On July 8, 1981, Peggy Pennington, a 34-year-old employee of the El Dorado County Welfare Department, was abducted and murdered in Placerville, California. That morning she and a coworker, Patty Vander Dussen, were on a routine walk when James Leslie Karis Jr. reportedly forced them into his car at gunpoint, drove them to a remote area, compelled them to undress, and raped Peggy. Karis then marched the women to another location and shot both; Peggy died of her wounds and Patty survived and later testified at trial.

Karis was captured about a week later and was convicted in 1982 by a Sacramento County jury of Peggy’s rape and murder and the attempted murder of Patty Vander Dussen. He was sentenced to death. Subsequent legal proceedings affected his sentence over the years, and he remained on death row until his death in 2013.

Does anyone have memories of Peggy or Patty from Placerville in 1981, or information that might shed light on the events that morning?