News-Pilot from San Pedro, California • 1

I 'Strangler' note: 'mother told me to kill' i plEfiSE' lsscS 7 ft AAA sck dut Jl Ce fc-T To Gc JSSsr TT' piflci jjr TAT flficc- ry TolO nir- 7 k-u 7Xoss rxcu-L I IfiOyT -ts MoT SHy i Aio FFt tyfikcj my tfe0 Hue yjHy Line euF Mt ou oF frtfiO she? cortW Me By Richard Simon and Thom Mead Copley News Service LOS ANGELES Lisson (sic) to me I am very sick My mother told me to kill those bad and evil ladys sic) Its (sic) not my That is what is contained in a letter to Mayor Tom Bradley from a man who may be the Hillside Strangler Assistant Police Chief Daryl Gates in making public the first page of the six-page letter told a packed news conference Tuesday he is not sure the letter is authentic But Gates said if the writer sends in an he has offered to make available would be sure that we have the proper Gates said the letter writer identified the article but he (Gates) will not reveal what it is for fear it would jeopardize the case The article could be a piece of clothing from one of the victims Meanwhile Gates raised the possibility that the strangler will strike again soon The strangler apparently has been inac tive since Dec 14 when the body of Kimberly Martin 17 was found in a hill section north of the Civic Center Gates disclosed the man who claims to be the strangler set a deadline in his letter But the assistant chief was unclear on whether the deadline is the last day for the mayor to answer the letter or latest date the man would surrender Gates did say the deadline is week or away and he added the letter writer warned serious would if the deadline is not met The assistant chief said the writer did not specify what he meant by something serious But when asked if this meant the killer would strike again if the deadline is not met Gates responded (the letter writer) made suggestions to that Bradley announced Monday he had received the letter from the man who claims he is the strangler and who said he wants to surrender and a Gates said the letter represents the fourth time in the case that an individual has declared he is the strangler He said this latest letter however piqued our interest more than any Gates would not say what specifically made this letter more credible than the others except that the letter is little bit different from something we would have expected from someone writing a prank Gates also said the letter writer did not come right out and admit he is the strangler But alluding to the murders of 12 young women Gates said: is enough reference (in the letter) to suggest that is what he is talking The letter is hand-printed in pencil on what appears to be lined notebook paper It also contains numerous misspellings and errors in punctuation and grammar It is undated and police refuse to reveal where it was postmarked The letter opens with an appeal Mr followed by the word printed in letters more than twice the size of words in the rest of page one of the letter The writer then makes a plea for help: (sic) to me I am very The writer makes reference to a presumably a mental institution or prison where he fears his return do not want to go back to that he writes hate that The writer also talks about his mother telling him to kill bad and evil ladys This could refer to prostitutes several of the victims were part of the Hollywood street scene He then talks about how his mother made his head hurt and so he killed her mother makes my head hurt That why I killed he says I get her out of my head she keep Gates said experts in psychiatry and psychology analyzed the letter and could agree neither on the validity of the letter nor the background of the writer He said one expert concluded the writer whether or not he is the strangler is in need of help that reason Gates said reason enough to respond to the person A2 col 2 This is a copy of the first page of a letter received by Mayor Tom Bradley from a man who may be the Hillside Strangler THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER SERVING THE HARBOR AREA EXCLUSIVELY 50th yearNo 275 San Pedro California February 8 1978 10 Cents 56 Pages -x Lorn i fa School a model for integration V-N Ss If I 3 fT' 4 5 i 4 I Ml rr 1 fc-y I-'- r-f Wednesday Robbers attack gas station clerk A Wilmington gas station was robbed of $150 and eight cartons of cigarettes today by two men who attacked a station attendant Nelson Escobar 20 an attendant at the Comet gas station 1403 Wilmington Blvd told Harbor Division police the men drove in at 2:55 am got out and asked for cigarettes When Escobar went to a booth and asked what kind they wanted one of the men hii him in the face the other pushed him and the pair demanded money One of the bandits threatened the attendant with a handgun police said The men took the money and cigarettes and fled to their van where a third man was waiting then drove south on Wilmington Boulevard Wilmington dairy held up A