Carol Ann Andersen (16) had left a party in Regina Road, South Lake Tahoe at approximately 11:30pm on June 30th 1979 and her body was discovered in the early morning hours of July 1st 1979 by a passing motorist on the edge of the road on Sundown Trail, 3.8 miles by road from the party. Carol was fully clothed, but her shoes were discovered 1/4 mile away on Golden Bear Trail (see map below). There was evidence of strangulation and ligature marks on her wrists, and her bra had been pulled up under her shirt, with scratch marks noted on the right breast. The murderer, Joseph Stephen Holt, lived at 1390 Keller Road at the time of the Brynn Rainey murder in 1977, which was located only 350 feet from Regina Road and a 4 mile drive to Sundown Trail.. However, another address linked to him in the US Index of Public Records from 1978 to 2015 (one year after Brynn's murder, and one year before the murder of Carol Andersen) was 1101 Sierra Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe. This location was just a 1.8 mile drive to Sundown Trail. 

After he had abducted Carol Andersen and did whatever he did, he drove to Sundown Trail and dragged the young girl's body to the side of the road and continued westwards. Because Sundown Trail was effectively a dead end, he must have traveled west and then turned south on Lodgepole Trail, before heading northeast on Golden Bear Trail. Carol's shoes were found on Golden Bear Trail about 1/4 mile from her body, so Joseph Stephen Holt realizing her shoes had likely come off inside his vehicle, probably tossed them out of the vehicle window at the southern edge of Golden Bear Trail before exiting the area.

Brynn Rainey (27) was abducted by Joseph Stephen Holt after leaving the Bittercreek Saloon at Sandy Way and Takela Drive at approximately 10:00pm on July 24th 1977​, who was due at work at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel at 2:00am for her shift. Her body was found a month later in a shallow grave at Stateline Stables at Van Sickle State Park, with her purse and casino identification found about 30 feet from the gravesite. It is thought she was strangled and sexually assaulted. Stateline Stables (at the time) was approximately 1.6 miles drive from 1390 Keller Road (the 1977 residence of Holt).

So if he used the 1101 Sierra Boulevard residence in 1979 when Carol was murdered, he would never have disposed of a victim more than 1.8 miles from either residence. Therefore, if he was responsible for the abduction of Donna Lass in 1970 from somewhere close to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel or her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home, why did her dump her body 76 miles from 1390 Keller Road? Was this his first murder and he was being extremely cautious, or was he known to Donna Lass (unlike Rainey and Andersen), so took greater precautions to delay any resulting investigation into her murder?

​However, It does appear that greater effort was used in the body disposal of the two women who worked at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. Donna Lass was eventually found 74 miles from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, and Brynn Rainey was found in a 2 foot deep shallow grave. There may have also been delaying tactics with the two Sahara Tahoe Hotel employees, with the killer ringing the casino and excusing their absence in 1970 and 1977. Whereas Carol Andersen was just dumped on the side of the road in plain sight. A connection between Joseph Stephen Holt and the two Sahara Tahoe Hotel workers may have caused him to want to buy time and delay any investigation into their disappearances. If Donna Lass been discovered in a 2 foot shallow grave in 1970 we may have had our answer by now.  

​READ THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR'S REPORT INTO DONNA LASS  

At the time of Brynn Rainey's murder in 1977 Joseph Stephen Holt was living at 1390 Keller Road. We know he lived in South Lake Tahoe in 1974, but we don't know for certain whether he had vacationed or visited the area before moving there. There is some evidence pointing to his family owning the 1390 Keller Road residence prior to 1970, so it's perfectly feasible he could have stayed at this location at the time of Donna Lass' disappearance on September 6th 1970. He was listed at this address from 1971 to 2015 in the US Index to Public Records, so it's possible he stayed at an earlier time.

​Two reasons that Joseph Stephen Holt may have chosen to visit South Lake Tahoe in the years before moving there was his passion for skiing and swimming (according to his obituary), making this an ideal place for permanent residency. The love of skiing was something he had in common with Donna Lass, who when speaking to Joan Bentley at the casino just before the end of her shift on September 6th 1970, said that she was looking forward to skiing that upcoming winter. For Joseph Stephen Holt, the 1390 Keller Road location was ideal to pursue that passion, with the Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort right next to the Keller Road address.

