MYSTERY UNRAVELS IN 1946 BEDDIE WALRAVEN MURDER

IT WAS the end of a long life and Kitty Hodges had something to say on her death bed. It was 1994 and she drifted in an out of consciousness. And that's when she told her granddaughter Becky Herrera a bizarre tale of murder. She had been stunning once but the last years had been hard, living in squalor with a staggering 87 cats. In the end, all she wanted was for Becky to pray for her soul.
FLASHBACK: 1971. A person hiking in the open and rolling desert near Baker stumbled across some old bones — a piece of skull, two thighs, a jaw fragment. They belonged to an adult female.
Four years later, Liskie T. "Terry" Mabry a career criminal and Kitty's onetime husband confessed to murdering a woman in 1946. The way Terry told it, Kitty
had caught him sleeping nude with another woman — a beautiful Texan named Beddie Walraven, then 27. Mabry said Kitty was so enraged that she put a bullet in the back of the sleeping Walraven's head. Then, Mabry claimed, he and Kitty buried the body in the unforgiving Mojave Desert.
 And that where the mystery stood for decades--until now. MORE IN THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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COPS CHARGE JAMES MILES IN 2000 CALI COLD CASE

COPS in Santa Maria, California have arrested a 70-year-old man in the 2000 murder of his roommate. James 'Angry Jim' Miles was arrested and charged Thursday. According to cops, Miles was suspected at the time of the murder of David Wayne Anderson, who was shot to death in his home. The case went cold but was reopened in July and that was when the evidence was found that nailed the miserable-looking old man. The victim's brother, Patrick Anderson said: "Thank God a new detective turned over a new leaf and caught the guy. I didn’t think this would ever be solved. This is a very good day." However, he added he never suspected Miles and said the two men got along well.
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NO CLUES IN 1971 JOHNNIE HERRERA DISAPPEARANCE

JOE HERRERA says he hasn't had a decent birthday since his twin brother vanished in 1971. Johnnie Herrera vanished from Oxnard, California on Aug. 27, 1971 when he was just 20-years-old. The years since have been a complete mystery for Joe and the rest of the family. he wasn't depressed. There were no signs of foul play. Joe, now 60, told the Ventura Star: "I lost my twin, and since then, I don't think I've ever been the same. There's a really deep, empty void in my life since he vanished."
He was last seen at a friend's bachelor party in his 1969 blue Volkswagen. He and his car were never found. Johnnie was married and had an infant son, Johnnie Jr. and his brother said it was very unusual for him not to come home. Someone thought they had spotted him at a McDonalds near his home. Over the years the family has scoured southern California looking for him without any luck.For the next couple of days, Joe went to inquire about his brother at the typical hangouts of the time, including a McDonald's on Saviers Road, where someone thought they spotted Johnnie.
Over the years, Joe and his five siblings went from the San Fernando Valley to Los Angeles' Skid Row in hopes of finding clues. Nothing. MORE IN THE VENTURA STAR

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CALIFORNIA HIKER ERIC KELLER'S '99 SLAYING UNSOLVED

FRIENDS and co-workers describe Eric Keller as the nicest guy you could care to meet. Keller, from San Jose, California, had worked his way to the top at one of Silicon Valley’s top IT companies, and was an active guy with a passion for adventure. Keller set out on a day trip to Lake Tahoe January 9, 2009 to indulge in his love of the great outdoors. It was an indulgence, however, that would tragically lead to his grisly demise.
When Keller didn’t return home that night, his wife Karen became concerned and raised the alarm. A team was deployed to search for Keller the following morning and they quickly discovered his 1998 blue Saab. This discovery helped narrow the search and Keller’s body was found early the next morning, January 11th, 1999.
Keller, at 5’10 and only 140 lbs., was likely no match for his assailant(s). Keller was beaten mercilessly and was unrecognizable when cops found his battered, half-naked body. He suffered numerous deep cuts, smashed ribs, as well as horrendous head and chest injuries. Cops described his death as a ‘torture murder’ with one detective describing it as ‘the worst I’ve ever seen; it looked like someone had literally stomped him to death.’
If you have any information in regards to the Vacaville case please contact the Vacaville Police Department: Detective Don Waller (707) 449-5215 Anonymous Tip Hotline: (707) 449-5267

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MURDERED IN 1946, BETTY WALRAVEN FINALLY ID'D

CALIFORNIA cops have identified the skeletal remains of a wild young woman murdered in May 1946 and her remains dumped in the desert. The bones were found near Baker and have been confirmed as Betty Walraven who had been murdered 65 years ago. Her great nephew Shawne Walraven said his aunt was 25 at the time she was slain (the bones were found in 1971 but remained unidentified.) Detectives have long believed they belonged to the raven-haired beauty. Shawne Walraven told Reuters that a man convicted in another murder confessed in the 1950s that a female companion had shot his great-aunt in the back of the head.
The suspect--who served time on California's death row at San Quentin-- told detectives he helped the woman dispose of Betty Walraven's body in the desert.
But it wasn't until 2005 when a San Bernardino County coroner's investigator decided to close the case things began to happen. He took DNA fvor Walraven's family and then it took 6 years to confirm.
 Shawne said:"It's an amazing story. When you sit down and hear it from beginning to end, it reads like a good novel that just ends without telling you what happened -- or why it happened anyway."
Cops still don't why his great aunt was murdered but may likely be connected to a $10,000 war bond that Betty Walraven's brother says she stole from their parents before disappearing from Texas in 1942. She was reported missing the following year and may have been involved in an affair while hubby was overseas.
Shawne said: "She doesn't seem like the most upright of citizens."

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KIRK JARED RIVERS ADMITS TO FOUR-YEAR-OLD MURDER

KILLER

KILLED

BAFFLED detectives got a great break when a man walked into a sheriff's department and confessed to a four-year-old murder, which had long since gone cold.
Kirk Jared Rivers, now 22, walked in and handed officers a note, confessing to the killing of John Pogacar, who was 39 when he was brutally stabbed several times inside his Rancho Cordova, CA home.
He added that his father found his body. 
Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman John Ramos said: "He handed one of our officers a note, basically claiming responsibility for a homicide that happened four years ago."
He added that detectives were skeptical to begin with but he revealed details that only the killer could had have known, they knew they had their man.
They are still baffled as to why he chose this moment to turn himself in, but like Pogacar's friend Jesse Jurado, they are delighted he turned himself in.
Jurado told Fox 40: "We are so happy. We've been praying to God that this is what we've been waiting for. His family needs closure."    
He added of his friend: "He was a very large man. He's a big teddy bear, a great guy to be around. He was a beautiful man. We are happy his killer has been caught."

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