immediately sent thick black smoke and flames throughout the large ranch-style home.
The $45,000 home belonged to building contractor & Clayton City Councilmember Richard Walker, and his wife, Jean. They lost five of their six children in the fire. The one who survived, 6-year-old Carolyn, was saved by two neighbors, 20-year-old James Hanson and 20-year-old Dale Cross.
Those who died in the fatal blaze were 6-month-old Mary Ann, 3-year-old Theodore, 9-year-old Cariton, 13-year-old Cynthia & 20-year-old Linda.
42-years-later, a few people have been questioned, but nobody has been arrested and charged with the murder of the five brothers & sisters. A large reward was offered by the family shortly after the death of their five children, but the case remained unsolved.
Despite the fact that the area’s largest homicide case happened in Clayton, the City of Concord Police Department is the lead investigator on the case, which is still actively being researched.
Sgt. Michael Finney says he’s been working on the case for several years, and says the family had no known enemies. Sgt. Finney says and only one man has been considered a possible suspect throughout the past few decades, his name is John Sapp.
John Sapp is a Concord native, and attended Clayton Valley High School in the 60’s, but Sapp has a new home, he’s spent the last 25-years on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison for the murder of three people, two of whom were killed and buried in Lime Ridge Open Space. Sapp is also a possible suspect in several other unsolved murders in Concord and throughout California.
Sapp has been interviewed many times regarding the arson fire in Clayton, most recently in 2003, but every time, he’s denied any involvement.
Sgt. Finney says investigators received information from people in the late 90’s who said Sapp told them he was responsible for the 1968 Clayton murders, but those informants have since said they lied about the tip and are unwilling to cooperate. Sgt. Finney says those informants notified the police many years after they claimed Sapp told them about his involvement.
One possible theory, if John Sapp was involved in the arson, is that he hit the wrong house. Sgt. Finney says just before the fire, Sapp was released from juvenile hall when he was in his mid-teens. Sgt. Finney tells us the Contra Costa Superior Court Judge who sent Sapp to Juvenile Hall lived only a few doors away from the Walker family, whose house was hit with the explosive device. Sgt. Finney says Sapp also lived within walking distance of the crime scene, and was a heavy drug user at the time of the murders, and had been for several years. Finney says it’s possible Sapp was trying to burn down the Judge’s house, but hit the Walker house by accident.
Currently, the Concord Police only have circumstantial evidence against Sapp, and not enough to convict him of the worst murder case we’ve ever seen in CLAYCORD, which hasn’t made the news since the late 1960’s.
The father, Richard, died 33-years after the fire, in 2001. His wife, Jean, is still living in Northern California, and Carolyn, the only child who survived the fire, is also still alive. Richard died not knowing who was responsible for the murder of five of his children.
Despite the fact that it’s been 42-years since the murders, somebody must know something. If you have any information on this tragic blaze, which not only killed five young victims, but changed the lives of dozens of their friends and family members, please let somebody know. You can contact Sgt. Michael Finney at 925-671-3220. This family needs justice, so please, if you know anything at all about this case, no matter how small it is, tell the police.
UPDATE: After our story was posted, a local resident came forward with information on another possible suspect in this case. The Concord Police are currently investigating this man, but no more information can be released at this time.
42-years-ago, that one explosive device killed five young brothers & sisters, and today, the murderer is still on the loose.
The blaze happened at 1042 Panadero Court in Clayton, which is near Pine Hollow & Mitchell Canyon.
After a thorough investigation, arson investigators determined the fire was deliberately set. They found flammable liquid in the living room of the home and several explosions were heard by neighbors. They say other pieces of evidence proved the fire was arson, as did the burn pattern inside the home. Further investigation revealed a device was thrown through the front window, which landed on the couch and immediately sent thick black smoke and flames throughout the large ranch-style home.
The $45,000 home belonged to building contractor & Clayton City Councilmember Richard Walker, and his wife, Jean. They lost five of their six children in the fire. The one who survived, 6-year-old Carolyn, was saved by two neighbors, 20-year-old James Hanson and 20-year-old Dale Cross.
Those who died in the fatal blaze were 6-month-old Mary Ann, 3-year-old Theodore, 9-year-old Cariton, 13-year-old Cynthia & 20-year-old Linda.
42-years-later, a few people have been questioned, but nobody has been arrested and charged with the murder of the five brothers & sisters. A large reward was offered by the family shortly after the death of their five children, but the case remained unsolved.
Despite the fact that the area’s largest homicide case happened in Clayton, the City of Concord Police Department is the lead investigator on the case, which is still actively being researched.
