On March 13, 1980, 33-year-old Charlene Smith and her 43-year-old husband, Lyman, were found bludgeoned to death with a log from their fireplace in their Ventura, California, home. The couple had been bound with drapery cord while they slept; Charlene’s wrists were tied with an unusually complex Chinese knot. Their bodies were discovered by Lyman’s 12-year-old son. Charlene had also suffered sexual assault.

Early investigative lines included the theory the attack might have been revenge against Lyman, a successful attorney about to be appointed as a judge; a former business partner was briefly considered but those charges were dropped. The brutal, seemingly random nature of the scene and the bindings did not fit a straightforward grudge killing, and the case went cold for years.

Advances in DNA technology eventually linked the Smith murders to a series of rapes and killings attributed to the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker. In April 2018 a suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, was identified, arrested, and later confessed to the Smiths’ murders as part of a plea deal. Does anyone have memories of the neighborhood in Ventura in 1980 or information that could shed more light on what happened that night?