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Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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THE DOMINGOS AND EDWARDS MURDERS

6/6/2015

 
We have just passed the 52nd anniversary of the brutal slaying of Robert George Domingos and Linda Faye Edwards on a remote Santa Barbara beach 22 miles southeast of Lompoc, CA. One man, John Averitt, has fought diligently to keep the case in the public eye, hoping that one day justice will be served on the killer, or will at the very least be identified and bring some form of closure to all that knew the young couple. It is a tragic case of two young sweethearts who had set off around noon to a remote beach on June 4th 1963 for a spot of sunbathing - yet it was to have devastating consequences. The following day the bodies of Domingos and Edwards were discovered by Highway Patrolman Paul Schultz in a shack close to the beach stacked on top of one another. Within the shack police found several lengths of pre-cut cord, several boxes of Winchester Western Super X long rifle ammunition and strewn matches, along with scorch marks to the shack, indicating there may have been an attempt to set fire to the shack once the bodies had been placed there.
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From the crime scene evidence it was believed the killer may have attempted to bind the couple, probably forcing Linda Edwards to restrain Robert Domingos. However, as the killer moved in to tie Linda, it was thought Robert freed himself and after a brief struggle with the killer the young couple made a break for freedom before being fired upon and struck several times in the back. In total the killer fired off 20 rounds, 19 of which found their target. It is thought the killer reloaded at least once.

It has been ascertained that once the couple had been felled by the original onslaught, the killer reloaded his weapon and stood over the victims before he fired off the remaining rounds at point blank range. Robert was struck 11 times and Linda 8 times. The killer was particularly merciless. Their bodies were then dragged at least 30 feet (10 yards) to the position they were found inside the shack. Drag injuries to the bodies suggested Robert Domingos was dragged face down and placed in the shack first, before Linda was dragged face up and positioned on top of Robert. The killer then cut the bathing suit of Linda Edwards exposing her breasts, despite the fact it is documented that no sexual interference took place. The modus operandi of this crime has inevitably drew parallels to the Zodiac Killer's Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and murder of Cecelia Shepard just over six years later on September 27th 1969. 

The most unusual aspect of this crime is the killer's need to have hauled each victim up an incline a distance of 30 feet. In other words, the perpetrator dragged both bodies a minimum of 60 feet (20 yards) in total through rough terrain. This is certainly not an easy task by any means, suggesting the killer was physically in good shape, or there was more than one assailant. Why not just leave the scene of the crime immediately? If the purpose of dragging the couple to the shack was to imply concealment, then why set fire to the shack and effectively draw attention to the location. The positioning of the bodies in the shack with Linda Edwards breasts exposed seemed designed to illicit a reaction when they were eventually discovered, however, the attempted destruction of the shack by fire effectively nullifies this premise. If the perpetrator/s were attempting to destroy evidence by burning down the shack, then it ultimately failed - so why did they just leave the boxes of ammunition and rope behind? Why would a killer carry boxes of ammunition to commit a crime, when a couple of clips would have sufficed (as testified to by the rounds fired), or was the responsible already at this location when Robert and Linda arrived? There are many unusual aspects of this crime that take some explaining.  

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But what is clear, is that the shack was frequented by railroad hobos and a nomadic drifter called George Edward Gill (49 at the time of the murders), who constructed the lean-to shack. The shack was also not particularly visible from the area where the couple had been shot.

The couple had accessed the beach area by parking in the median of the northbound and southbound routes of Highway 101, which would have accommodated a few cars back in 1963. They would then have traversed the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, before negotiating the decline to the beach, a journey time of approximately 6 to 10 minutes (approximately 600 feet). It is notable that access to this remote beach area would not have been widely known to a stranger unfamiliar to the area, let alone the shack, suggesting our killer or killers may have had previous knowledge of this location. 

Would Linda and Robert, seeking privacy have entered the beach location with an unfamiliar car already parked in the median or other persons in the area? Was their 1956 black and copper Pontiac the only car in the median when they arrived? Did the killer arrive later, or were they trailed from Lompoc? The burning of the shack makes little sense from the perspective of the killer wanting a covert exit from the crime scene, unless performed primarily for evidence destruction. Additionally, there is nothing to suggest the attempt to burn down the shack was done by the killer immediately after the murders. The scorch marks evident on the shack may have been done at a previous time by children, transients or any visitor to the area and subsequently assimilated into the crime scene of July 4th 1963. 

In the Los Angeles Letter mailed by the Zodiac Killer on March 13th 1971, he stated "This is the Zodiac speaking. Like I have allways said, I am crack proof. If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses + do something. Because the longer they fiddle + fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my after life. I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there. The reason I'm writing to the Times is this, They don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others".

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Although the suggestion was of more murders "down there", the author of the letter does mention Riverside, but fails to imply anything close to Santa Barbara, which is 190 miles due west of Riverside, CA.

