In Service to a Dark Lord

5/23/2025

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
For nearly a year, from December, 1969 to November, 1970, nine unsolved murders were attributed to one perpetrator by northern California police.

Leona Roberts was kidnapped December, 1969

The women's bodies were usually found in ravines, and in hindsight it became obvious they were being killed close to a seasonal solstice or equinox. These are ritual days for satanists, Wiccans and pagans. Two were murdered on Friday the 13th. Some believed there were six additional killings that were the handiwork of the same person, which ended in December 1973.

The first was Leona Roberts, 16, who disappeared on December 10, 1969. Initially it was thought she had been kidnapped. The newspapers mentioned her mother was a psychiatric tech at Napa State Hospital. Did they believe there was a connection to the girl's disappearance? That question was destined to remain unanswered.

Leona had gone to visit Greg Vaio, a friend of both her and her fiancée, Bernard A. Pfister who was away in Vietnam. She had gone there after leaving White Front Store where she worked until 5 p.m. Greg was not there, and she had agreed to cook dinner for him. A woman who lived upstairs heard a terrorized scream about 6:30 p.m. Then she saw a blue station wagon drive away 10 minutes later. Another neighbor saw a man milling about the station wagon. He was described as being in his 20s, 5'8", stocky with short blond hair. He was wearing a brown jacket and pants. The neighbor called police after hearing the scream and they arrived at 6:45 p.m. and then left.

Inside Vaio’s apartment a Christmas tree was knocked over and the furnishings were in disarray.

Leona’s mother denied she had never run away, and was very cautious about her surroundings. She had started to work as a cashier to earn Christmas money.

On December 20 a partial skeleton was found on a beach at the base of Lighthouse Point. There were no legs, hands or feet attached. There was also no clothing. It was ruled out that the remains belonged to Leona Roberts, or Elaine Davis, 17, who had vanished from her home in Walnut Creek on December 1st. An x-ray of the torso indicated it belonged to a woman in her 20s.

On December 29, Leona's nude body was found on Bolinas Beach in Marin County. Within a few days her identity was confirmed. It was believed she was dumped into San Francisco Bay and she floated through the Golden Gate. An autopsy failed to find the cause of death. Ultimately it was ascribed to a viral infection. However her wrists were marked, which indicated she had been bound before death.

Cosette Ellison disappeared March, 1970

On March 6, 1970 Cosette Ellison, 15, disappeared. She had walked across the road to pick up mail after she came home from school. A pickup driven by a man was seen in the vicinity of the mailbox. Her body was not discovered until January 1, 1971 in the Mt. Diablo foothills. She had no broken bones, but some teeth were missing. She was found by someone looking for bottles in a culvert. The girl's left hand was missing, and there was no clothing on the remains.

Hikers had found girls’ clothing along Morgan Territory Road in July, 1970 and it wasn't until the discovery of the remains that Cosette's parents were shown the items. They positively identified them as belonging to their daughter. This discovery was two weeks before the vernal equinox. The cause of death was never determined. Her parents had offered a $10,000 reward during the time she was missing, but no one ever came forth with information.

In 1943, a woman's body was found stuffed in a tree. Her hand was missing. There was an occult interpretation of this mutilation.

Margaret Murray, an expert in folklore and witch cults suggested Bella may have been killed in an occult ceremony; the removal of the hand typical of a black magic execution.

Judith Hakari was abducted in March, 1970.

In March, 1970 while the search was ongoing for the missing Cosette Ellison, a week after she disappeared, the strangled body of Patricia King, a coed at Diablo Valley College was found near the press box at the college's football field. She was nude from the waist down, and a pair of black dancing tights was tied around her neck. She was found a day after her disappearance.

The police could not establish a motive, since she only had $8 in her wallet which was missing. Despite having been found so quickly after the murder, the police were very vague as to whether she had been raped or not.

Within days of the disappearance of Cosette Ellison and Patricia King, Judith Hakari, 23, disappeared after leaving her job at Sutter Memorial Hospital. This was on March 7, thirteen days before the equinox. Her vehicle was found parked at her home, and it was believed she was abducted before she made it inside. Her fiancée, who she was to meet, called police at 2 a.m. to report her missing. He had been waiting in the apartment, and when he walked outside he found her car parked, unlocked and the keys were on the floor.

In another strange twist, Cosette was missing from Mt. Diablo which translates to Devil Mountain, and Patricia King was found at Diablo Valley College, which translates to Devil Valley College. Perhaps this was coincidental, or perhaps it held a special significance to who killed them.

Judith Hakari's body was found about a month after she went missing c.Apri, 1970

On April 17, 1970 Judith's savagely beaten body was found by bottle hunters in a shallow grave 3 miles east of I-80 near Weimar in Placer County. Amid an old outbuilding they saw a human knee sticking out from the ground. She was still wearing her engagement ring. Besides being beaten, she was raped and strangled with her own nylon stocking. Towel strips similar to those found in her car were found in the grave, and police believed they were used as gags. He body was stuffed in a canvas bag. No DNA of the suspect was found.