man with bloodshot eyes and a foot-long butcher knife Tuesday night robbed a Wilmington dairy of $100 Seo Jun Ma 36 owner of the Anaheim Drive-In Dairy 500 Anaheim St told Harbor Division police the man walked in at 8:20 pm threatened him with the knife and demanded money The bandit took the cash and ran from the dairy south through a parking lot police said Stolen truck pushed over cliff A stolen pickup truck was destroyed Tuesday when it was apparently pushed off a 120-foot cliff near Point Fermin in San Pedro and tumbled into the sea The truck was overturned and partially submerged when discovered at daybreak touching off concern that someone might be inside but a search by lifeguards determined that it was empty The owner of the year-old truck was identified as Richard Dunagan of Lakewood who had reported it stolen early Tuesday A heavy-duty tow truck was called in to pull the wrecked pickup to the top of the cliff along Paseo der Mar west of Gaffey Street but ran into trouble when a cable snapped and the truck again fell to the rocks below police said The vehicle later was removed successfully SPHS student hit by car A San Pedro High School student was injured Tuesday when he was hit by a car while crossing a street Police said Steve Labossiere 16 was taken to San Pedro and Peninsula Hospital by San Pedro paramedics after the 8:05 am accident at Seventeenth and Leland streets One of his legs was injured when the car struck him as he crossed Seventeenth Street in a crosswalk police said The driver of the car was identified as Pat Patalano of San Pedro a 17-year-old restaurant-oyee who had been turning left from Deputy shot climbing in window LOS ANGELES AP) A Lakewood deputy was in stable condition today after surgery for a gunshot wound he suffered while climbing through a window after a burglar information officer Merlyn Poppleton said deputy Robert Mallon 26 was shot shortly after he and his partner Marlena Diver arrested Robert Wilson McDonald 20 of Long Beach outside a Paramount apartment building Mallon was shot when he climbed through a window neighbors said the burglars used to enter the building On the inside California is known for its laws dealing with difficult social issues A review of these laws and how well working appears on pages C2 and C3 Some airlines have been allowed to stop carrying life rafts on domestic flights over water Article on page B2 More local news appears on pages A3 A4 A5 and Cl i-g'Y ti Six-year-olds Keisha Campbell and staff photo Georgette Foshaugh rummage through a It's about the only color-related problem box of crayons at Lomita School looking that has popped up at the voluntari ly integ-for just the right color to finish a drawing rated school More Pacific storms to strike this week Blizzard makes disaster area of New England Six yellow school buses are carrying black children from Los Angeles and the Harbor Area to Lomita School in the first voluntary integration of students in the area Despite threats of picketing no protesters have appeared A deputy assigned to the school says his presence hardly seems necessary and school officials say they are surprised how smoothly things have gone Beginning at 8:30 am one group after another of squirming lunch-toting children from 64 schools file into Lomita School at 2211 247th St The children immediately are offered a hot breakfast thanks to a federally subsidized breakfast program After breakfast Lomita students escort newcomers to their classes promptly at 9 am Lomita is the third to open in the Los Angeles City School District Until the arrival of the 175 new students on Monday the elementary school was 78 percent white William Layne the student integration coordinator said it ultimately will be 60 percent white To help lay the groundwork for the voluntary integration teachers at Lomita School asked students to write letters to their future classmates Before Monday every new student had received a letter Mary Barstow a teacher at Lomita School said black parents told her their children were by the letters Some wrote back Writing the letters Barstow said of got the children psyched for the idea that there would be new children coming But for the Lomita School students she said it all meant no more than that Few students she said understand busing or integration do I even say some A couple At this point just so thrilled to have new friends come to As a magnet school Lomita will receive an extra $593642 to reduce class sizes to about 27 Class sizes have been ranging from 30 to 38 Layne said priority for participation in the program was given to applicants from south central Los Angeles southeast Los Angeles and the Harbor Area Lomita School was chosen he said there was a high interest among the parents in that community for such a The new principal Wales Perdue said parents here believe in integration and the parents there believe in Since Lomita was