GSK did Not kill Best and Sinclair

[hdgovroom]

On October 5, 1977 Hunters discovered the brutally murdered bodies of 15 year old Kimberly Dawn Best and Paige Suzann Sinclair a few yards off a dirt road in the woods near Auburn Calif. One man was charged but a jury failed to convict him. For that, I am thankful. For 40+ years the case has remained unsolved. Many have wondered if Kim and Paige were 2 more in the long list of GSK’s victims. I know they were not. Unbelievably, some members of the local Sheriffs office know that as well. How do I know, you might ask?
In mid October 1977 my friend (I’ll call her Jo) and I went “for a ride to the mountains“ with a man we met in a park in Orangevale near Jo’s sisters house whom we were visiting from So Cal. His name was Larry. We went. Once in the mountains Larry asked us if we wanted to smoke a joint and drink some beer . We sat side by side on the hillside Just a few yards off a dirt road near Auburn, with Larry in a crouching position in front of us. When we finished he suddenly sprang forward grabbing both of us by the throats and slammed us to the ground saying “do what I say and you won’t get hurt”. Larry raped us. After raping us he pretended to be sorry and said he would take us home. I told him we would find our own way home but he insisted. Afraid he would hurt us then and there we pretended to believe him but with one hand on the door handle and the other squeezing Jo’s hand in the back seat to keep her from crying we went. We planned to escape at the first sign of people... but there was none. Larry drove us deeper and deeper into the forest in his old 2 door Ford Fairlane. Where the dirt road was wide and smooth in the beginning it gradually became worse until we were descending into a valley with nothing but thick woods in front of us, huge ruts in the road and the bushes scraping both sides of the car. I knew we were almost to the place he planned on killing us. Still pretending to believe he was taking us home I said “this looks like the wrong road” and he agreed. Surveying the area he explained how he was going to use a small clearing on one side to turn around. When he turned in there was thick brush just ahead on our side... And he slammed the gas peddle to the floor.
When he did that I flung the door open. Had he kept his foot in it, the bushes ahead would have trapped us in the car but he panicked, slammed on the brakes and grabbed ahold of me. I pulled up the seat and yelled RUN JO RUN! He tried to grab her but she flew. With his one hand still gripping my arm I turned and hit him as hard as I could and ran behind her leaving only the sleeve of my shirt in his hand. There is much more that convinced me he killed Kim and Paige but that will have to wait a bit. I have to go to work. I hope I can stop shaking by the time I get there.

[johnnyhands1]

Sorry for the terrible attack against you and "Jo." Glad you escaped alive.

It appears if Kenneth Lane wasn't the murderer of Kimberly Best and Paige Sinclair, then he was framed. Note he was tried three times with a hung jury each time (7-5, 6-6, and 6-6.) Lane's ex-girlfriend testified in all three trials that she had his white pickup truck after she dropped him off at school from 7:30 am to 1 pm when she picked him up. She also testified she was with him all day and evening after that (the pickup of the two girls supposedly happened at 9am.) Lane even had a receipt for a gravel load they bought that afternoon. If she was telling the truth, Lane could not be the killer.

The gun used on the victims apparently "matched" the gun owned by defendant Kenneth Lane. The defense even admitted it could have been his gun - but was stolen. Lane even took investigators to the site where he mercy shot his dog to retrieve spent cartridges. When Lane took investigators to his truck to retrieve the weapon, it was gone. The weapon has never been found.

The reason Lane was being investigated in the first place was because, the prosecution claims, investigators were able to hypnotize a witness who said she saw the two girls being picked up on Madison Ave. and Hwy 80 and repeated the license plate to herself, but didn't write it down - and only remembered one of the characters on first interview. Under hypnosis she was able to recall 5 of the other 6 characters. From the license plate info they found Lane, who cooperated as described above.

Do you believe they could hypnotize her to remember the characters of the license plate? I don't. A few years after Kenneth Lane's arrest, hypnosis testimony was banned from California courtrooms.

There was an unidentified "Nevada City businessman" who submitted a tip - he saw the girls get into a white pickup truck (just like Lane's). He was probably the source of the license plate info - and, if so, likely the real killer. A framing like that sounds right up JJD's alley. Do you think "Larry" could have been the "Nevada City businessman" who would go to the trouble of framing someone else for his crimes? I'm not ruling it out, but I'd need to know more.

