Charles Dickerson was murdered on January 3, 1980, in a motel in South Lake Tahoe, California. His body was found beneath a bed; he had been bound and gagged and died of asphyxiation. No age, gender, or ethnicity is provided for Dickerson.

The killing was carried out by Donald Eugene Harding, who had escaped from an Arkansas jail in September 1979 and went on a multi-state crime spree that included bank robberies, kidnappings, home invasions, and murders. Harding restrained and gagged Dickerson on the night of January 3, then continued committing additional violent crimes before being arrested in Flagstaff, Arizona, on January 26, 1980, while driving a stolen vehicle. Harding was later convicted of multiple crimes, including Dickerson’s murder, and was sentenced to death; he was executed in Arizona on April 6, 1992, by asphyxiation in a gas chamber.

Are there readers who remember reporting or investigative details from South Lake Tahoe in January 1980 that could add context to Dickerson’s case?