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Index
Cover
Title Page
Legal
Table of Contents
Fatality Victims
Convicted and/or Deceased Killers
Murder Site Locations
Sources
Preface
PREMEDITATED MURDERS
Artie and Jim Mitchell: Contemporary Cain and Abel
The Unfulfilled Crossover of Dorothy Stratten
Delayed Gratification Thwarts A Perfect Killing
John Morency: As the Adulation Ceased, the Poisoning
Laci Peterson: When Motive Convicts Beyond the Body
Lyle and Erik Menendez: The Sins of the Son’s Bury
The Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman Murders
The Marin County Barbeque Murders
A Convincing Performance Behind the Killing of Bonnie
Vincent Brothers: The Convicting Insects on the Radiator
IMPULSIVE KILLINGS
Diane Whipple: Defining Accountability With Vicious
Eastside Salinas: An Invisible War Rages Streetside
The Isolated Unexplainable Roadway Slaying of Ennis
Father Eric Freed’s Brutal Slaying: A Lost Coast of
The Silent and Senseless Murder of Lindsay Cutshall
Haing Ngor: An Extended and Consequential Journey Curtailed
Huey P. Newton: A Tarnished Messenger with Feet of
Johnny Stompanato: A Fatal Attraction
Barbara Graham: An Unsympathetic Film Portrayal
Marvin Gaye: A Visionary Dishonored Within His Household
Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett: The Greystone Mansion
The Unexplainable Sunday Morning Sniper Attack
Phil Hartman: The Shocking Murder and Suicide From
Phil Spector: The Crumbling Legacy of a Musical Genius
Ramon Novarro: The Gruesome Torture of a Closeted Screen
Ronni Chasen: When Two Divergent Worlds Collide
Sal Mineo: A Career Comeback Suddenly Curtailed
The Abrupt Departure of a Soul Music Legend In His
RAMPAGE
The 101 California Building Rampage: Victims of Chance
The Christmas Eve Massacre by a Santa Impersonator
Edward Allaway: The Questionable Case For Cured Insanity
Mel and Elizabeth Grimes: The Consequences Behind a
The Helzer Brothers: Children of Thunder
The Disintegrating Mind and Schoolyard Entrance Massacre
Dr. Victor Ohta: The Execution and Incendiary of the
The Vindictive Rage of Elliot Rodger
The 1977 Golden Dragon Massacre: The Gang Who Didn’t
Lynwood Jim Drake III: A Loose Wire Springs A Rampage Lynwood C. Drake III did not fit the typical profile of a methodical serial killer despite the planned sequential order of his killings on the evening of November 9, 1992. Crazy Jim as labeled by Morro Bay locals had scores to settle for a life that simply had unraveled. He was an embittered, unemployed construction worker and bartender who snapped following months of accumulated financial reverses and gambling losses. He had the distinction of having appeared in the film The World According to Garp but ultimately became closer identified as San Luis Obispo County’s first recognized serial killer. He hunted down and killed six people and wounded another in three separate towns before killing himself. The killing rampage began over a dispute between Drake and his former landlord regarding his eviction from a Morro Bay rental. The diminutive residence was distinctively designed as a windmill. Drake had failed to pay rent for several successive months. His landlord and initial shooting victim, Andrew Zatko, 80, was a prominent local citizen and live-in companion of the actual house owner, Gladys Walton, a former silent film actress. Walton, whose son wrote a memoir detailing her ten-year love affair with Al Capone was known in films as the Glad Girl. She would pass away the following year at the age of 90. Morro Bay in the early 1990s was a community with a miniscule crime rate. Citizen’s sense of invulnerability was reinforced by a significant number of residents habitually keeping their front doors unlocked and keys dangling from car ignition switches. Drake walked into Zatko’s home through the unlocked front door and shot him in the neck with a .32-caliber pistol killing him instantly. He continued his rampage against Norman Metcalfe, 37, who’d assisted Zatko in the eviction process six months earlier by testifying against Drake and helping to remove his belongings. He callously shot Metcalfe between the eyes at his home and during an ensuing struggle for his gun, killed Danny Cizek, 32, and wounded Jeffrey Sidlin, 27, friends of Metcalfe. The killings were motivated by Drake’s presumption that his eviction had destroyed his life and family stability. The eviction had prompted his common law wife and daughter to relocate to North Dakota. He was purportedly living out of his car at the time of his spree. Drake suffered from a variety of debilitating physical ailments leaving his employment prospects scant. His dual reputation for erratically unstable behavior made desirability to hire him impossible. Immediately following the homicides and while being sought by police, Lynwood Drake addressed a second grievance by driving 40 miles to a Paso Robles card room, the Oak’s Card Parlor (now defunct). He had been reportedly banned from the establishment for unruly behavior and cheating. It was reported that two days before the rampage, he had gambled away his remaining funds there. For these shootings, he armed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun. His initial victims were dealers David Law, 41, and Joe Garcia, 60, in the back of the facility. He then killed a patron, Kris Staub, 31, trying to exit the building. An additional ten terrified and panicked customers remained vulnerable begging him to spare their lives. He relented. There were additional slights and individual to address. Reportedly, car difficulties prevented him from eliminating his pastor and one of his daughter’s day-care workers. His rampage was nearing its climax. He drove to the home of another former landlord, Joanne Morrow in San Miguel. He beat her with a blackjack and threatened to kill her. Instead he took her hostage. By 5 a.m. the following morning, police had surrounded Morrow’s house and escape became impossible. Miraculously, despite his menacing rants, he spared her life. While Morrow was on the phone with hostage negotiators, Drake raised his revolver and fired a single fatal cartridge into his skull. The carnage was complete but piecing together his motives became more beguiling. Drake left a delusional suicide note in his pants pocket bemoaning his life of persecution. He criticized an unsupportive family and associated himself with outlaw Jesse Cole Younger, a member of the Jesse James Gang. His attempt to redress his life’s failings generated no empathy towards his perceived injustices or agreement towards the merits of his actions. Morro Bay today remains an apparent oasis of tranquility and safety. The crime rate remains marginal. Doors however are now secured and locked like most contemporary American suburban and rural towns. The name of Lynwood C. Drake III is generally anonymous to residents who have settled into Morro Bay since 1992. He is forgotten or unmentionable by choice to most long-term residents. His rampage has been relegated as an insignificant footnote in local history. Innocence and illusions are not lost solely by a single incident such as Drake’s but rather their accumulation. Inhabitants become cautious and numbed hearing the significant daily doses of bad news through their media outlets. The erosion of trust between residents, transients, neighbors and society in general has become sadly commonplace. Restoring future trust and a comfortable sense of security may ultimately require successive generations. In truth, this loss is more likely permanent. PHOTO: Distinctive Morro Bay Windmill House disputed rental house of Drake
The Cult and Tragic Murder Consequence Traced to Family
Scott Dekraai: The Mad Rampage and Excruciating Slow
Holzer Family Stabbing Spree: Spiraling Out of Control
The Oikos University Massacre: Piecing Together a Disjointed
The Graduate Student’s Rage Against His Perceived Academic
Adolescence Angst With A Gunfire Solution
The Inevitable Slaughter of the Innocents
About The Author
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