Mulholland Drive Murders 1968 & 1969

On the 30th of December 1968 a young 17 year old girl, Marina Habe was abducted from her driveway at 8962 West Hollywood Avenue. Marina was the daughter of Actress Eloise Hardt and Writer Hans Huber, she was studying the Arts at Hawaii University and had come home to spend Christmas with her Mother. Her Father Hans Huber was in Switzerland at the time.

On the 29th of December Marina had went on a night out with friends, her date John Hornburg, 22 and 4 others, going to the Troubadour Nightclub. At 11.30 pm Marina and John left the Troubadour in Marina's sports car, driving around then parking near John's Sunset Boulevard home. At 3.30am Marina left John for her drive home which should have took around 20 mins.

Eloise was awakened by a loud muffler sound of an engine outside and got out of bed to look out the window. There was a Black car in the driveway next to Marina's sports car, she saw a young man in his twenties but couldn't make out any features, he ran into the Black car shouting "Lets Go" or "Go", Marina did not come into the house. Eloise panicked, pacing back and forward she called Police. Her Father Hans came home from Switzerland immediately, waiting for a ransom note that would never arrive.

When Police arrived they looked over Marina's car and found the Handbrake to be firmly set, they did not think the slight young girl had done this herself. 2 days later a couple walking on Mulholland Drive found a Purse with credit cards, makeup & some money. Later that day on the 2nd of January, a man walking his dog would find the body of Marina Habe in heavy brush, 30ft down the slope near the 8800 block of Mulholland near Bowmont. The Dog walker apparently asked for his name to be printed in the papers which is a little strange but so far I have no details on the man or type of dog he had.

Marina was found fully clothed and had alcohol in her system, her wounds were horrific. Marina had 2 black eyes caused by a man's fist, blunt force trauma inflicted with a small hard object. Her throat was cut so violently that her left carotid artery was severed and her liver lacerated, she was also stabbed several time to the chest and neck with one deep slash penetrating her breastbone through the sternum. None of these wounds were fatal, her cause of death is listed as exsanguination (death by excessive blood loss).

Notably there were no defense wounds on her body indicating that she was possibly incapacitated. An old Motorcycle Frame lay near Marina's feet. The Coroner concluded that 2 knives had been used. There were no other clues that Police could find and the case went cold remaining unsolved to this day.

This murder is interesting from the point of view that this was a High Profile target and the Mother Eloise Hardt had been in a film called Incubus in 1966 with William Shatner which caught my eye as it could have been a possible pull for The Golden State Killer/Zodiac, Marina's Father was also a well known writer with titles such as Walk of Darkness, Agent of the Devil, The Mission, and we know Joseph James DeAngelo loved his movies. Its is also of note that the movie Incubus was spoken throughout in Esperanto, which I believe is a language made up which uses Latin as a basis, did Zodiac use any of this language in his codes, I've no idea but may be something to look into.

The young man shouting "Lets Go" or "Go" could be JJD doing his usual red herring to make it appear there are 2 men, the reports I have read about what Eloise seen that night are conflicting with one saying Marina was with the young man and one where it is just the man she saw. Is it possible JJD had a partner in crime at this time? I just don't know and I'm still sitting on the fence, I do keep thinking though would he really trust anyone else to keep his secrets?

The use of two knives is interesting, again the Police are thinking they have 2 killers but I'm starting to believe it to be one, JJD was known for having several knives at times, was Marina taken hostage for a day or so?, it is possible, I often wonder if JJD had a go to place where he could keep victims or a camper van of some sorts.

The brutal beating and stabbing are all closely dealt to the head, neck and upper chest which is something we see in JJD's later ONS attacks. Her Purse was found but it doesn't say if anything was missing from Marina's belongings. The time of year is also another connection with JJD, he appeared near holidays and weekends throughout his crime spree so I find him to be a good suspect for this murder.

On the 19th of May 1969, Rose Tashman a 19 year old San Fernando Student who had came to America from Israel. Her car broke down with a flat tyre around 2am on her way home, coming to a stop on the Hollywood Freeway, her car was found abandoned near the Highland off ramp, flares had been set round the car. Rose's naked strangled body was found around 6pm in the Ravine of the Hollywood Hills at Mulholland Drive. Rose had been strangled with wire and raped.

It's possible this young girl was a victim of the Golden State Killer, the abandoned car is something we have seen with Cheri Jo Bates, Ray Davis and more. Her body being dumped at the Ravine on Mulholland Drive connects it to the above case but what is interesting is the Police believe the rape and murder appears to have occurred at Mullholland, there is no information as to what lay at the scene, if anything, clothing etc.

On November the 16th 1969 another young woman would lose her life, 19 year old Reet Silvia Jurvetson, a Canadian Artist, Reet was a free spirit who had longed to travel to California, she started dating a man called Jean in Montreal who said he was moving to Los Angeles so Reet decided to make the move with him. Not much is known about Jean, but it was determined that Reet stayed in Flat 306, in a building once belonged to paramount studios. Jean has never been identified, a drawing had been made of the man known as Jean but no one has identified him as yet.

Reet's body was found by a passer by in the brush off Mulholland Drive, her body had got stuck on a tree branch going down into a ravine 669 ft down, she lay very close to where Marina Habe had been found the previous year. Reet suffered 157 stab wounds to her neck, chest and back, they had been made with a Pen Knife, some of the wounds had severed her carotid artery. Defensive wounds were on Reet's hand, her body had been dumped in an upright position leading Detectives to believe Reet had been transported in a vehicle. It was determined she had died around 28 - 48 hours before. Reet's body lay 6 miles from the Manson Camp and it has often been attributed to the Manson Family but I do feel these 3 women could be victims of the Golden State Killer/Zodiac Joseph James DeAngelo. What strikes me is, the Letter sent to San Francisco Chronicle on the 9th of November, Zodiac mentions "Killings of Anger" I'm not sure if the Zodiac's Equinox Letter is referring to these crimes.

What jumps out at me is the use of 3, Reet stayed at 306, she lay 6 miles from Manson Camp, 3 women murdered, the San Francisco Chronicle Letter was sent on the 9th in 1969. Don't know if this means anything, the Equinox Letter has always been intriguing but not sure if it has any bearing here. If this was JJD/Zodiac was he trying to divert the attention towards the Manson Family?

Reet Silvia Jurvetson

Joseph James DeAngelo did use Pen Knives in his crimes and this was definitely a crime of anger, again all wounds were around the neck, chest, body. Reet's murder would be the last of this series. Police didn't have much to go on, at the time Reet was an unknown and was named Sherry Joe until recently when a family member identified Reet from photos.

Reet's body had been dragged from the car over the road to the ravine, you can't imagine someone doing this, there was obviously not much fear in the killer which leads me back to JJD/Zodiac who often casually went about with his Ski Mask on or would just walk away from a crime, no haste.

The Next Unsolved Murders we will be looking at are part of the Astrological Murders which have been connected to Zodiac but I think there may be a link to JJD, not just to his M.O this time, but something far more interesting.