The police traced back the manufacturer of the canvas bag, and found it had been a special order from the San Juan Unified School District. Below her body they found a gray sweatshirt that didn't belong to her.

When detectives completed interviews at Sutter Memorial Hospital, they learned that a young man with a reddish beard and hair had come to the hospital earlier asking for “Judith.” But employee records showed three women with that name worked there, and most people knew the missing woman as Judy.

After Judy’s body was found, the Weimar property owner where she was found, recounted seeing three young men about a week after she went missing. Although they were dressed nicely, they were digging a hole on his land, which struck the man as odd. He approached them to ask what they were doing, and one of the men closed the trunk of their car, as if to obscure something, he said. They claimed to be digging for bottles. Police released a sketch of one of the men, who was described as slender, 6 feet tall with brown hair. No suspects were ever identified.

Eva Blau died from ingesting too much mescaline, however she had marks on her wrists indicating she was tied with her hands in front of her. Her body had been dragged over gravel to where she was found

Marie Antoinette Anstey, 24, had filed for divorce from her husband Donald in January, 1970. Two months to the day, her nude body was found at the Lake-Napa County line by picnickers. She had a wound on the back of her head, and the body was hidden in brush about 15 miles southwest of Lower Lake. She had disappeared on Friday, March 13.

Police were looking for a Volkswagen-type bus and several "hippie type males" who were camping in the area near to where the body was found.

An autopsy determined that mescaline was found in Marie's stomach and bloodstream.

Strangely only hours apart another death was caused due to mescaline. The same finding showed for Eva Blau, 17. Her body was found March 14 in a vacant lot near Petaluma, a few miles from the Sonoma State College campus. She was only wearing a sweater and knee-length boots. She had burns on her wrists indicating she had been bound.

The investigators suspected the two deaths were connected; however there was no way to prove it.

Murder victim Carol Hillburn was last seen alive at the Zodiac Bar

In 1975, two California lawmen felt the murder cases were the work of a witchcraft killer. Sheriff Don Striepeke said the killer appeared to be the same man described in a booklet circulated to law enforcement around California, which had been developed by the State Department of Justice. Lt. Robbie Waters, head of the homicide detail for the Sacramento Police Department agreed with him.

This suspect figured in the death of Carol Beth Hillburn, age 22. She was last seen at 4 a.m. at a motorcycle club named the Zodiac Bar on November 14, 1970. Her nude body was dumped in a field on the north edge of Sacramento. She was bludgeoned, and her throat was cut.

There was another case in Monterey County which fit the pattern. It involved the death of Donna Marie Braun, 14, whose body was found in the Salinas River, September 19, 1974. She had been strangled to death.

Donna A. Lass, disappeared on September 6, 1970 from the Sahara Tahoe Casino where she worked as a nurse. This was two weeks before the autumnal equinox, on September 23, 1970. Her car was found parked at her apartment complex, even though she was never seen leaving her workplace.

The following day, an unknown male placed telephone calls to Donna's landlord and employer to inform them that Donna Lass would not be returning because of a family emergency. This information was false.

"Peek through the pines" photo postcard sent shortly after Donna Lass' disappearance

A photo postcard titled "Peek through the pines" was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, in March 1971. Some now believe this is tied to where Donna Lass' body was left.

In 1986, a skull was found at Emigrant Gap, along Highway 20 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In December, 2023 a match was made between DNA taken from the skull, and Donna's sister. It was confirmed this was Donna Lass.

In June 2023, Faycal Ziraoui found a strange rock formation in the shape of a bull’s-eye — the Zodiac Killer’s signature sign — at Hell Hole Reservoir, which is about 20 miles southeast of where Donna Lass’ skull was found.

However in 1975, she was yet to be found.

Sheriff Don Striepeke felt the crimes had occult overtones

Striepeke said all six of the Sonoma County victims were nude when their bodies were thrown down embankments in remote rural areas. All were white, came from broken homes, had long hair parted in the middle and had pierced ears. He said other killings in Northern California and other western states — 30 or more in all — bore resemblances to his cases.

At a press conference, the sheriff gave the profile of the suspect as provided by a psychiatrist. He is male, white, very strong and capable of "interviewing" his victims before selecting the one that met his criteria. The profile described where the killer:

has had a long standing problem …someone who has been admitted to state hospitals or local mental facilities. One who has had a history of animal torture or animal killings by strangulation or poisoning... As time has gone on he has transferred this hostility towards humans"

He comes from a dysfunctional family with a dominant mother and a passive father, with feelings of hatred and total revenge towards the mother.

The manner in which he has dumped these girls would tend to confirm his marked low opinion of women, regarding them as 'garbage' to be dumped along the side of the road and not even receive a 'decent burial'. He is probably Caucasian and has some kind of religion similar to that of the Manson type in which he would regard himself as some kind of messiah or person who can resolve and cleanse the world of these 'fallen' women.

