Police Seek Links in 11 Deaths

Another Male Murder Victim Identified

by Gary Jarlson

The body of a young man whose death may be related to the murders of 10 others in the past 19 months was identified Friday as that of a missing Orange youth. Police said the nude body of Walter A. Tanner, 16, was found Nov. 17 on a side road a quarter of a mile from the San Diego Freeway. A preliminary examination showed the youth may have been strangled, police said. Tanner was reportedly last seen alive Nov. 13 after he attended a rock concert in Long Beach. Investigators believe he may have been hitchhiking when he disappeared. The Tanner youth’s body, which was identified by a family member, was found less than three miles from where the body of a 16-year-old Milpitas youth was discovered last February. The possibility these two murders may be connected with nine others dating back to April 1978, is being investigated in Orange, Riverside, San Diego and San Bernardino counties, where bodies have been found.

The bodies found in Orange County have included three in the Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction, two in Irvine and one each in Anaheim and Seal Beach. All of the victims, white males ranging in age from 16 to 23, were dumped along heavily traveled roads or freeways. Nearly all of the bodies were nude or only partially clad and, in some cases, police report, there were homosexual overtones in the murders. Six victims were strangled or suffocated. In one other case, suffocation has not been ruled out. Two more victims died of Tylenol overdoses, one was stabbed to death and the 11th died of chloral hydrate and alcohol poisoning.