Richard thought the men might be raping Quita and tried to look up; they beat him unconscious with a wrench. Nineteen-year-old Neil Moynihan was carrying a teddy bear he had just bought as a Christmas present for his younger sister when he was gunned down by a stranger. But the increasing confidence with which whites are publicly vilified may hint of future horrors that could resemble what San Francisco went through in 197374. Quita ran off, but the men grabbed Richard. Chronicles the series of racially motivated serial killings, black on white, that took place in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. Oddly, it denied there was any evidence a radical group might be responsible for the crimes. It was too much money for people to walk away from. The man then pushed Stoeckmann behind a fence and pulled out a .32 caliber revolver, shooting him in the neck. 317. Asked about a binder he had when he was arrested, containing NOI Lesson No. Then, suddenly, he turned around and fired two bullets at Anderson. The book, "The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights" states: . [19] Dr. Washington Garner, the first black Police Commissioner for the city of San Francisco, urged the city's black men, "If you are stopped, don't resent it. Only then did Agnos feel the pain and dampness from the blood soaking through his shirt. Whats more, unlike most callers, Harris refused to give the information he claimed to have over the telephone; he insisted officers come to see him in Oakland. Hearings began almost immediately. Later that day, an officer visited Richard Hague. The next mornings headline screamed S.F. For the whole of February and March the trail went cold. He died grasping a lacrosse stick. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an commission. Moore was charged with two additional accounts of assault with an additional weapon. Simon died at San Quentin State Prison in 2015 at theage of 69. Terry White turned at the sound of the shots. The following week, protestors from the Progressive Labor Party distributed literature demanding the indictment of Mayor Alioto and the police department for the harassment and terrorization of black people. J. C. Simonss behavior led some to wonder about his sanity. There were many witnesses this time, but their testimony yielded little except vague physical descriptions of the killers. That evening, the four met along with four other unidentified men at Simons apartment. As previously noted, Simon and Moore were known to have been in the East Bay area the previous afternoon, so it is likely they were responsible for this shooting as well. He was 86. On top of everything else, Harris had said that there was no way these guys would be taken alive. Mayor Alioto was elated and wanted to call a press conference. (The attacks on the Hagues and Frances Rose were not known to be related.) He was declared dead of unknown causes, pending an autopsy. The Zebra victims never became the object of a cult, as many blacks some not even victims in any ordinary sense have become. IMDb Ten days later, Frances Rose, 28, was driving to class at the University of California Extension Campus when a black man flagged her down. He continued to communicate intermittently with Larry Green. It felt like the gates of hell had opened, recalls Prentice Sanders. Film data from TMDb. Chronicles the series of racially motivated serial killings, black on white, that took place in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. Meanwhile, Joseph B. Williams lawsuit was making progress. There was an argument, three more blacks got out of the van, a scuffle broke out, and police shot one of the blacks in the spine, paralyzing him for life. Letterboxd Limited. Pivoting toward Linda Story, who was already running, he fired three more times, hitting her twice. About six blocks from where he had shot Tana Smith, Simon spotted 69-year-old pensioner Vincent Wollin walking home. The announcement appeared in a brief article at the foot of the San Francisco Chronicles front page. Man, Id like to just go through a place like that an off them all, every one of the old motherfuckers. In a hit-and-run shooting, the gunman would walk up to his victim, shoot the victim repeatedly at close range, and flee on foot. They shouted back that he had been shot. His fiance of that time testified that he came home that night covered in blood and said he had been out killing devils.. [23][24], A week after the program began, Cinque, the black leader of the Symbionese Liberation Army, said, "If we look closely, we begin to see the truth that Operation Zebra is a planned enemy offensive against the enemy to commit a race war," also claiming that it was a means to get "black males to submit to FBI classification and identification. The man approached him and fired three more times. The day after the Shields murder, Mayor Joseph Alioto met with SFPD leaders and made clear to them he no longer cared about constitutional niceties. Yet another British TV Documentary series that focuses on several serial killers. Men not found to be suspicious were to be issued Zebra cards, IDs attesting that they had already been stopped. Driving in their squad cars near the Moynihan and Hosler crime scenes several hours later, Gilford and Sanders spotted a car matching the description and followed it. Zebra Murders Collection. Series of racially motivated murders in San Francisco, California, "Death Angels" redirects here. Gilford and Sanders connections among blacks were not paying dividends: When stuff goes down in the ghetto, you hear things, recalls Sanders; This time, we didnt. [102] The silence was especially surprising in view of what Gilford and Sanders called the ghetto reward put up by Marietta DiGirolamos boyfriend. In effect, he ordered them to do whatever it took to stop the killers. The statement released by Mayor