Robert Graysmith, author of the book Zodiac lists six other murders that fit the pattern. They are:

Betty Cloer, 21, was shot and beaten by her killer during June 1971, her body discovered two days before the summer solstice. Linda Ohlig, 19, was found beaten to death at Half Moon Bay on March 28, 1972 — six days after the vernal equinox. Eighteen days before the autumnal equinox, in September 1972, Alexandra Clery was beaten to death in Oakland, her nude body discarded like a broken doll. Susan McLaughlin, 19, was stabbed to death and left without a stitch of clothing in March 1973, eighteen days before the vernal equinox. And finally, 18 days before the winter solstice, in December 1973, Michael Shane and Cathy Fechtel were shot and dumped beside a road in Livermore.

Valerie MacDonald's parents with her picture after her disappearance c.1981

However not all of these murders remained in limbo. In 2005, resolution if late did arrive for two Oregonian families. One of them were the Cloers. Their daughter's body was found on June 19, 1971 and Valerie McDonald, 26, who disappeared on November 9, 1980. Police believed she was murdered.

When Betty Cloer died, she left behind a 5-year-old son, who was adopted by his maternal grandparents. She had moved to Sacramento and on June 18, she left son in the care of a roommate. She went dancing and met someone. She stopped at her apartment at 2 a.m. and picked up a coat, and said she was going to Tahoe. Less than 24 hours later two young girls horseback riding found her body. She was raped, beaten and shot three times. Her friend gave a description of the man she left with, but the police were never able to identify him.

Years after Betty Cloer was discovered dead, Valerie McDonald moved to North Beach. Within months she wanted to move because two ex-cons — Philip A. Thompson and John G. Abbott — were the managers of the building where she lived. Both had extensive records. Thompson had rape charges from the 1970s, and even while serving time in 1975 at San Quentin he was convicted of other serious crimes. This is where he met Abbott, who had gone to prison after a police shootout, where his younger brother was killed.

The day Valerie McDonald was moving out of the apartment, she met Michael Hennessey, an ex-con and friend of Thompson and Abbott. He told he could get her a part in a movie, which ironically was about a serial killer. He pretended to make calls and the next day Valerie did not come home. Her friend tried to file a missing person's report, but was told she had to wait 72 hours. After a frustrating week of trying to convince police something had happened to her roommate, she was able get in touch with Valerie's parents.

Once police were assigned to the case Thompson, Abbott and Hennessey disappeared. This was 10 days after Valerie had vanished.

A week later Hennessey and Abbott were found in Trail, British Columbia, 800 miles away from Sacramento. They had gotten into a shootout with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Hennessey was killed, and Abbot was charged with attempted murder. He would end up going to prison and deported to his native England in the late 1980s.

Among their belongings were Valerie McDonald's ID cards, and a leather jacket she was wearing when she went missing.

Police learned Thompson had been in Trail, but returned to California before the shootout. They believed Valerie was murdered because she learned the ex-cons were part of a criminal ring. When Hennessey and Abbott were confronted by the Mounties the authorities found 15 file folders that contained details for robbery of a couple of armored car services, Safeway and the Hibernia Bank. There were also plans for two UPS robberies, which had been carried out the prior month. It seemed they planned to raise money to obtain automatic weapons that would be sold to groups in the drug trade in South America, and they would in turn swap them for cocaine, which they would sell back in the United States.

As to the murder though, "without a body, a weapon or a murder scene, San Francisco police decided they could not make an arrest."

Cover of Argosy magazine featuring the hooded figure of the Zodiac killer c.Sept. 1970

By 1983, Thompson was back in a California prison on charges unrelated to the McDonald case.

In the meantime Bob and Dee Dee Kouns, Valerie's parents went on to launch a victims' rights movement.

During all those years, the two murders appeared to be unconnected.

In 2001 the Kounses learned that a partial skeleton found by hunters in a river in 1991, had been identified by dental records as belonging to their daughter Valerie. The spot was in Ferry County, Washington which shares a border with British Columbia.

In 2003, Robert Cloer, Betty Cloer's son was told a DNA test matched the sperm left on her clothes 32 years before. The connection was to Philip A. Thompson, a California prison inmate.

A year later, Bob Kouns had died and Rob Cloer's grandparents were also dead.

In 2008, Thompson was convicted of first degree murder.

In the book Son of Zodiac, author John Myers posits the following:

The Zodiac crimes, much like the later Son of Sam attacks in New York city, were perpetrated by multiple persons operating under the guise of being a lone psychopath.

The Zodiac crimes were the work of a satanic cult operating within the milieu of the San Francisco Bay Area counterculture movement. As with the contemporaneous Manson Family and Altamont Rock Concert, the Zodiac represented the dark side of the psychedelic 60s and a beginning to the end of the so-called 'Age of Aquarius'.