Opening in 1955, the Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort is situated on 3860 Saddle Road and the Heavenly Village base location on 4080 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. I am currently unsure what facilities (if any) were available at 4080 Lake Tahoe Boulevard in 1970 but it would be very interesting to find out, because had Joseph Stephen Holt left his 1390 Keller Road address on foot (or by car), his quickest route to the base location of the Heavenly Ski Resort (or the Sahara Tahoe Hotel) would have taken him alongside the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartment of Donna Lass (shown by the red line on the map below). With a common interest in skiing it is not implausible that they may have crossed paths - quite literally. The Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort was extremely close to both addresses on their south side.

Assuming that a sinister phone call was received by the Sahara Tahoe Hotel in 1977 stating that Brynn Rainey wouldn't be turning up for her shift at 2am, the one big difference between this and the phone call received on behalf of Donna Lass in 1970, was that the caller in Donna's case knew the name of her landlord (Mr. Davis). This could indicate a more personal connection to Donna Lass, rather than a killer who just performed a random abduction from the street. Knowledge of her address would be required.  

Thanks to all the contributors that have made the last three articles possible. 
Further reading:   ​THE 1970s, ONE ROAD, THREE MURDERS    
​ANOTHER SINISTER PHONE CALL TO THE SAHARA IN 1977 

Thanks to the great work of researchers Adam and Andrew Gray we now have more information about Joseph Stephen Holt and the murders of Brynn Rainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Ann Andersen (16) in 1979, who both lived in South Lake Tahoe. What we don't yet know is whether Joseph Stephen Holt had ever visited or vacationed in the region prior to moving there in 1974. If he was prepared to move to South Lake Tahoe and begin a career in the real estate business, one would have thought he was already accustomed with this area and liked it enough to move there. How many people are prepared to move house and relocate without knowing anything about the destination they are moving to? Visit the previous introductory article on this subject. 

​At the time Joseph Stephen Holt murdered Brynn Rainey in 1977 he was living at 1390 Keller Road, just 4,400 feet from the once address of Donna Lass at 3893 Pioneer Trail Road in 1970. Had he visited this specific area of South Lake Tahoe in 1970 and thought it was a good place to live? Every residence associated with Joseph Stephen Holt is situated on the south side of the lake, with four of them within a 4.3 mile radius of 3893 Pioneer Trail Road. If he was responsible for the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass in 1970, did he consider this area the ideal hunting ground for his depravity and choose to set up base here in 1974? But this isn't where the coincidences stop? 

In an episode of Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace entitled "The South Lake Tahoe Strangler", Joe Alexander, the Deputy District Attorney of El Dorado County stated "One of the interesting facts in this case is that an unidentified male called Brynn Rainey's employer and informed them that she would not be showing up for her shift at the casino where she worked. We certainly don't know for sure who that was that made the call, but under the circumstances, and the fact that Brynn at that time was likely already dead, it would strongly suggest that the killer made that call in order to buy more time before people knew she was missing".

​If this is correct, it means that Joseph Stephen Holt rang the Sahara Tahoe Hotel to delay any investigation into Brynn Rainey's murder (She was carrying her casino ID). This is the exact playbook used by the murderer of Donna Lass, who phoned the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and stated that Donna Lass wouldn't be turning up to work at the casino because of a family illness. Nowhere in this documentary did it mention Donna Lass or reference her case whatsoever. This could mean that both Brynn Rainey and Donna Lass both went missing traveling to and from their 2:00am shift at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, followed by a phone call from the killer excusing their absence. This information is difficult to ignore.  

Joseph Stephen Holt moved to South Lake Tahoe to begin a career in real estate, so had he shown any interest in the property under construction at Incline Village in 1971, that featured in the mailing of the Pines card on March 22nd 1971. A newspaper article stated that 'the site depicted on the 'Pines Card' was from an advertisement published last Sunday by several newspapers. It was an artist's rendition of houses among the trees at a Boise Cascade Company project at Incline Village, where construction has just begun on the development. While much of the Sierra area is under several feet of snow, Incline Village has only two feet on the ground. Police went to the area to determine if a search is possible'. ​Chief Lauritzen, who was involved in the search for Donna Lass, remarked that "there's no point to a search at this time. It's unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring". Is it conceivable that Joseph Stephen Holt, an intelligent individual, mailed this postcard to shift the attention of Donna's murder onto the Zodiac Killer?  

