0h 55min, sep 18, 1966 y - Cheryl Cathleen "Cathy" Nolan

Description:

17yo; went by Cathy; She lived at 360 Vernon St in Oakland, CA with her mother. Cathy didn't sign up for her senior year at Oakland High School, instead enrolling in a secretarial course at MTI Business School in Oakland; Mon., Sept. 19 was going to be her first day at school there.

On Saturday, Sept. 17 at ~8pm, Cathy left their apartment in her red VW, telling her mom she was going to meet a boy at the Jabberwock, a coffee club at 2901 Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, which was sort of the center of the hippie/beatnik scene around there, though Cathy did not use any drugs, including marijuana and LSD. She apparently did not keep this date, and no one remembered seeing the girl at the nightclub (the Jabberwock). The boy with whom she was supposed to have the date was quickly ruled out as a suspect. The boy had turned himself in to police when he heard they wanted to question him. The boy told police that he had only known Cathy for a week, and had seen her about three times, but he did not see her on Sat. night on Telegraph Ave.

A man named Roger D Larson (24yo) told police that Cathy and "Mike" showed up at his apartment at 5830 Birch St in Oakland at ~9:45pm on Saturday. They hung out with Larson and a guy named Ronald Basorich until ~10:20pm, when Larson and Basorich had to leave for work; Cathy and "Mike" stayed behind. According to Larson, "Mike" was ~21-22yo, 5'10, ~160lb, and had sandy hair.

One newspaper states that Cathy was last seen by a witness at 11pm. Multiple other newspapers state that witnesses saw Cathy outside a pizza parlor and laundromat in the 2400 block of Telegraph Ave at 11:55pm on Saturday. One article states that the pizza place was Pepe's Pizza Parlor, which was at 2516 Durant Ave (Telegraph Ave) in Berkeley. Cathy was seen talking to either a group of, or simply two, "long-haired boys" on Telegraph Ave near Dwight Way.

An 18yo boy, Robert Leone, told police that at about midnight he was at a traffic light at Ashby & Claremont Avenues in his car, when he noticed a red VW driven by a long-haired girl and a green VW driven by a man ahead of him. As Leone drove along, he moved in between the two cars. At Ashby & Domingo Ave.s, the green car cut in front of Leone to again trail the red car. According to Leone, it became clear the green car was pursuing the red car. The three cars proceeded up the hill on Tunnel Rd to Hiller Drive, where the red car made an abrupt, illegal U-turn. The green car then did the same.

Byron Crane (65yo), who lived at 3049 Eton Ave, reported seeing a man running on the south side of Eton toward Claremont Ave at ~11:55pm, then turned north. He described the man as Black, ~25yo, over 6', heavyset, and wearing a dark windbreaker. According to newspapers at the time, police said that they would like to talk to this man, though they specified that they didn't necessarily consider him a suspect.

Mrs Susan L Walker (34yo), who lived at 2838 Woosey St in Berkeley, told police that she heard a "muffled crack" at ~12:55am on Sun., Sept. 18. The sound was then followed by "swift but quiet footsteps receding." Another woman who lived on Eton St in south Berkeley, just around the corner from Walker's home, also heard a "pop" at the same time.

On Sun., Sept. 19 at ~8am, Mrs Dorothy A Barron (who lived at 3120 Eton Ave), discovered Cathy's body. Barron saw Cathy slumped in the passenger seat of her red VW sedan, which was parked on the wrong side of Eton St, near Woolsey St, some distance from the curb. Her car was in front of 3120 Eton St near Claremont Ave in north Berkeley, according to one newspaper. Cathy looked like she was sleeping, so Barron thought nothing of it. When Barron noticed the car had not moved 2hrs later, she called the police at ~10am. The call was received at around the same time that Cathy's mom, Adele B Nolan, was calling to tell police that her daughter had not returned home from her Saturday night date. Berkeley patrolman Manvil Hendrickson was first on the scene. Quick identification of the body followed.

Cathy had been shot once with a small-caliber pistol. The bullet entered & exited her left wrist, passing into her chest, severing "a heart artery", and downward through both lungs. Her purse was missing. She was fully clothed in purple stretch pants and a flowered jacket. The car was ~0.5mi down the hill from the Claremont-Ashby intersection where Leone saw the chase between the red and green cars. There has been some speculation that she was a victim of the Zodiac.

LUNAR PHASE: waxing crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: virgo
DAY OF WEEK: Saturday - Sunday
EVENTS: Sept. 23 = Fall Equinox (5-6 days later)
Sept. 18: Moon Descending Node 9:40

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