Alioto,[37] following the arrests, read: The police have arrested several suspects in connection with the Zebra killings. A majority of the San Franciscos whites supported the Zebra sweeps, as they were called, but they proved intensely unpopular with blacks, including detectives Gilford and Sanders. [236]. . Larry Craig Green was born in Berkeley, California, in 1953. (RamZPaul here's hoping you make a YouTube video on the case: no such other documentary/story on the Zebra Killings exists) on the Zebra Killings and Clark Howard's book. [6], On November 25, 1973, Saleem Erakat, 53, was found dead in his store, across from the San Francisco Civic Center. A patrol car cruising down Haight St. spotted a match. He heard two loud bangs which he thought were firecrackers and felt what seemed to be someone bumping into him from behind. Two white men in a pickup pulled up alongside them on the right. [237238]. The story focuses on the two detectives who looked to solve the crimes. 1s 55m 1970 HD. Their bail was set at $250,000 each. In the apartment, they found two swords with scabbards and rope.[36]. Both Gilford and Sanders were in an organization called Officers for Justice that was suing the department for discrimination, making them unpopular with top brass and many white colleagues. That was where Larry Green spent his days. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . He explained that he had lied earlier because he was afraid his parole would be revoked. A 1973 conspiratorial series of black-on-white murders linked to The Nation Of Islam that paralyzed San Francisco during "the largest manhunt in California history" provides a compelling background for the autobiographies of Ed Sanders and Rotea Gilford, two courageous African American detectives deeply involved in the case, as they steadfastly confront systemic racism within the San . A patrol car was cruising only a block away, and if the killer had fled in the opposite direction, he would have run right into it. Known as the Zebra murders or Zebra killings, four Black menJessie Lee Cooks, Larry Craig Green, Manuel Moore, and J.C.X. Later, at the trial, it emerged that he left a bloody palmprint inside the store. Ten minutes later, and eight blocks away, Vincent Wollin, 69, was shot twice in the back while digging through trash cans for items to repair and sell to supplement his Social Security checks. Fotinos and Coreris drove back to Oakland, picked up Harris and his family, and took them to a Holliday Inn in San Francisco. The mans name was Jesse Lee Cooks, a criminal with convictions for major felonies and a history of violence when committing crimes. Investigating Officer Prentice Earl Sanders went on to serve a term as police chief of San Francisco. That evening, Gilford and Sanders were once again cruising the streets where Neil Moynihan and Mildred Hosler had died when they suddenly spotted the Dodge Dart. Tana Smith, 32, was shot on the sidewalk, only six blocks from her home. Political correctness prevents it being publicized in those venues I believe. Anthony Harris received his promised $30,000 reward after the convictions, and may have been given a new identity to protect him. Manuel Moore had attended California public schools as far as the 10th grade without ever learning to read or write: He could only sign his name and recognize a few words. [4], On October 30, 1973, Frances Rose, 28, was shot repeatedly in her car near the University of California Extension. . Two for one is about right, dontcha think? [148] The man then hung up. According to this witness, his fantasies always involved attacking people too weak to fight back. 26s Fruit of Islam house, a residence for young men where Simon believed Harris might be able to find Larry Green. The floor is yours. Hed been putting on this show of cooperating, but you could see him tense up when we asked for something real. (11/5/14) Even if robbery had been the motive and the killers were just trying to silence them, they could have used their gun. The Zebra squad was part of the group that kept tabs on the building where Larry Green and J. C. Simon lived during those final days, and Gil and I felt the same way. Without warning, he pulled out a gun and fired four shots, of which three struck her. Whatever the reason, Harris had no further contact with J. C. Simon or Manuel Moore. Then one man began beating Alioto on the head with the sign he was holding, until the mayors aides stepped in, helping Alioto push through the crowd to his car. A concerted drive by local, state, and national law enforcement agencies is desperately needed to shatter this organization. The story focuses on the two detectives who looked to solve the crimes. Then Harris claimed that he left the meeting while the others continued talking. Made by fans in Aotearoa New Zealand. : What I plan to do someday is raid a white orphanage and take all the little white kids by their feet and swing them like a baseball bat and smash their brains out against the wall. [Howard pp. The men were identified as: J. C. Simon, 29; Larry Green, 22; Manuel Moore, 23; Dwight Stallins, 28; Thomas Manney, 31; Edgar Burton, 22; Clarence Jamison, 27; the last four were released due to lack of evidence. By that time, San Francisco was on edge, and not just the white population. Moreover, using a sketch was risky: if someone who looked nothing like the sketch was arrested, a clever defense attorney could turn it into exculpatory evidence. It was one oclock in the morning of January 29, several hours after the last shooting in San Francisco, and 26-year-old Thomas Bates was hitch-hiking beside an on-ramp leading to the Bay Bridge. Mobilesite. The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a group of four black serial killers in San Francisco, California, United States, from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least 15 people