The Honeymoon Murders San Diego 1964

On Feb 5th 1964 the Newlyweds Johnny Ray 20 years of age & Joyce Swindle 19 were walking along Oceanside Beach when they were shot just below the Silver Spray Apartments, a Man had opened fire on the couple shooting 5 times from an elevated position, he then ran down the staircase and shot them both point blank to the head.

Johnny Ray's watch was taken along with his wallet but Police did not feel that was the motive. The Swindles had a nightly routine walking the secluded beach, it is possible they had been stalked for a time and targeted. There is an eerie similarity to the Beach Murders in Gaviota, Santa Barbara the same year of Bobby Domingos & Linda Edwards.

Many have attributed these crimes to Zodiac which is why I think Jospeh James DeAngelo could just be Zodiac. In 1963 Jospeh's mother and father got divorced, it may have no bearing on the case but I think it may be the reason couples were targeted initially.

We do know that Jospeh J DeAngelo was in San Diego in 1964 doing his Navy Training as a Fireman, which I also find an interesting choice, considering the scene at Goviata Beach where the killer had tried to burn the cabin down but failed. Another link with the Golden State Killer is that Johnny Ray Swindle was in the Navy, it is possible Jospeh J DeAngelo knew him.

Another interesting note about Goviata was that during this time there were calls made to children aged 11 - 15 telling them they were going to die as well as calls to woman telling them he's hurt their husbands if they did'nt comply to his demands.

The Police coined the name "Our Breather" no doubt a description of how the caller sounded, as you will notice in the East Area Rapist attacks to come later victims would often describe the assailant as breathing heavy or breathing through clenched teeth.

The Golden State Killer left for Vietnam in Dec 64 and did not return until September 1968, there would have been periods of leave in between but this is something that has to be looked into further. Next we shall look at the 5 Murders that Zodiac claimed and maybe a few unsolved too.