Thanks again to Adam and Andrew Gray for the information used in this article. 
Further reading: The 1970s, One Road, Three Murders 

Joseph Stephen Holt was identified in 2019 through DNA to be responsible for the murders of Brynn Rainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Ann Andersen (16) in 1979, both in South Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately he had already died in 2014 so he escaped justice.

​Brynn Rainey had headed to work on Sunday, July 24th 1977 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift, when she decided to stop off at the Bittercreek Saloon close to Sandy Way and Takela Drive at approximately 10:00pm. This was the last time she was seen alive, being found strangled at Sunset Stables a month later. So had she been abducted as she traveled to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, the reverse of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, who some believe was abducted as she exited the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, or during her journey home? Both Donna Lass and Brynn Rainey were last seen alive at the end and near beginning of their 2am shift, who both worked at the same establishment. The distance from the Bittercreek Saloon at Sandy Way and Takela Drive to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel is 1.86 miles by crow.

Carol Andersen had gone to a party on June 30th 1979 near the Heavenly Ski Resort on Regina Road, and decided to leave sometime between 11pm and 11:30pm rather than accept a lift from partygoers. Carol was found facedown over the curb line on Sundown Trail on July 1st 1979. Where she went after leaving the party is unknown, but had she headed toward her lower Kingsbury home, she would have likely joined Lake Tahoe Boulevard at some point.

​Lake Tahoe Boulevard joins Highway 50, which would have taken her past the Sahara Tahoe Hotel situated 1.7 miles by crow from Regina Road, and just shy of lower Kingsbury, which sits just beyond the California/Nevada border. If she had decided to walk home from the party it was a 45 to 50 minute journey. Had she had left the party and traveled on Ski Run Boulevard to Lake Tahoe Boulevard, this location would have placed her only 3,400 feet from the Bittercreek Saloon where Brynn Rainey was last seen. She would have had to head east along Lake Tahoe Boulevard, the same route that Brynn Rainey would have needed to take to reach the Sahara Tahoe Hotel for her 2am shift. Donna Lass would also have had to walk along Lake Tahoe Boulevard to reach her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home in 1970, had she chosen this option. Although it may seem extremely unlikely, all three females could have been abducted on the same road. The apartment of Donna Lass is 5,000 feet from Regina Road and 400 feet from Lake Tahoe Boulevard.   

"Joseph Stephen Holt was born on November 8, 1947, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first child of an airline pilot and a high school teacher. Shortly after his birth, the family began moving around various locations before finally settling in San Jose, California, where Holt spend most of his youth. After graduating from the Cupertino High School, he studied political science at the UC Santa Barbara and later UC Berkeley, receiving a bachelor's degree. He moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1974, where he soon began a career in real estate, holding down that job up until his death. As a realtor, he frequently travelled between San Jose and South Lake Tahoe, and was regarded as very familiar with the area". Taken from Wikipedia. 

The overriding question, is did Joseph Stephen Holt ever visit South Lake Tahoe prior to moving there? As a 22-year-old man he may have vacationed there in September 1970 (or many times) - and liked the location so much - he decided to up sticks after his stint at the University of California in Berkeley and move 140 miles northeast (by crow) to South Lake Tahoe. Just because he didn't move there until 1974, doesn't mean he had never visited there previously. But was he there on September 6th 1970? The last seen locations of Brynn Rainey and Carol Andersen are tantalizingly close to the apartment of Donna Lass, so could the intelligent and articulate Joseph Stephen Holt have befriended Donna Lass several years earlier? 

​FURTHER READING: ​ANOTHER SINISTER PHONE CALL TO THE SAHARA IN 1977 

Thanks to Canadian filmmaker Andrew Gray (Druzer) from the Citizen Detective YouTube channel, who inspired this article.   

Despite conflicting reports regarding the time of the Johnny and Joyce Swindle murders on February 5th 1964, several investigators place the time closer to 8:15pm, including Sergeant Ed Stevens. Although it was reported that "a man was seen running away from the beach about two blocks away" from the crime scene, I wasn't able to consolidate this sighting with a time and location. Fortunately there was additional and more promising eyewitness testimony. 

