aug 24, 1984 - Claire Penelope Hough RAPE & HOMICIDE

Description:

Despite growing up in Rhode Island, throughout her life 14-year-old Claire Hough would often travel to California to visit her grandparents, who lived just a few blocks from Torrey Pines Beach. This was just the case in the summer of 1984, when Claire, her brother, and Claire's best friend Kim Jamer went to visit Claire's grandparents in California.

On August 21 or 22, the night before Kim was set to head home to Rhode Island, Claire convinced her to sneak out of her grandparents' house and go to the beach after dark. However, once they got there and settled near their favorite spot by the bridge, Kim had a panic attack, so they went back home. Kim made Claire promise not to sneak out by herself again. The next day, Kim went home to Rhode Island while Claire and her brother stayed in California with her grandparents, as planned.

On Friday, August 24, 1984, Claire's body was found by a beachcomber named Wallace Wheeler near the bridge at Torrey Pines State Beach. She was found near Lifeguard Tower 5. She had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted. At autopsy, it was determined that Claire had sand packed in her mouth and larynx area. Her breast had also been mutilated.

The man who found Claire's body, Wallace Wheeler, was generally described as odd, and would send (non-anonymous) letters to Claire's parents. Police had her parents respond to Wheeler's letters to see if he would confess anything. However, he never confessed to anything, and he was later ruled out as a suspect using DNA.

Claire's case was reopened in 2012, and by 2014 two suspects were identified through DNA. One of these men was convicted sex offender Ronald Tatro, whose blood was found in several spots on Claire's jeans. However, he was never charged for this crime, as he was already deceased by the time the DNA results came back: Tatro drowned in what was ruled to be a boating accident in 2011, though there is apparent suspicion that it was suicide.

Another man, retired police criminologist Kevin Brown, was also implicated for Claire's murder, as a microscopic piece of his DNA was found on one (1) swab collected from Claire's body. However, this DNA almost certainly was present as a result of lab contamination: at the time, lab technicians purportedly provided their own DNA to check that their tests were working, which is possibly how Brown's DNA ended up on that swab.

On October 20, 2014, Brown committed suicide after being implicated and hounded by investigators and press. His widow, Rebecca Brown, brought a suit against two police officers for misconduct and wrongful death. In 2020, a federal jury awarded Rebecca Brown more than $6 million in the wrongful death lawsuit.

Claire's death bears striking resemblance to the 1978 murder of Barbara Nantais; for a long time, Barbara and Claire's murders were thought to be possibly connected. However, this was ruled out once Tatro was named a suspect in Claire's case. Neither Tatro nor Brown are suspects in Barbara's case, as they both have alibis: as one article states, "Ronald Tatro was in prison for rape at the time of Barbara's murder and Kevin Brown was attending college in Sacramento, 500 miles away."

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CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: May 31, 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
Barbara Nantais
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AUGUST 23 - 24
LUNAR PHASE: waning crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: virgo (first & second days)
DAY OF WEEK: Thursday - Friday
Aug. 23: Moon-Pollux 22:30
Aug. 24: Moon-Beehive 19:35

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