and wounded eight others. He was in the hospital, preparing for yet another surgery for his wounds of six months earlier. They were convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Among the men stopped on that second night was a lawyer named Joseph B. Williams, who had argued many cases for the NAACP. Those who suspected NOI involvement noted that Temple No. Sanders explains: The street price for a gram of coke was about fifty bucks back then. Harris was afraid they were being watched, so the inspectors took him back to the Hall of Justice to continue the interview. Theyd just head to the ghetto and wreak the same kind of havoc that was coming their way. Manuel Moore died at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton in 2017 at the age of 73. Normally, witnesses describe suspects directly to sketch artists. Please consider upgrading to a Pro accountfor less than a couple bucks a month, youll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages (example), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads! These lurid claims feature prominently in popular accounts of the Zebra murders, including Clark Howards Zebra (1979), but there is no evidence other than Harriss claims that there were ever any Death Angels. No membership pin has ever turned up, nor has any supposed member ever talked about the group as part of a plea deal. She and Moynihan both died at the scene. [42][43][44], By February 21, 1975, Clinton White, the attorney for defendants Green, Moore, and Simon, said Harris sent him two letters claiming police threatened to revoke his burglary conviction if he fails to testify. The following afternoon, January 28, J. C. Simon and Manuel Moore are known to have driven to the East Bay, possibly to confer with members of Oaklands NOI Temple, where the paralyzed man was affiliated. Anthony Harris, in the back seat and still high on drugs, remembered the car going airborne as it sped away, slamming his head against the roof. Not once., There are other grounds for treating some of Harriss claims with caution. But that night it stood out to me. Investigator John Fotinos suspected NOI from the beginning because witnesses reported that the killers were clean cut and neatly dressed. While it must be vigorous and relentless, it must stay within constitutional limitations. We had to do it fast, to make sure no one got wind of what was going down and took off on the run. Erekat was not, strictly speaking, white: Sammy, the name by which his neighbors knew him, stood for Saleem, and he was a first-generation immigrant from Jordan. A season of killing, racial madness and civil rights. Century Foundation. That was serious money. The chief of police had assured the public that officers were interested only in information related to the Zebra killings, and that lesser offenses would be ignored, but Prentice Sanders remembers that this was not how things worked: Instead of just stopping people and questioning them, they were spread-eagling them against walls and busting them for anything they found: a joint, a penknife that was too long, even unpaid traffic tickets. [209]. She was the fifth victim of the evening, and the only one to survive. Two months later, on December 22, 1973, Simon and Moore interfered while an officer was conducting a traffic stop. The resemblance may have been accidental: Fotinos and Coreris amalgamated verbal descriptions from a number of witnesses, more of which probably referred to Larry Green, J. C. Simon and Manuel Moore than to Harris. Well-known and popular in his neighborhood, Erekats funeral attracted 250 mourners and the cortege was 85 cars long. She survived, but was paralyzed. That night, the sweeps were expanded to cover a wider area, and over two hundred officers were involved. Then there was no telling where it would end. [29][30], By April 18, 1974, rewards totaling $30,000 were being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) involved in the murders. Moore and Simon showed no emotion. He said that he was told that the "Death Angels" were "supposed to be a pretty high branch of the Nation of Islam," and had 2,000 members nationwide. Cooks had raped a local woman just the previous week, but police did not learn for a long time that he had been the main instigator of the attack on the Hagues. [52] Michael Armstrong, 23, testified under immunity that he sold the gun that killed and wounded several victims in 1974 to Thomas Manney, manager of the Black Self-Help center and former suspect in the Zebra killings. The SFPD issued an unprecedented warning to all city residents to stay off the streets at night. 26, and went to work for Black Self-Help Moving and Storage. But they didnt. When the SFPDs chief investigator was called upon to testify, he acknowledged that the Zebra sweeps which he had publicly supported had failed to accomplish anything. A man ran toward her from across the street and fired five bullets into her upper body at nearly point-blank range. . [8], On December 22, 1973, Neal Moynihan, 19, was shot three times while walking near Market Street. A .32 caliber pistol was used for the shootings of January 28, but not the same one as in the previous murders. [10], On December 24, 1973, a dismembered body, named John Doe #169, cut with surgical precision, wrapped in plastic, and stuffed in a cardboard box, was found at Ocean Beach. A jury brought Ramirez to justice and convicted him of 13 murders, 11 sexual assaults, and five attempted murders, among other charges, in 1989. Her husbands wallet was stolen, but there was almost no money in it. He told reporters everything he thought he knew about Zebra, and a great deal else besides. "[27], During the hearing for the lawsuits, which began on April 24, 1974, Chief of Inspectors Charles Barca reported that of the 567 black men that had been stopped, 181 field interrogation cards were submitted, and that the searches produced, "no effective leads." They then set upon Quita with a machete. Tonight, were going out and getting us ten black men. The reward was calculated to appeal to the ghetto-dwellers he thought most likely to know something: three ounces of pure cocaine, plus $5,000. I've said my peace. [Howard pp. The Arab Independent Grocers Association put up a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killers. Whatever they had done, he viewed them as brothers. He would lend them his car, find them a place to stay, and even invite some over for dinner at his parents house in Berkeley. The press coverage of the Zebra Murders did not mention the other possibility related cases. Both teenagers survived. The inescapable fact of the matter is that most mass murderers of recent years - Manson, the Santa Cruz murderers, Corona, and Zodiac have been white. