Hunt For Bodies In California (Press, 5 July 1977)

On 5 July 1977, California police initiated a search for the bodies of up to 35 victims linked to a series of homosexual murders, prompted by the surrender of two suspected sex killers. The suspects, Patrick Kearney, 37, and David Hill, 34, went to the Riverside County sheriff’s office, located 95 kilometres east of Los Angeles, where they identified themselves on a wanted poster. They have been detained on suspicion of two murders but are also under investigation for involvement in six additional killings. A police spokesperson noted that robbery was not a motive in these crimes, which primarily revolved around sexual violence. The authorities reported that eight victims had already been found, all stripped of their clothes, shot in the back of the head, and disposed of in plastic bags along highways in Los Angeles. Following interviews with Kearney and Hill, a deputy indicated that the investigation might uncover as many as 30 to 35 more victims. Consequently, searches commenced across southern California to identify potential burial sites based on the suspects' statements. In addition to the ongoing investigation linked to Kearney and Hill, the police are looking into a separate series of similar homosexual murders that occurred in Long Beach in 1975, which have been referred to as “the jigsaw murders” due to the mutilation of the victims.

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