Sgt. Michael Finney says he’s been working on the case for several years, and says the family had no known enemies. Sgt. Finney says and only one man has been considered a possible suspect throughout the past few decades, his name is John Sapp.
John Sapp is a Concord native, and attended Clayton Valley High School in the 60’s, but Sapp has a new home, he’s spent the last 25-years on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison for the murder of three people, two of whom were killed and buried in Lime Ridge Open Space. Sapp is also a possible suspect in several other unsolved murders in Concord and throughout California.
Sapp has been interviewed many times regarding the arson fire in Clayton, most recently in 2003, but every time, he’s denied any involvement.
Sgt. Finney says investigators received information from people in the late 90’s who said Sapp told them he was responsible for the 1968 Clayton murders, but those informants have since said they lied about the tip and are unwilling to cooperate. Sgt. Finney says those informants notified the police many years after they claimed Sapp told them about his involvement.
One possible theory, if John Sapp was involved in the arson, is that he hit the wrong house. Sgt. Finney says just before the fire, Sapp was released from juvenile hall when he was in his mid-teens. Sgt. Finney tells us the Contra Costa Superior Court Judge who sent Sapp to Juvenile Hall lived only a few doors away from the Walker family, whose house was hit with the explosive device. Sgt. Finney says Sapp also lived within walking distance of the crime scene, and was a heavy drug user at the time of the murders, and had been for several years. Finney says it’s possible Sapp was trying to burn down the Judge’s house, but hit the Walker house by accident.
Currently, the Concord Police only have circumstantial evidence against Sapp, and not enough to convict him of the worst murder case we’ve ever seen in CLAYCORD, which hasn’t made the news since the late 1960’s.
The father, Richard, died 33-years after the fire, in 2001. His wife, Jean, is still living in Northern California, and Carolyn, the only child who survived the fire, is also still alive. Richard died not knowing who was responsible for the murder of five of his children.
Despite the fact that it’s been 42-years since the murders, somebody must know something. If you have any information on this tragic blaze, which not only killed five young victims, but changed the lives of dozens of their friends and family members, please let somebody know. You can contact Sgt. Michael Finney at 925-671-3220. This family needs justice, so please, if you know anything at all about this case, no matter how small it is, tell the police.
UPDATE: After our story was posted, a local resident came forward with information on another possible suspect in this case. The Concord Police are currently investigating this man, but no more information can be released at this time.
Case CIVMSC14-01974 - DODGE VS. RRS VENTURES
Pete BennettSeptember 26, 2015Alamo 1st Ward, Building Inspections, Contra Costa County, Contra Costa Superior Court, Danville Stake, Dead Witnesses, Mormon Murders, Russ Darby, The Buchanan Family Murders
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The Buchanan Family Murders and theft of Trust Documents
Case CIVMSC14-01974 - DODGE VS. RRS VENTURES
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Party
Number
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Party
Type
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Party
Name
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Attorney
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Party
Status
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||||||||||
1
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PLAINTIFF
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MICHAEL
DODGE
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First
Paper Fee Paid
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|||||||||||
2
|
PLAINTIFF
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GWYNNETH
DODGE
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First
Paper Fee Paid
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|||||||||||
3
|
DEFENDANT
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RRS
VENTURES, LLC
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Answer
02/17/2015
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|||||||||||
4
|
DEFENDANT
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BUCHANAN
CONSTRUCTION SONS, INC.
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Answer
01/06/2015
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|||||||||||
5
|
DEFENDANT
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S&J
STADTLER INC.
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Served
01/13/2015
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|||||||||||
6
|
DEFENDANT
|
Served
01/13/2015
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||||||||||||
7
|
DEFENDANT
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J.
ROCKCLIFF, INC.
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Served
01/13/2015
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|||||||||||
8
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DEFENDANT
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ROBERT
W GIBBS
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Served
01/13/2015
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|||||||||||
9
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DEFENDANT
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DEBBIE
M GIBBS
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Served
01/13/2015
|
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||||||||||||||
Party
Number
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Party
Type
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Party
Name
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Attorney
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Party
Status
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||||||||||
3
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CROSS
COMPLAINANT
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RRS
VENTURES, LLC
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First
Paper Fee Paid
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|||||||||||
4
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
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BUCHANAN
CONSTRUCTION & SONS, INC.
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Answer
03/19/2015
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|||||||||||
5
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
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S&J
STADTLER INC.
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Served
03/31/2015
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|||||||||||
6
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
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RUSSELL
K DARBY
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Serve
Required (WaitS)
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|||||||||||
7
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
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J.
ROCKCLIFF, INC.