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of serviceapply. "DEATH ANGELS," a kind of reverse Ku Klux Klan, is based on the muddled aberrations clearly outside the mainstream of Islamic religions. Meanwhile, Chief Investigators John Fotinos and Gus Coreris decided to work with the SFPDs sketch artist. The man detectives Gilford and Sanders had seen in Larry Greens passenger seat during that Christmas Eve traffic stop was J. C. Simon from Opelousas, Louisiana. In the most serious incident, a black man walking down Haight Street was ordered to stop by a plainclothes officer. [146] Yet he knew there was no chance of catching the killers that night: from Edinburgh St., they could easily reach Highway 101 and head anywhere. Four decades ago, San Francisco was terrorized by murders that were known as the "zebra killings." Linda Yee reports. The sketch appeared in both the Chronicle and the Examiner on April 18, the same day the sweeps began, and was soon visible all over the city: Storeowners taped copies cut from newspapers onto storefront windows, and supermarkets posted them on neighborhood bulletin boards. If stopped by police again, they could display the card and be waved on. Harris told the inspectors about meeting the killers in San Quentin, that they were all Muslim and worked at Black Self-Help Moving and Storage, which Brosch was familiar with from having recovered stolen property there. 13 victims were shot to death, while the killers hacked the other two to death with machetes. The contents of this website are copyright 1990-2023 New Surviving Zebra victims positively identified three of the seven men: Larry Green, J. C. Simon and Manuel Moore. [79]. Jamie Foxx Dede Gardner Jamie Rucker king, Jamie Foxx Brad Pitt Dede Gardner Jamie Rucker king, Matthew Michael Carnahan Prentice earl sanders Bennet Cohen, DreamWorks Pictures Plan B Entertainment Foxx-King Entertainment, More at One he was inside, the protestors surrounded the limousine, pounding on it as the mayors driver sped away. . Both men had the keys to the place; either could open up in the morning or close at night. But there was a resemblance, and Harris was afraid he wouldnt be able to go out on the street much longer without others noticing it. The detectives then spent several hours asking around the area. No matter where you looked, there they were. The general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, Paul Halvonik, stated that the measures taken by Alioto and police "are totally unprecedented in their scope and clearly indefensible in view of the Constitution." The hope was that one such car might be present the next time the killers struck. Walsh, Anthony (2005). Alioto tried to diffuse the situation by meeting with the few prominent blacks he could find willing to support his strategy, but other blacks called them traitors and trained seals., By April 21, the fourth night, as many as 350 officers were on the streets, including volunteers from other agencies and 150 reserve officers with limited training. But this was something they had to do because whites were evil, and getting even with them was necessary not only as revenge for Larry Crosby but because of generations of wickedness. But there was another aspect: The owner often invited speakers to talks to employees, and frequently stirred up hatred against whites. The ACLU, the NAACP, and the Sun-Reporter San Franciscos largest black newspaper all joined in criticizing the sweeps. Leroy Doctor was arrested and sentenced to a term of 9 1/2 years to life in prison. Two days later, 23-year-old Nelson Shields was helping a friend pick up a rug in the citys Ingleside neighborhood around 9:30 PM. He survived, but needed more than 200 stitches and many surgeries. [32][33], It was later reported that Harris, the informant, had actually been in discussions with police prior to meeting with Alioto. PUBLISHED: July 1, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. | UPDATED: July 2, 2021 at 4:17 a.m. VACAVILLE Jessie Lee Cooks, one of four Bay Area men convicted in the notorious racially motivated serial killing . Of the other three Zebra killers, J.C.X. Green and Cooks were charged with one count each of murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery, and one assault with a deadly weapon for the murder of Quita Hague and the attack on her husband, Richard Hague. Police found three .32 caliber shell casings at the place of the shooting. The "Zebra Killings" tally of deaths is officially at "more than 100" as evidence shows links all over the State of California as compiled by the State of CA Department of Justice Task Force.The best description of the killings and subsequent book by Howard was by author James Lubinskas (reprinted below).Five stars.JP*****Reprint of . Soon he felt blood dripping from his own arm and side. The friend told police that two young black men in navy peacoats approached them and began shooting, killing Dancik.

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