On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armoured Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, where unfortunately they fell victim to an unknown number of attackers while relaxing by the sea, not dissimilar to the previous murders of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards, 30 miles miles west of this attack and seven years earlier. This area of East Beach is close to Santa Barbara Cemetery and flanked by East Cabrillo Boulevard.
Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards were brutally gunned down on June 4th 1963, near Lompoc, Santa Barbara County by an unknown assailant (or assailants) armed with a .22 caliber weapon (likely a rifle) and a knife that was presumed to have been used to cut the bathing suit of Linda Edwards. Despite continuous claims that pre-cut lengths of rope played a part in the crime, no evidence has been forthcoming that any rope was brought to the crime scene by the murderer. This earlier crime, along with the murder of John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia in 1970, have been compared to the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969, close to the Knoxville Road. Both Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were stabbed repeatedly a total of sixteen times - and although Bryan Hartnell would survive the brutal attack, Cecelia Shepard was not so lucky - finally succumbing to her injuries two days later at the Queen of the Valley Hospital.  Click to enlarge
John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia who were shortly to be married were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when they were approached by one or more assailants armed with a knife, who unleashed a brutal attack on the unsuspecting young couple. Despite apparently fighting back against their attacker (or attackers), the couple unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on the remote Santa Barbara beach. John Hood suffered eleven knife wounds with the majority inflicted to his face and back, whereas Sandra Garcia received the brunt of the vicious attack leaving her almost unrecognizable in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. The fully clothed couple, appearing to have suffered no sexual interference, had also been savagely beaten, with John Franklin Hood found by beachgoers lying face down and Sandra Garcia on her back. Small amounts of money was found on the victims suggesting that robbery was not the motive.
The couple were discovered the following day, on Sunday, February 22nd 1970, lying under a green blanket devoid of knife slashes. A four-inch bone-handled fish knife was found buried in the sand less than one foot from their bodies which was initially thought to have played a part in the crime, but according to later newspaper reports it was concluded it was unconnected to the murders. They were last seen at approximately 6pm on Saturday leaving for the beach, with the vehicle of John Franklin Hood found parked in a nearby beachfront parking lot the following day. Parallels have been drawn in all three of the above cases, having occurred in relatively remote areas, all close to water, lone couples the target, with robbery and a sexual component seemingly not the primary motive. One of Sandra Garcia's friends, Jo Ann Schwendtner recalled memories of the young woman, stating “Sandy was a very nice girl. She was my ride to college. The entire 1968 Bishop graduating class went to her funeral. Whenever I go to a funeral, I think about Sandy a lot because she did not get to live her life". The Hood and Garcia murders came five months after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 and one month before the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970. The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 pleaded with the attorney for help, but warned of 'losing control again and taking his ninth or possibly tenth victim. Two months later John Hood and Sandra Garcia would be dead. Then a further two months passed before the 'My Name is' letter arrived on April 20th 1970 and announced 'But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back. I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud. I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back'. The question being; were John Hood and Sandra Garcia part of his victim count? The murders have been thought by some to be the work of the Manson Family, but former gang member Robert Beausoleil, serving life for the murder of Gary Hinman in 1969 as part of the 'Helter Skelter' revolution, has distanced himself from any involvement and no connection has ever been proven. Many crimes have been drawn into the Zodiac Killer timeline including these two murders, but the murders of John Franklin Hood, Sandra Garcia, Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards do deserve a closer look, despite the limited reasoning offered thus far.  Sandra Garcia
DESERT SUN NEWSPAPER 23RD FEBRUARY 1970
Viet Hero, Fiancee Found Stabbed, Beaten to Death Couple Discovered Beneath Blanket On Santa Barbara Beach SANTA BARBARA (UPI) - Police today questioned friends and relatives of a much-decorated Vietnam War veteran and his fiancee, whose stabbed and beaten bodies were found on a beach here, in an attempt to trace the young couple's weekend movements. The bodies of John Franklin Hood, 24, of nearby Oxnard, who was discharged with the rank of staff sergeant from the Army last month, and Sandra Garcia, 20, Santa Barbara, were found Sunday by early arrivals at east beach on a sunny, warm morning. Police said the man and girl were fully clothed, lying together beneath a blanket. They were believed to have gone to the beach Saturday afternoon. Hood had told his parents he was going to spend the day with his fiancee hut did not return home that night. Hood served with the 64th Armored Division in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. Silver Star, Purple Heart and presidential citation. He had been working at a drive-in since his discharge. Miss Garcia, an employee of the State Motor Vehicle Department, and Hood became engaged a little more than a year ago, before he left for his tour of Vietnam. Police apparently had no immediate leads on suspects but said they were attempting to trace the movements of the young couple before they went to the beach. The Hood family w'as at a loss for a motive for the slayings. The father, a construction business contractor in Oxnard, said his son did not have an enemy in the world so far as he knew. http://www.independent.com/news/2012/aug/16/did-charles-manson-live-santa-barbara/ 
Chris Schaffer, murdered on February 23rd 1970.