Did you ever report your attack to police? Is "Jo" still with us? Your post above doesn't mention a gun as was used in the Page/Sinclair murders - was there a gun involved? Do you still have that shirt with the sleeve torn off?  Did you remember hearing of the Page/Sinclair murders (found on Wednesday, October 5, 1977) and/or the arrest of Lane (Sunday, October 16, 1977) - which would have been right about the time of your attack?

In case you haven't heard this yet, here's a podcast (12-26-75, "Ep 20 Take Another Look") that goes over the details of the Best/Sinclair murders and Kenneth Lane trials (starts around 3:45):

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/12-26-75/id1228807274?i=1000421906188

EDIT: According to 12-26-75, after Lane was arrested, he was investigated as the EAR, but ruled out.  But after Lane's trials, they never revisited the idea of the EAR being the killer of Paige/Sinclair.

[kg]

That is one horrific story! So sorry to hear it.

How old was he?
How tall was he?
Did he look like Gerald Gallego? The apologizing doesn’t sound like Gallego but he might have varied some details working alone without an assistant such as he had beginning in 1978. Also do you know the exact date this happened?

HDGOVROOM, another case is Riley/Kuykendall 05/77.

[hdgovroom]

Yes we reported it. After walking for miles we broke into a house and waited for the owners to come home. They contacted the Sheriff on the CB radio, no phones that far out. The couple took us to a little store/post office they owned(still dirt road) where a deputy picked us up. We only knew the guy as Larry. When the deputy radioed in the call he gave Larry’s first AND last names. There are some details I don’t remember but there are some things I will never forget. The following are the reasons I am convinced GSK is not those girls killer.
After the hospital we were taken to the Sheriffs (police?) station. When we walked into the detectives office there was a picture of Larry sitting on his desk. They pretended it was accidental and said we weren’t supposed to see that. The detective said to us “Last week we pulled the bodies of 2 girls out of the EXACT area he took you to. They were so badly beaten we couldn’t identify them.” (Until last week I didn’t know one of them had been shot). I don’t remember if it was that night or a couple days later when they talked to us again that they told us that this was the 4th time Larry had been arrested for rape. We were his oldest victims. Jo and I had birthdays 1 day apart. She just turned 16 and me 18. It was the second time we talked to the sheriffs that I forever lost all faith in law enforcement and the judicial system. In the second interview they told us that they had arrested him in his ex-wifes bathroom. He was shaving off his sideburns. They said that in the previous 3 rape cases they had not been able to convict him. He gave them some bull story that it was consensual sex and we just took off afterwards. They said that since we hadn’t (yet) been beaten there was no way to prove otherwise. Also since we had smoked marijuana we could have imagined the fact it was rape and our testimony would be no good and since there were no convictions in the prior cases they could not use those in a trial. They had released him and the DA had dropped the case. Oh, they told us that we could push it if we wanted to but the defense would drag us through the mud and we smoked pot so it was unlikely he would be convicted. I guess we were supposed to be satisfied with the restraining order they gave him. We soon returned to So Cal and never heard from them again. As far as the exact date, I’m not positive but it was only a day or two after our birthdays. Mine is October 11.
I have assumed for 43 years that they now knew that Kimberly and Paige were killed by him or at least had a starting point to investigate further and he would be caught. It was only when I looked up the murder of them a few days ago that I discovered it was still unsolved. I’m appalled that there is no mention of Larry anywhere. The largest impact on me hit when I saw the pictures of Kimberly and Paige. I’m trying to find pictures of Jo and I that I can post but the resemblance is remarkable. It gave me chills (just got em again). I’m taller with long straight dark hair and Jo is petite with short blond hair. Also the evidence found at the scene. Beer cans, rolling papers and cigarette pack. We drank a beer, smoked a joint and he went and got our cigarettes from the car for us. The second we put our cigarettes out was when he pounced on us

[hdgovroom]

I am not familiar with Gerald Gallego. Larry was tall with a slender build. Long wirey limbs and very strong. A long face and nose and messed up teeth

[hdgovroom]

Oh, I’m guessing he was around 25 years old. Just a guess though.