The movement of the victims bodies was something the Zodiac Killer never did - and the ammunition boxes left at the crime scene pours further doubt on an already confusing set of events. The Zodiac Killer may have been responsible for these early murders - it is something we have to consider. It was a brutal attack on a lone couple by use of a gun, knife and some prepared pieces of rope, however, this alone is simply not enough to unequivocally rule in the Zodiac Killer as the perpetrator.


The possibility exists that this was a personal crime, as most victims are known by their killer. It is entirely reasonable to consider that the couple may have been followed to this location, or the perpetrator/s  had knowledge of their whereabouts that afternoon. They could have parked alongside the Pontiac and proceeded to the location with preconceived intent - and knowing the area well - the decision to place the bodies in a shack known to have been frequented by George Gill would inevitably throw suspicion in a particularly staged direction. The interaction with the bodies, dragging them a combined distance of 60 feet and placing them in the tiny shack seemed totally unnecessary, unless you were centering the focus of the investigation to this particular spot for a reason. Whatever the case, hopefully John Averitt, along with everyone else with close ties to Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards, eventually get the justice they deserve in a case that has remained unsolved for far too long.

To view five videos detailing the entire case visit https://www.youtube.com/user/DOMINGOSEDWARDS
If you have any information regarding this case contact http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/police/

Greg H.
2/13/2017 10:45:23 pm

Hi Richard, I was recently intrigued by the "Sandy" suspect in the Domingos-Edwards murders. Some early news reports mentioned this mysterious person. It's all very murky, yes, but what drew me in is his alleged use of the surname "Carr" as an alias. In one news story the name "William Carr" was also supposedly sewn in or printed on some clothing "Sandy" owned.
This is interesting to me because there was a young man named Ronald Carr who went to Lompoc High with Domingos and Edwards. Have a look at these photos of him, his resemblence to the Zodiac composite is incredible:
http://s205.photobucket.com/user/skov_album/media/RonaldCarr1963Lompoc_zpsb85b67a1.png.html

http://www.thequesterfiles.com/gaviota_beach_revisited.html
"After they were caught, they described him in detail. A dragnet went out for Sandy. From Sandy-35iconthe boy’s description, he sounded like a maniac killer in-the-making. Reed and Coleman had testified that when they asked him why he stabbed the man, he had replied: “I don’t know.” The police went and fetched the clothes, finding them exactly where the two boys had declared they had thrown them from the car. In the clothes there was sewn a name tag with the name Bob Coffman thereon. Investigation proved that “Sandy” did tenuously exist. At the motel in Arroyo Grande, where he had been ditched, he had registered under the name of William Carr, giving a fake address in Bakersfield. The police searched high and low, but never found Sandy. A few of the Grand Jurors expressed their opinion that Reed and Coleman could have gotten rid of him. This is possible, but so far as it relates here neither we nor indeed was Sheriff Webster sure. Sandy could have been on the loose and with a .22 automatic, if he had stolen one, and been hiding out at the beach shack, though it seems unlikely considering from where the ammo came."

Richard
2/15/2017 03:51:00 am

The likeness is good and the background story of 'Sandy' is more interesting than most. Why don't you write an article on it for me and I can present it for you, with any links of your choosing Gregory. It's definitely worth presenting, with a new insight.

Greg H.
2/15/2017 10:13:37 pm

Thanks Richard. I spent about the past half hour or so looking more into this 'suspect' but there's really not a lot of information to be found about him on the Internet. I'm sure his greatest crime is having the misfortune of attending Lompoc High in 1963 and resembling the Zodiac composite sketch.

He doesn't have any family members with the first name "William"..I looked at the Facebook pages of some of his relatives but nothing of note..
It appears he moved to Wichita, Texas in 1975, a short distance from Lubbock (the place where Zodiac's term "fiddle and fart around" apparently originated)..He was born in Oakland and lived in So. Cal. around the time of Domingos-Edwards and Bates, but so did thousands of others...
If you click the link below, you can view close to 30 photos of him.. I'd try doing an article, but there's really not a lot to go on. It would essentially amount to an attempted smear campaign against a deceased man..Alas, the phantom eludes us once more.

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Ronald-Carr&lc=4197&pid=155547441&mid=4964836#

GOLDEN
5/24/2017 02:09:27 am

DID ANYONE ONE OF YOU EVER THINK THAT MAYBE THE MAJORITY OF THESE KILLINGS WERE DONE BY BOAT?!?!

Richard
5/24/2017 03:29:57 am

I did consider this idea a while back. Whether the killer boated into the relevant areas, then recruited his vehicle closer to the crime scenes, then separated himself via water once the crime had been committed. Unfortunately there is no evidence whatsoever to back the idea up. We can speculate, but that is about it. I tend towards a killer who either resided in Vallejo or American Canyon, who used a vehicle only in his crimes. The Blue Rock Springs phone call 40 minutes after the attack lends to this idea, although not conclusive. In addition his movements after the Stine murder suggest a vehicle may have been stationed in the Cow Hollow region of the Presidio and an escape route via Highway 101 over the Golden Gate Bridge back to the Vallejo region. The idea the killer owned a boat and travelled to the region to commit his murders cannot be disproved, but I personally don't see any tangible reason to believe so.

