may 30, 1975 - Lynn Marie Mueller HOMICIDE

Description:

Lynn Mueller, 21, was found dead in her bedroom by her husband Mike, 27, at their house at 880 E Main St in Ventura, CA on Friday, May 30, 1975.

That day Mike took Lynn to the dentist because she had a toothache. Once they got back to their home, Mike made Lynn some soup, then left for his job on the night shift at an oil refinery "off the Rincon."

Lynn, who was devoutly religious, went next door to a service at a Pentecostal church on Kalorama and Main St that evening. Other churchgoers stated that they last saw Lynn at 9:30pm at church.

After returning home, she called Mike at work and chatted with him for about 15min. A neighbor then reported seeing Lynn speaking with a man on her porch at approx. 10pm. The man was described as light haired and wearing a short jacket, perhaps a uniform jacket. The witness description matched that of a man who had argued with Lynn regarding religious views.

At 12:14am on May 31, Mike returned home from work. Failing to find Lynn waiting for him on the couch, as was her habit, he then looked for her in their bedroom. He found Lynn lying on the floor in their bedroom, nude, and dead from multiple stab wounds. She was stabbed over forty (40) times. She was almost decapitated, her throat having been so severely slit that her head was nearly severed from her body. Mike called police, then went outside "to escape the horror in the house"; the police responded immediately.

The main suspect in the case is the man that was seen speaking with Lynn on her porch at approx. 10pm. This suspect is Larry Jay — 27 years old at the time — of Oakview. He matched the description of the man seen speaking with Lynn. His mother was a member of the same church as Lynn, and he was known to disagree with the religious views. Jay's wife vouched for him, saying he was home at the night of the murder.

He was never arrested, as the police were never able to gather enough evidence against him for prosecution. Jay was later convicted of another murder, that of a neighbor who owed him money, that occurred about a year later. Jay was sentenced to life imprisonment for that crime. The fact that he's the main suspect in Lynn's death has been brought up during his parole hearings.

Despite all this, Lynn's case is still considered officially unsolved due to the lack of an arrest and/or conviction. She is listed on the City of Ventura's cold case page, which is where I found out about her case while doing my own research.

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CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: May 31, 2025
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LUNAR PHASE: waning gibbous
ZODIAC SIGN: gemini
DAY OF WEEK: Friday
EVENTS: May 26 = Memorial Day (4 days earlier)
Venus-Pollux 18:31

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