Need research help please!

[rashore]

This crime is supposed to have happened as part of a story, I'm trying to find any historical reference, and coming up with nada. Figured it wouldn't hurt to see if other True Crime folks would have more luck than I. I didn't spend a lot of time digging for this, it was just fruitless from the start.

It was purported to have happened on November 17, 1963 in California. Mr. John Smith and family were brutally murdered, their car, a 1964 Impala, was found ditched along Highway 1. Murderer was an escaped asylum patient. It is unclear as to if the car was supposed to be the murder scene, or just an escape vehicle.

Now, it's entirely likely this story is completely false. But I like to be through about research if I can.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

[George Ford]

http://www.angelfire...wall/wall2.html

May or may not help. Maybe the name is wrong.

Also, California death records:-

http://freepages.gen...nia_deaths.html

http://murderpedia.org/usa/california.htm

Edited June 2, 2014 by bulveye

[freetoroam]

This crime is supposed to have happened as part of a story, I'm trying to find any historical reference, and coming up with nada. Figured it wouldn't hurt to see if other True Crime folks would have more luck than I. I didn't spend a lot of time digging for this, it was just fruitless from the start.

It was purported to have happened on November 17, 1963 in California. Mr. John Smith and family were brutally murdered, their car, a 1964 Impala, was found ditched along Highway 1. Murderer was an escaped asylum patient. It is unclear as to if the car was supposed to be the murder scene, or just an escape vehicle.

Now, it's entirely likely this story is completely false. But I like to be through about research if I can.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

I got a few true crime books and have never heard of this one, just looked around and also came up with nada, where did you hear about it? If it was part of a story its possible story could be based on different events, a bit of this, a bit of that and a little bit of unimaginative writing,

JFK was murdered in his car in November 1963

John Smith is a pretty common name.

A family murdered in California? - from a family who murdered in California, Mansons.

cars being abandoned along Highway 1, not unusual.

Maybe i am giving this all a bit too much credit, but really sounds like just a made up story.

ps: throw in what bulveye has just put too.

Edited June 2, 2014 by freetoroam

[rashore]

It's a story from the ghost forum, so that's why I said the story is entirely likely false. But you never know, sometimes folks use some real facts for their stories.

Thanks for checking into it folks, I appreciate it greatly!

[mbrn30000]

I looked around a little. I was thinking if we could access the archives for a california newspaper from the days after that date. If the date is accurate it would be a headline somewhere. I looked thru those google newspapers but didn't find anything yet. 1964 car in fall of 63 would be a very brand new car. Did they mention a city at all?

[rashore]

I looked around a little. I was thinking if we could access the archives for a california newspaper from the days after that date. If the date is accurate it would be a headline somewhere. I looked thru those google newspapers but didn't find anything yet. 1964 car in fall of 63 would be a very brand new car. Did they mention a city at all?

No city or even county given, just highway 1 which covers a lot of California. According to the tale, the car was bought in October, family killed in November. It was supposed to have been in police impound for several years after that.

I've poked around more too.. and the more I poke, the more I think this is a case of BS rather than a historic case.

[dr no]

I couldn't find any reference to it in my true crime books.I was surprised that I had never heard of it but it does sound like something out of an urban legend,I would err on the side of it being untrue

[mbrn30000]

I think this is either complete fiction or perhaps the story is inaccurate to the extent we will never find it. I found papers from 11/18- 12/1 in California on the google archives. None of the major papers but the pages were full of murder stories from California as well as other states much like any paper. I saw nothing that matched even remotely. Lots of interesting reads though. Of course this is the JFK assissination time frame, but even so this big of case would at least get a mention. You said this came from the ghost forum. Is this related to some haunting story?

[Hawken]

This crime is supposed to have happened as part of a story, I'm trying to find any historical reference, and coming up with nada. Figured it wouldn't hurt to see if other True Crime folks would have more luck than I. I didn't spend a lot of time digging for this, it was just fruitless from the start.

It was purported to have happened on November 17, 1963 in California. Mr. John Smith and family were brutally murdered, their car, a 1964 Impala, was found ditched along Highway 1. Murderer was an escaped asylum patient. It is unclear as to if the car was supposed to be the murder scene, or just an escape vehicle.

Now, it's entirely likely this story is completely false. But I like to be through about research if I can.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

The crime happened in 1963 and his car was a 1964?

[mbrn30000]

The crime happened in 1963 and his car was a 1964?

The new models are introduced in the fall of the year before, so a 1964 would have been available at dealerships around september '63.

[Hawken]

The new models are introduced in the fall of the year before, so a 1964 would have been available at dealerships around september '63.

OK that's right. Forgot about that. For a minute there I thought the 64 Impala had a flux capacitor like the Delorean in Back To the Future.