There was another report that a man was seen running on Del Monte Avenue at 8:16pm, about one minute after the earliest estimates of the murders (8:15pm) The shortest route from the top of the stairwell at Narragansett Avenue (above the crime scene) to Del Monte Avenue in a southerly direction is a journey of 558 feet. Typical walking speed is 4.6 feet per second, so if this was the killer running at approximately 10 feet per second, it would take him about 55.8 seconds to reach the western edge of Del Monte Avenue and correlate with the 8:16pm eyewitness sighting. This would have placed the man only 82 feet from the cliff edge. 

If this was the killer, he refused to choose the option of heading a considerable distance east on Narragansett Avenue by traveling south on Ocean Front Street. After this brief journey, he again had the option of heading a considerable distance east on a narrow side road (marked with a red line on the map), but instead he continued on Ocean Front Street to Del Monte Avenue. See Google maps. 

If our killer was on foot heading to safety in the direction of his home (without a vehicle) and lived in San Diego, this may suggest that he didn't live anywhere north of Narragansett Avenue.because he was heading away from this location. He could have lived on Del Monte Avenue or further south such as Bacon St, Santa Cruz Ave, Coronado Ave, lower Cable St, or Del Mar Ave (or beyond). If on foot, it would just depend on what "buffer zone" he was prepared to implement between his residence and the crime scene, and how far he was prepared to travel on foot in the public gaze after committing a double murder with a gun in his possession.

We may all apply different standards to this conundrum but I doubt it would extend beyond a mile at most. The red circles below extend southwards about 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile from the crime scene. If this was the murderer of Johnny and Joyce Swindle spotted by an eyewitness, then his refusal to head a significant distance east when twice presented with the opportunity before he reached Del Monte Avenue, has the potential to narrow down the search for the killer's residnce or anchor point. The sighting of this individual running away from the crime scene is the nearest to the site of the murders and relevant to the time the shootings were believed to have occurred. This analysis is obviously highly dependent on a murderer who didn't park a getaway vehicle close to the crime scene, but it's a start. 

​Had the killer used a vehicle it still makes sense from the standpoint of caution that he would apply a discretionary buffer zone. A murderer parking his vehicle at the top of the stairwell on Narragansett Avenue would have been taking a huge risk of his vehicle being spotted in close proximity to the crime scene (and possibly the sound of gunfire), so it would have been safer to park his vehicle one block south away from any immediate potential eyewitnesses. However, applying common sense to the criminal mind is probably the definition of madness.      

THE SWINDLE MURDERS AT OCEAN BEACH (PT1)

Newlyweds Johnny Ray Swindle (20) and Joyce Ann Swindle (19) of 5073 Voltaire Street were enjoying each others company in Ocean Beach, San Diego, out for a stroll by the beach on February 5th 1964, when they were murdered on a concrete patio overlooking the sea by a sniper situated approximately 50 feet away. Perched on the bluff above the patio, the sniper fired five shots at the couple from this distance, before walking down to where Johnny and Joyce lay and firing two more shots from near point blank range into their heads. Seven .22 long rifle casings were retrieved by investigators, five from the bluff 50 feet away and two from the patio. Joyce, hit in the back, left arm and head, sadly lost her life at the scene, whereas Johnny, struck in the back, left thigh, left ear and right temple survived for three more hours before finally succumbing to his injuries. Therefore, the killer fired five shots from the bluff edge and hit his targets with 100% accuracy.

​To visualize this distance, imagine a ten-pin bowling alley from the foul line to the head pin is 60 feet. However, this was achieved between 8:15pm to 8:30pm in the evening with less than ideal lighting, to victims who were unlikely to have remained perfectly stationary throughout the shooting (sunset on February 5th 1964 would have been 5:24pm). The noise of the ocean may have subdued the sound of the gunfire to some extent, so the couple may not have been immediately aware of what was happening to them. It has been reported that Johnny's wallet and Timex watch had been taken. Some Valentine candy was found on the ledge of the nearby retaining wall, purchased by Johnny from a nearby shop about 30 minutes before they arrived at the beachfront. Detectives struggled for a motive in this senseless crime because the level of callousness exhibited for small dollar reward did not appear proportional. They considered it likely that Johnny and Joyce Swindle were murdered for nothing more than a "thrill killing".       