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Served
03/31/2015
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|||||||||||
10
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
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ROCKCLIFF
REALTORS
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Serve
Required (WaitS)
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|||||||||||
11
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
ROBERT
W GIBBS
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Served
03/31/2015
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|||||||||||
12
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CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
DEBBIE
M GIBBS
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Served
03/31/2015
|
|
||||||||||||||
Party
Number
|
Party
Type
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Party
Name
|
Attorney
|
Party
Status
|
||||||||||
4
|
CROSS
COMPLAINANT
|
BUCHANAN
CONSTRUCTION & SONS, INC.
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First
Paper Fee Paid
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|||||||||||
3
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
RRS
VENTURES, LLC
|
Answer
04/22/2015
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|||||||||||
5
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
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S&J
STADTLER INC.
|
Serve
Required (WaitS)
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|||||||||||
6
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
RUSSELL
K DARBY
|
Serve
Required (WaitS)
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|||||||||||
7
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
J.
ROCKCLIFF, INC.
|
Serve
Required (WaitS)
|
|||||||||||
11
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
ROBERT
W GIBBS
|
Serve
Required (WaitS)
|
|||||||||||
12
|
CROSS
DEFENDANT
|
DEBBIE
M GIBBS
|
Serve
Required (WaitS
|
Pete Speaks Publicly - People Die September 23rd 2014
The Irony of Public Law
I am sitting just out of view. On Tuesday she was speaking about suicide prevention feeding another lame presentation. Sitting my right is Lt. Jeff Muell who interceded on July 4th, 2011 at the Danville Parade. I shared with a sworn peace officer while Mayor Newell Arnerich looked on about the endless attacks linked to March 2011 FBI arrests. They did nothing and two weeks later my car was totaled. About ten minutes later I shared with the Supervisors. I have two minutes to make points on forty years of murders, arson and about the many suicides, assaults and murder suicides. Here I am bearing all for the public to hear.
Four days later my relatives are dead from Murder Suicide.
Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (The Irony)
On September 23rd, 2014 I took the podium at the Contra Costa Board of Supervisor where I spoke passionately about Gas Pipeline Explosions, Arson, Murder Suicides and Murders of my clients.
Four days later fate strikes Bennett again.
Over in Springville UT just four short days later the Strack Family, a family of five was discovered by family members and the mother. my relatives were murdered and the irony is the woman was speaking about Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
On September 23rd, 2014 I took the podium at the Contra Costa Board of Supervisor where I spoke passionately about Gas Pipeline Explosions, Arson, Murder Suicides and Murders of my clients.
Four days later fate strikes Bennett again.
Over in Springville UT just four short days later the Strack Family, a family of five was discovered by family members and the mother. my relatives were murdered and the irony is the woman was speaking about Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
#H1bVisaMurders - AllNurses.com - The National Murder Suicide Network
The five bodies bore traumatic injuries and were scattered throughout the large house on Channel Drive. The deaths appeared to be a multiple murder-suicide, said South Lake Minnetonka interim Police Chief Mike Siitari.
The family — a father, mother and three teenagers — had not been seen for a couple of days at work or school, and the father’s co-workers had asked police to check on them, he said.
“This is a complex crime scene” that will take several days to sort through, Siitari said.
He declined to release the victims’ names, ages, or manner of death, or to say who might have been the killer. But a notice on the father’s work website said that the victims were the home’s owners, Brian and Karen Short, and their three children.
The home, built in 1998, is near Lake Minnetonka’s St. Albans Bay. It last sold in September 2011 for $2 million to the Shorts, according to Hennepin County property records. The couple’s three children, Cole, 17; Madison, 15, and Brooklyn, 14, all attended Minnetonka High School.
Facebook, .
Brian Short, a nurse, founded the website AllNurses.com, which provides information and resources for and about the nursing profession. His business is headquartered in Excelsior.
An administrator of the AllNurses.com website posted this message Thursday night:
“It is with great regret and a very heavy heart that I have to share some very sad news with you. There is no easy way to say this. … Brian and his family have been killed. The news is calling it an apparent murder-suicide. … No matter what the details are, the results are still the same … a very tragic loss for the extended families, friends, co-workers and this nursing community.”
Comments poured into the site, including one that said: “Brian created something with allnurses.com that has left a positive impact on the nursing profession and the future of nursing. He will be remembered with deep respect for his role in that.”
Karen Short’s brother and Brian Short’s older brother said the family wasn’t ready to talk about the tragedy, while friends wrestled with the shock.
They will all be missed
“I can’t even fathom it,” said Kathy Lausche, who became friends with the family when they lived in Lakeville. “They were just your normal, typical family,” she said. “Their lives revolved around their kids.”