[almagata]

I'm so sorry this happened to you and your friend but I'm happy you were able to escape.

There were an unusual number of serial predators in the Sacramento area during that time.

Sadly, Placer County has been pathetic in reviewing those cold cases with current forensic methods.

[mtf65]

Is that you Steve?

[kg]

Jan 15, 2021 5:48:24 GMT hdgovroom said:

I am not familiar with Gerald Gallego. Larry was tall with a slender build. Long wirey limbs and very strong. A long face and nose and messed up teeth

No one would mistake Gallego for tall. I also doubt he would have apologized.

Are you looking for assistance here? A place to begin might be a dive through area newspapers in newspapers.com. Your case may add to the unsolved homicide cases. There may be some of us researchers that could help. If this guy was as well known to the local authorities as your story suggests then it was likely his name popped up in the papers for other things.

[hdgovroom]

I’m not looking for assistance for me but I would like to see that the families of Kimberly and Paige get some closure. I wrote to a newspaper in Auburn but have not heard anything from them.

[hdgovroom]

The apology was not sincere. He was just trying to get us to get back in his car. We had passed some people on the road not too long before the rape. Surely close enough to hear a gunshot. I never saw a gun. I would probably be dead if I had.

[hdgovroom]

For some reason the last name Clark sticks in my brain. But in later years I had a friend named Larry Clark so I don’t know if that’s why. Jo is still with us. I’ll try to find her to see if she remembers.

[kg]

Jan 15, 2021 22:27:40 GMT hdgovroom said:

I’m not looking for assistance for me but I would like to see that the families of Kimberly and Paige get some closure. I wrote to a newspaper in Auburn but have not heard anything from them.

The newspaper might be a good start but it would probably take the right reporter. I wonder if an investigative journalist would be interested, might want to shop around Sacramento for one, perhaps it would be too touchy for someone in Auburn to take up the torch.

I have found if you have contacted the newspaper and received no reply that a follow up email referring to your prior attempt can elicit a response.

[almagata]

Jan 16, 2021 3:17:06 GMT kg said:

Jan 15, 2021 22:27:40 GMT hdgovroom said:

I’m not looking for assistance for me but I would like to see that the families of Kimberly and Paige get some closure. I wrote to a newspaper in Auburn but have not heard anything from them.

The newspaper might be a good start but it would probably take the right reporter. I wonder if an investigative journalist would be interested, might want to shop around Sacramento for one, perhaps it would be too touchy for someone in Auburn to take up the torch.

I have found if you have contacted the newspaper and received no reply that a follow up email referring to your prior attempt can elicit a response.

The newspaper business has been so depleted by social media.  I saw a copy of the Sacramento Bee last week and section A was only about four pages. 

I think the case would get more publicity if a national media organization like Oxygen pursued it.  Even the Facebook sleuth pages like True Crime Society might be a better choice than the Sacramento Bee at this point. 

[johnnyhands1]

Jan 16, 2021 3:17:06 GMT kg said:

Jan 15, 2021 22:27:40 GMT hdgovroom said:

I’m not looking for assistance for me but I would like to see that the families of Kimberly and Paige get some closure. I wrote to a newspaper in Auburn but have not heard anything from them.

The newspaper might be a good start but it would probably take the right reporter. I wonder if an investigative journalist would be interested, might want to shop around Sacramento for one, perhaps it would be too touchy for someone in Auburn to take up the torch.

I have found if you have contacted the newspaper and received no reply that a follow up email referring to your prior attempt can elicit a response.

ABC10 reporter Madison Wade hosts what appears to be an ongoing segment called "UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA" (or maybe she's trying to make it an ongoing segment).  Here's a link to the YouTube episodes I could find with that title from the last two months, both on fallen Sac Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-TjtoJWLo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdrNITf7Mc

Ms. Wade also asked Paul Holes, when interviewing him after the JJD sentencing, what he thought about the Donna Richmond case (Holes said he'd only talked to Tulare DA about the case and didn't think the Deangelo angle needed any more investigation.) Here is the 46-minute YouTube video queued up to that part of the interview:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPpaCnbfjPM&t=38m24s