Ross Geraci of Planet X Filmworks and his friend Bryan (a retired Navy marksman and weapons expert) released a YouTube video examining the location of the murders and giving us an overview of the case. Bryan believed that there was a good possibility the killer used a pistol as opposed to a rifle, which was the weapon commonly reported in the newspapers in the days following the crime.

On February 21st 1964 Sergeant Ed Stevens stated "We have learned that a man and a woman were walking on the beach about a block away from the shooting. A man was on the rocks a short distance from the seawall and another man was seen walking away from the bluffs just above the seawall. A man was seen running away from the beach about two blocks away. That might have been the murderer, or the man who earlier had been standing on the rocks below the young couple". The suggestion being that the killer would have descended from the patio after the attack, onto the rocks below, before proceeding up the stairwell toward Narragansett Avenue, and then running away from the area and being spotted two blocks away. If the man seen running two blocks away was the murderer, it is extremely unlikely he would have ran this distance carrying a rifle, making a pistol the likely weapon used by the killer (as suggested by Bryan). If the murderer had planned to kill somebody that evening with a rifle by the coastline, a vehicle parked relatively close by would have been the obvious choice (assuming he could drive and had access to a vehicle). .

There were other reports that a man was seen running on Del Monte Avenue at 8:16pm, about one minute after the earliest estimates of the murders (8:15pm) The shortest route from the top of the stairwell at Narragansett Avenue to Del Monte Avenue in a southerly direction is a journey of 558 feet. Typical walking speed is 4.6 feet per second, so if this was the killer running at approximately 10 feet per second, it would take him about 55.8 seconds to reach the western edge of Del Monte Avenue and correlate with the 8:16pm eyewitness sighting. : 

But if these murders were committed for nothing more than a thrill, the individual was taking a big risk heading down from the bluff after firing five shots to administer the coup de grâce, before returning back up the stairwell to escape. If robbery was the intention, the risk and reward element was massively disproportionate, because what amazing rewards could the killer hope to benefit from by killing a young couple. Some small change and a watch evidently. If the killer thought that now I've killed somebody I may as well benefit from the crime, he was either desperate or he took the wallet and watch as trophies to relive the crime in the future. There is no solid evidence that either of these items have been seen since.

Due to the beachfront location and the .22 ammunition used, this crime has been compared to the Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards murders at Canada Del Molino on June 4th 1963, approximately 200 miles northwest of Ocean Beach. The big difference between the two crimes, is that the murderer of Robert and Linda fired the first 15 shots only 20 feet from the ocean edge, not perched on the hillside using any form of cover. There was no obvious use of concealment by the shooter in 1963.

​However, just two days before the murders of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards, on June 2nd 1963, eleven teenagers who had been surfing at the beach, were fired upon by a sniper at a secluded location near Gaviota State Park, only three miles west of Canada Del Molino. On the same day, three other teenagers camping at Tajiguas Creek four miles east of Canada Del Molino, reported shots from the beach, In both instances they described the sound as originating from a .22 weapon. A sniper firing at teenagers close to the beach from a clandestine location has more in common with the Swindle murders, so the proximity of Gaviota State Park to Canada Del Molino, having occurred only two days previously, could by association, bring the Swindle murders back into the equation. If a transient using the shack at Canada Del Molino had murdered Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards, would he be desperate enough to murder Johnny and Joyce Swindle eight months later for the slim pickings of a few dollars and a Timex watch?  

Weighing everything up, the obvious choice for the murders of ​Johnny and Joyce Swindle seems to be nothing more than an individual who just acquired pleasure from the act of killing, who took items from his victims for no other reason than he could. Taking the path of least resistance from the little information we have, the murders of Johnny and Joyce Swindle were likely committed by a stranger using a pistol, who hastily departed the scene along ​Narragansett Avenue and was spotted running two blocks away. If no vehicle was used in the getaway (and the killer wasn't a transient) is it safe to assume that the murderer lived in reasonable proximity to the crime scene? How far would a murderer be prepared to travel on foot with the "smoking gun" in his pocket? The "least effort principle" may indicate a killer living within a one mile radius of the crime scene (beyond the two block sighting). So if this was the murderer seen running away, where would your search for the killer begin?  

THE SWINDLE MURDERS AT OCEAN BEACH (PT2)