My Name Is 888
12/13/2017 11:44:43 pm

I can’t help but see the circumstantial evidence surrounding Ronald as being so inconsequential to have never become part of an investigation. It would be very easy to discredit him as the killer with some simple digging into his Air Force records.

BB
3/15/2018 12:34:48 pm

Richard
This killer was a very good shot.
19 out of 20 shots hit the targets.
I shot a million rounds in the USMC.
This guy was an expert. Ask any jar-head.
This guy was military, a hunter, or a cop.
Your average criminal can't hit anything.
Especially when your adrenaline flys.
Especially with a pistol.
Do these Gaviota shells match up with
the LHR shells - hammer or firring pin markings
and ejection markings? Do they line-up?
Do they come from the same weapon?
Also, the several boxes of ammo left at the
shack just have to have finger prints.

Dan Churney
9/5/2018 09:04:35 am

Railroad tracks ran (and still do) past the crime scene. Do we know the train schedule the day of the murders? Is it possible anyone on a passing train saw anything, such as the killer's parked vehicle?

vincent
1/15/2019 04:35:45 am

thank you!

james mcdonald
10/24/2018 09:24:03 pm

would be worth the time and effort to go over that entire site with highly trained dogs to look for evidence and/or other bodies buried in the area..might have been to long ago but worth a try...

Howard link
7/8/2019 01:21:46 pm

I communicated with a man who said he and his then GF were supposed to meet or go to the Gaviota beach where Linda and Robert were at the place they were sadly found. He said that place was known to some. It was Ditch Day and they all planned to go or meet at the beach. He said he had to work or couldn’t make it at the time. I said consider yourself blessed very lucky!
So it seems as has been speculated Linda and Robert didn’t detect this concealed area to be alone. They found themselves in that position.
I think if Z at LB seen by the three girls was contemplating killing all three of them as a spectacular Z attack,but considered it too risky. Just a theory. And he could have been connected to Z. Or just a peeker.

The baseline tire measurements where Z parked or behind the Ghia don’t fit the car a Chevy the girls saw this man driving earlier who was chain smoking and watching them.
So what l am saying if there were two couples there is a slim possibility he would have wanted to kill all four to make his crime more shocking.fyi But, like the mysterious man at LB he thought it too risky.

Dragging the bodies today would have been difficult according to John an expert on this case, but in 1963 the incline was very much more level. Over the years with rain storms and other natural erosion factors the area of incline -where the bodies were dragged from - was much less as given. Still the killer wasn’t weak.

What is troubling Robert was a very strong athlete. Why didn’t when he had the chance really pummel this guy telling his GF to run? Is it possible he though he rendered the killer incapacitated then he told her let’s run? The intruder rouses himself and shoots them from a distance just enough time so they couldn’t run then takes his time shooting them being angry with the beating and struggle he got from the young football player?
All guess work, but Bill Baker has told me more info is being withheld.
If he has told me anything other than that it’s my duty to remain silent.

John A. has said the same thing many times. There are at least twenty photos that show evidence not seen by the public. I have had the couples’ autopsy photos for many years and was surprised Tom posted them.

Richard
7/8/2019 01:59:48 pm

It hits home, the brutality of these crimes when you see morgue photographs as seen on Tom's site. Very shocking images indeed. For me Howard, I have never been convinced this was a younger Zodiac in Santa Barbara. The effort, albeit as you stated leveler ground, seems unnecessary to a random killer. Moving the bodies and possibly attempting to burn down the shack seems on the face of it a complete waste of time. It serves little purpose to a random killer. It makes more sense to just leave as quickly as possible before somebody else stumbles upon you. However, I am utterly convinced the Zodiac Killer's first port of call at Berryessa were the 3 Pacific Union College girls and did get spooked by something. He, as you alluded, considered it too risky at that juncture (but he may have decided to separate his vehicle before the attack). I actually believe this is the approximate area his car was parked throughout, having moved it slightly north after leaving the women alone around 4 pm. He may very well have been seen in this exact location at around 6:50 pm, after the attack on Hartnell and Shepard. Dr Rayfield & Son described a man in a black shirt, with RED in it. This area was 0.8 miles north of the crime scene. My guess is Rayfield saw Zodiac after the attack. Using the measurements in the police report, the location of the 3 girls parallels that of Rayfield & Son. I don't believe his car was ever close to Hartnell's vehicle. He was basically walking the hillside looking for victims. I once asked Howard, why the police never took bootprint impressions from the man sighted by the 3 girls and compared them to ones collected at the crime scene. If they had matched the sketch at Berryessa would have carried far more weight.


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