Global Courant 2023-04-29 07:54:56
A California serial killer was convicted Thursday of murdering a 21-year-old Stanford graduate and librarian in a crime that had eluded authorities for decades, officials said.
John Arthur Getreu, 79, was sentenced to seven years to life in prison for the 1973 murder of Leslie Perlov. That’s what the Santa Clara County District Attorney said in a press release.
He was is already serving a life sentence for another murderthe 1974 murder of 21-year-old Janet Taylor.
The California murders were part of a pattern known as the “Stanford murders,” the statement said.
“John Getreu’s long nightmare is over,” Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “I hope this brings some measure of peace to the loved ones of the people he hunted. And I hope I never have to say his name again.”
Perlov’s body was found on February 16, 1973, in the hills overlooking the Stanford University campus. the public prosecutor’s office said in an earlier press release. According to the statement, a floral scarf had been used to strangle her.
Goodbye was 2018 arrested after authorities arrived The counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara worked together to solve the murders.
He pleaded guilty to the crime in January after DNA found under Perlov’s fingernails linked him to the murder, the statement said.
Prior to his arrest, Getreu lived with his wife in Hayward, about 27 miles southeast of San Francisco, the prosecutor’s office said.
Goodbye was convicted in 2021 in nearby San Mateo County for Taylor’s murder. She was the daughter of the Stanford football coachChuck Taylor.
Taylor, who had been strangled, was found dead on March 25, 1974, on a road south of San Francisco, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said. DNA from her pants linked Getreu to her murder.
Getreu was previously convicted of the 1963 rape and murder of 15-year-old Margaret Williams in Germany. rape in 1975 in San Mateo CountyCalifornia, the local prosecutor’s office said.