chosen as a magnet school Perdue said five students and one teacher have transferred to other schools But he said have to remember every parent had an opportunity to transfer their Monday also was first day at Lomita School Previously a principal at Barton Hill School in San Pedro he also was an adviser to the Integration Council Perdue said the magnet school will have A2 col 3 Escondido and Vista firemen also were on standby while four carloads of deputies were stationed at the Fallbrook fire station in case of evacuations In Oceanside Assistant Fire Chief George Ruane said is sandbagging again All the reservoirs upstream are full at least as full as safe to have them so all the rain will be coming down the Meanwhile Northern major reservoirs are filling so quickly that water probably will have to be spilled to prevent flash floods All but two of the major reservoirs should be filled by June at the latest if rains continue at the current rate Bill Clark of the state drought center in Sacramento said Tuesday Excess water already has been released from some reservoirs including Folsom Dam For the first time since the two-year drought officials are faced with the prospect of spilling water out of huge water storage areas like Shasta which is four times the size of Folsom expect Shasta to ever fill in one year even with normal said John Bartok of the drought center The 143 major reservoirs in the state were filled to 78 percent of the 10-year average as of Feb 1 They held nearly 162 million acre feet of water while the 10-year average is 207 million An acre foot is 326000 gallons equal or a water for a household of five Spring runoff from mountain snow is expected to fill the reservoirs the rest of the way A2 col 3 By The Associated Press Wet squally weather is predicted throughout Southern California for the rest of the week as a new storm approaches from the Pacific Steady rain drenched most parts of Southern California Tuesday littering roadways with debris and flooding seafront homes in northern Orange County Santa Monica police closed the Pacific Coast Highway Tuesday afternoon fearing a bulkhead supporting part of a cliff would collapse Ocean swells pushed by westerly winds with 8-foot breakers and 12-foot waves washed over the Pacific Coast Highway at Seal Beach closing the road for almost three hours Flooding also was reported on the Balboa Peninsula and on Balboa Island Road crews along the Grapevine on Interstate 5 just finishing clearing the freeway of about 40000 tons of mud rocks and other debris faced the prospect of further mudslides after a result of rain and more rain may come tonight Minor slides were reported in various canyons in the Malibu area Storm-related accidents caused lengthy traffic jams Tuesday on the Pomona and Harbor freeways Nine persons were hospitalized following a Pomona Freeway collision involving two cars and two tractor-trailers In Fallbrook in San Diego County where some areas were flooded and about 80 residents were evacuated during heavy rains last month firemen distributed 2000 sandbags Off-duty personnel were placed on standby and residents of low-lying areas were warned to expect more rain By The Associated Press Mountains of snow hurricane-force winds floods a blackout in Boston looters in the streets New Englanders today dig out from one of the worst blizzards in history and wait for help from federal troops Crews worked furiously to clear airport runways of drifted snow to allow Army troops and snow-moving machinery to arrive Officials predicted that some troops would reach stricken areas today President declared Connecticut Rhode Island and Massachusetts federal disaster areas Tuesday and authorized mobilization of soldiers at Fort Meade Md Fort Bragg NC Fort Dix NJ Fort Hood Texas and Fort Ben-ning Ga Massachusetts Rhode Island and Connecticut attributed at least 27 deaths to the storm One man who drowned when flood waters burst into his basement and a 6-year-old girl drowned when a fire department rescue boat capsized Five men were feared lost on board a pilot boat sent to aid a grounded oil tanker off Salem Mass Property damage has not been calculated but officials say it will total tens of millions of dollars In Massachusetts Gov Michael ban on non-emergency travel was continued indefinitely People were told to stay home except for emergencies and anyone walking or driving on a state highway could be arrested A similar ban was expected to be lifted today in Connecticut A2 col 2 Index Weather Area deaths Cl Cloudy today tonight Comics C6 and Thursday with pro- Consumers B3 bability of showers con- Editorial A7 tinuing through Thurs- Entertainment C5 day High temperatures Foodscooking B1 today and Thursday 60 Harbor living C4 to 64 overnight low 48 to Medical B4 B5 54 Probability of rain Military A6 tonight 70 percent Sports C7 C8 Dl D2 D3 Thursday 50 percent Sydney Omarr B7 Television C6.