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Another crime to show parallels to this case was the double murder of Thomas Victor Dolan (17) of Manhattan Beach and Homer Clyde Shadwick (19) of Saginaw Michigan, also on a Santa Barbara beach on July 4th 1970 and just 11 miles west of the Hood and Garcia crime scene. See:
zodiacciphers.com/the-sleeping-bag-murders.html February 24th 1970: "Police Hunt Pair In Twin Murders Santa Barbara". Detectives today were combing their city for two young men wanted for questioning in the vicious knife-slaying of an Oxnard Vietnam war veteran and his pretty Santa Barbara fiancee. Detectives said the pair, both in their early 20s, were seen “washing cut wounds” at an east beach area service station near where the bodies of the couple, John Franklin Hood, 23, of 460 Helsam Ave, and Sandra Garcia, 20, of 3088 Calle Pinon, Santa Barbara, were found. Witnesses told detectives the two men walked into the station about I a.m. with cut wounds they said they had received as the result of a fight in the east beach area. Detectives said one of the men had a vertical cut across the center of his forehead, extending from his hairline to an eyebrow. The other man had a wound on the back of his right hand. They were seen driving an early 1950 vintage light blue sedan with primer spots on the right side and trunk deck. Pathological tests revealed Hood and Miss Garcia were killed sometime between IO p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday. The tests were conducted by Dr. John P. Blanchard, pathologist there."
Oxnard Press Courier, February 24, 1970. 
1963 June 4th-The Domingos/Edwards Murders
1966 October 30th-The Cheri Jo Bates Murder 1966 November 29th-The Confession Letter 1966 December- The Riverside Desktop Poem 1967 April 30th- The Three Bates Letters 1968 December 20th-The Lake Herman Murders 1969 July 4th-The Blue Rock Springs Attack 1969 July 31st- Vallejo Times-Herald Letter and 408 Cipher Page1 (solved) 1969 July 31st- Examiner Letter and 408 Cipher Page 2 (solved) 1969 July 31st- Chronicle Letter and 408 Cipher Page 3 (87% solved) 1969 July 31st- The Complete 408 Cipher 1969 August 3rd- The Snoozy & Furlong Murders 1969 August 4th- Debut of Zodiac Letter 1969 August 10th- Concerned Citizen Card 1969 September 27th- The Lake Berryessa Attack 1969 October 7th- The Good Citizen Letter 1969 October 11th- The Presidio Heights Murder 1969 October 13th-The Paul Stine Letters 1969 October 14/15th- Zodiac Call to Santa Rosa 1969 October 21st- The Phone Call to Palo Alto 1969 October 22nd- Call to Chat Show 1969 November 2nd- Daniel Williams Poisoning 1969 November 8th-The Dripping Pen Card and 340 Cipher (solved in 2020) 1969 November 9th-The Bus Bomb Letter 1969 November 19th-The Riddler Notes 1969 November 21st-The San Jose Code Letter 1969 November 28th-The Betsy Aardsma Murder 1969 December 7th- Oklahoma Radio Call 1969 December 7th-The 1st Fairfield Letter 1969 December 10th- Forecast for Cancer 1969 December 11th- Forecast for Leo 1969 December 16th-The 2nd Fairfield Letter 1969 December 19th- Zodiac Call to San Jose 1969 December 20th-The Melvin Belli Letter 1970 January 4th- Phone Call to Peggy Trainer 1970 Feb 21st- The Hood and Garcia Murders 1970 March 22nd-The Modesto Attack 1970 April 15th-The Robert Salem Murder 1970 April 20th-"My Name is" Letter, Cipher 3 and Bus Bomb Diagram 1970 April 28th-The Dragon Card 1970 June 18th- Oakland A's Letter 1970 June 26th-The Button Letter Cipher 4 and Map 1970 July 4th-The Sleeping Bag Murders 1970 July 24th-The Kathleen Johns Letter 1970 July 26th-The Little List Letter 1970 Sept 6th-The Donna Lass Disappearance 1970 October 5th-13 Hole Postcard 1970 October 17th- "You Are Next" Postcard 1970 October 27th-The Halloween Card 1971 March 13th-The Los Angeles Letter 1971 March 22nd-The Pines Card 1971 Possibly May- The 148 Character Cipher 1971 July 13th-The Monticello Card 1972 June 29th- The Novato Letter 1973 August 1st- The Albany Letter 1974 January 29th-The Exorcist Letter 1974 February 3rd-The SLA Letter 1974 May 8th-The Citizen Card 1974 July 8th-The Red Phantom Letter 1974 December 27th- Christmas Card 1975 November 3rd- The Belmont Letter 1976 August 26th-The Deep Real Estate Ad 1978 March 13th- The "I Am Back" Phone Call 1978 April 24th-The 1978 Letter 1978 May 2nd- The Channel Nine Letter 1978 July 19th- The Scotch Tape Letter 1981 March 8th- The Atlanta Letter 1982 January (?) - The Santa Claus Card 1986 May 6th- The Freeway Letter 1987 October 28th- The 1987 Letter 1988 February 1st- The McDonald's Letter 1988 February 8th- The McDonald's Letter [2] 1990 September 25th- The Celebrity Cypher 1990 December-American Greetings Card 1991-The Scorpion Ciphers to John Walsh 2001 January 10th- Happy New Year Card Unknown DMV Letter (possibly November 1971) |
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