On Friday 12/21 a man was charged in a 33-year-old murder:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/344494_coldcase22.html
PDF of Court Documents:
http://www.kirotv.com/download/2007/1221/14908568.pdf
This morning the Seattle Times posted a follow up on the case with more information, and we'll probably see more. King County Sherriff's department had a whole series of detectives assigned to this case over the last three decades, and they finally cracked it. I love cold case investigations, especially ones like this that are so old. When I read the original headline in the P-I - Man charged in 33-year-old slaying case - I thought, "cool...another DNA test has found a killer." But this was different as soon as I started reading the article; there's more to the story here...
Why did she look familiar to me? Something about the picture really caught my attention, like I had seen it before. Then I read that the murder had occurred in unincorporated King County - now Shoreline - in 1975, and I gasped.
She looked familiar because she had gone to school with my oldest sister, and her memorial picture was on the back page of Jan's 1974-75 Shoreline High School annual.
The memory of this case rushed back to me like a tidal wave. It was a picture that I had looked at time and time again, with an 11-year old mind trying to understand why someone this pretty had died. One look at the picture today and I was in 5th grade all over. I remember feeling sadness and confusion back then, listening to Jim Croce and looking through Jan's annual - lingering long on the picture of Diana Peterson. I guess I didn't really know why at the time, and I now find it interesting that over three decades later I still remembered once I saw the picture.
After I read the article I called Jan. "Do you have your annuals handy?" She did. "Do you remember someone in your class being killed?" She didn't, but started looking through her annuals - only to find Diana Peterson's picture in one of them. Jan was just as shocked about the incident as me, and just as relieved that the crime appears to be solved. While talking to Jan about it, I actually started getting choked up. 33 years later, and I still had feelings about it inside. The Peterson family also has a huge sense of relief now that they know something has broken free in the case.
Kudos to the King County Sherriff's office for their determined work over the years. Rest In Peace, Diana.
Kurt, this is your Mom. Jan alerted me to your incredible memory of this sad Shoreline death. Your dad and I earlier read today's article and agreed we had no recall of the event, and you have carried that picture in your mind all this time. You were so often "wise beyond your years". Well done.
ReplyDeleteI was doing a google search and your blog on the cold case came up. I'm not sure if you know or not, but the guy they arrested was convicted of the murder this week. My Uncle was the bf of the murdered girl and lived in the shadow of this murder all these years. The sad thing is that the police probably had a good idea at the time who the murderer was, but were so focused on my uncle that they let the murderer get away. The entire thing is such a tragedy. I pray her family has some peace now that the real killer has been found.
ReplyDeleteTim Diener was your uncle?
ReplyDelete