Brian and Karen Short were “at every single soccer game,” said Toni Plante.
So it seemed odd Tuesday when she didn’t see Brooklyn Short on the field or her parents on the sidelines for the soccer game on the first day of school. She later learned from her daughter, Ana, that Brooklyn, a high school freshman, wasn’t at school.
“Brooklyn is a really good student, and it wouldn’t be like her to miss the first day of school,” Plante said.
On Wednesday evening, Plante said she texted Karen Short to ask if Brooklyn was all right. She never heard back.
“This is just too sad,” she said. “They were the nicest people in the world. There was nothing snooty about them at all. They were just down to earth.”
Brooklyn was just the “sweetest girl. So inquisitive. A darling girl,” Plante said. She and her daughter were talking last week about how neither girl liked to dress up. “They figured they should wear grubby clothes and go to homecoming together.”
Plante realized she would have to break the awful news to her daughter. “This is going to be tough.”
“It’s just shocking,” said Jeff Bergsten, a neighbor of the Shorts when they lived in Lakeville. The family sometimes returned to their old neighborhood for parties and graduations.
“[Brian Short] was a real generous guy with his time and conversation,” Bergsten said. Short was a Green Bay Packers fan who had a successful Internet business and could talk about any subject.
Karen Short was “a lovely lady,” said former Lakeville neighbor Tami Scribner. “She was just laid back and her smile was always there.”
Neighbor Doug Plocek found police cars blocking his street when he came home Thursday and heard that there was a death in the Shorts’ house, then an update that it was the whole family.
“The neighbors went into shock,” he said. “To me, there was no indication whatsoever how that could have happened.”
He said Brian Short always appeared happy, easily greeting neighbors and sharing his love of cars, particularly Teslas. Plocek said he often saw Short clearing snow in the winter or saw the children walking with friends on their quiet street, which has only nine houses on it.
“They were good neighbors,” he said. “This whole thing, we’re trying to wrap our heads around it.”
Of the neighborhood, Plocek said, “We’ve never even had a break-in. To have something of this magnitude and it involves children — it just tears me apart.”
As evening fell, investigators from the South Lake Minnetonka police and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office continued their work at the scene. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office will conduct autopsies.
Scanner conversations between police and dispatchers indicated that all the victims appeared to have died of severe injuries.
After entering the home, officers found a small dog, then began a search and discovered the bodies, one by one, in different areas of the house.
The extent of the horror unfolded over several minutes as officers went from room to room.
One victim was found in a bedroom, a second in the basement garage, two others in the basement and the last in a lower-level bedroom.
Siitari said he had never seen a scene so grim in his three decades of police work, and that it was extremely difficult for the officers involved.
“There are no words to describe it. … It’s a tragedy,” he said. “This is a tough one to handle.”
kelly.smith@startribune.com 612-673-4141
mlsmith@startribune.com 612-673-4788
pwalsh@startribune.com 612-673-4482
From PG&E, Southern Pacific, San Onofre to Domestic Terrorism sponsored by the City of Lafayette CA Police
Pete BennettSeptember 14, 2015Alamo 1st Ward, Bin Laden Family, Danville Stake, East Bay Murder Series, Greenan, Mormon, Mormon Murders, Mormons, Rick Kopf, The Scherer Murders, The Terrorism Files, TheSerialArsonist.com
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The Risk Pool is at Risk
April 12, 2012: a pipe-bomb found on Iron Horse Trail - e.g. the Southern Pacific Tracks.
April 18, 2012: Nate Greenan killed in car accident on WB-24 in Orinda CA
Mr. Christensen obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Financial Planning from Brigham Young University in 1980 and an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 1985. He has served as trustee of multiple trusts since 1997. Currently, Mr. Christensen serves on the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management, the International Advisory Council of the International Center for Law & Religion at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law, and the President's Leadership Council at Brigham Young University. He also serves on the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at University of California, Berkeley.
Dave Christensen is a Co-founder and Managing Principal of Milestone. Prior to Milestone, Mr. Christensen served as Co-President of Nearon Enterprises for over 20 years, from 1993 until June 2014. From 1985 until 1992, he was with Bechtel Investments Realty in San Francisco.
Background:
On July 4th, 2011, I bumped into David Christian and Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich who each deflected my inquiries, Arnerich was keenly aware of unfolding CNET or Dirty DUI Scandal where Danville Officer Stephen Tanabe had been recently arrested.
I first met Dave at the Alamo 1st Ward where my ex-wife was baptized into the Mormon Faith in 1975. That connection binds her to Rick Kopf, James Greenan and Chris Ivory. That also binds them to who knows who rigged my truck to explode in 2004.