The nearly nude body of Nancy Darlene Feusi (23), a separated mother of five, was discovered by a fisherman at 6:30 am on July 22nd 1973 alongside Pleasant Grove Road and Steelhead Creek, approximately half-a-mile north of West Riego Road in Sutter County.
Dressed in a miniskirt and bikini-style briefs, with a blouse discovered nearby, she had been brutally stabbed 29 times in the stomach, chest and arm in what appeared a sexually driven crime. Shoe prints and tire tracks were discovered close to where the young woman was found, opening up the possibility she was murdered elsewhere and transported to the area she was found.
Earlier that morning she had been dancing at Plumbers Hall, 5841 Newman Court in East Sacramento, with her last sighting alive at 43rd Street and 11th Avenue, about 2 miles southwest of Plumbers Hall. This sighting was only 3 1/2 hours prior to her body being discovered alongside Pleasant Grove Road, 15 miles north. Investigators concluded by examining the crime scene that she had been transported to the location she was ultimately found, and the perpetrator/s vehicle would have been heavily bloodstained. Therefore, the location of her murder was considered to lie elsewhere, possibly close to the area she was last seen alive.
Dressed in a miniskirt and bikini-style briefs, with a blouse discovered nearby, she had been brutally stabbed 29 times in the stomach, chest and arm in what appeared a sexually driven crime. Shoe prints and tire tracks were discovered close to where the young woman was found, opening up the possibility she was murdered elsewhere and transported to the area she was found.
Earlier that morning she had been dancing at Plumbers Hall, 5841 Newman Court in East Sacramento, with her last sighting alive at 43rd Street and 11th Avenue, about 2 miles southwest of Plumbers Hall. This sighting was only 3 1/2 hours prior to her body being discovered alongside Pleasant Grove Road, 15 miles north. Investigators concluded by examining the crime scene that she had been transported to the location she was ultimately found, and the perpetrator/s vehicle would have been heavily bloodstained. Therefore, the location of her murder was considered to lie elsewhere, possibly close to the area she was last seen alive.
Stephine Black (11) went missing from a Rio Linda bus stop on October 24th 1974 while walking from her home to school, testimony to this were her school books found lying abandoned on 18th Street. Her body was recovered on November 11th 1974, when two 16-year-old boys out rabbit hunting discovered her badly decomposed body behind cattails in a rice paddy just 25 feet off Jackson Road, north of Baseline Road. The location was only five miles from her residence.
A sexual component to the crime was fairly obvious because the young girl was clothed in only a blouse, with no other clothing found at the crime scene. Despite this, nothing conclusive could be determined from the autopsy by Placer County officials, other than she was likely dumped in the rice paddy shortly after her abduction from the bus stop.
The age of the victim, nature of her disappearance and location of her body would lead investigators to believe that Herman Lee Hobbs may very likely be responsible for her murder, based upon the circumstances discussed in the next case on this page - the murder of 13-year-old Terri Maree Pata. Despite lingering suspicions, the murder of Stephine Black remains unsolved to this day. Without any DNA collected in her case due to her being submerged in water, a likely resolution to her horrific murder will probably never materialize.
A sexual component to the crime was fairly obvious because the young girl was clothed in only a blouse, with no other clothing found at the crime scene. Despite this, nothing conclusive could be determined from the autopsy by Placer County officials, other than she was likely dumped in the rice paddy shortly after her abduction from the bus stop.
The age of the victim, nature of her disappearance and location of her body would lead investigators to believe that Herman Lee Hobbs may very likely be responsible for her murder, based upon the circumstances discussed in the next case on this page - the murder of 13-year-old Terri Maree Pata. Despite lingering suspicions, the murder of Stephine Black remains unsolved to this day. Without any DNA collected in her case due to her being submerged in water, a likely resolution to her horrific murder will probably never materialize.
Terri Maree Pata (13) was last seen leaving Rio Linda High School on January 21st 1975. Nine days later, the young girl was found by a man collecting aluminium cans stuffed inside a pipe in a drainage ditch alongside Lone Tree Road, close to Elverta Road in North Highlands. Terri Maree Pata had been brutally murdered, her throat had been slit and she had been stabbed a minimum of 27 times about the face, back and abdomen. The young girl had also been raped. The amount of stab wounds was very similar to the attack on Nancy Darlene Feusi, although the age of the victim's in each case were vastly different.
Many years later, DNA testing would eventually identify the murderer of Terri Maree Pata. Herman Lee Hobbs (57) was arrested at Pleasant Valley Prison in Coalinga (already in jail for rape) and brought to Sacramento County, before he was ultimately convicted of her murder, having lived close to Terri at the time of her disappearance and murder. He has been linked to many other rapes and murders, including Stephine Black, Brenda Ann Tucker, Katherine Harlan and Harriet Elizabeth Riley, the latter two of which both lived in North Highlands.
It is patently obvious that Herman Lee Hobbs was a deviant sociopath responsible for many more crimes than police could pin on him. During the 1970s, several girls near Pata's age were found murdered in the vicinity of North Highlands. In most cases, the bodies were so badly decomposed that detectives were unable to determine the cause of death or whether the victims had been sexually assaulted.
Many years later, DNA testing would eventually identify the murderer of Terri Maree Pata. Herman Lee Hobbs (57) was arrested at Pleasant Valley Prison in Coalinga (already in jail for rape) and brought to Sacramento County, before he was ultimately convicted of her murder, having lived close to Terri at the time of her disappearance and murder. He has been linked to many other rapes and murders, including Stephine Black, Brenda Ann Tucker, Katherine Harlan and Harriet Elizabeth Riley, the latter two of which both lived in North Highlands.
It is patently obvious that Herman Lee Hobbs was a deviant sociopath responsible for many more crimes than police could pin on him. During the 1970s, several girls near Pata's age were found murdered in the vicinity of North Highlands. In most cases, the bodies were so badly decomposed that detectives were unable to determine the cause of death or whether the victims had been sexually assaulted.
Katherine Harlan (9) was abducted on her walk to a bus stop on March 7th 1979 and found four days later just inside Sutter County beside Powerline Road, again likely transported to this location rather than murdered there. Her body was discovered by fishermen in a drainage ditch. Katherine lived less than a mile from murder victim Harriet Elizabeth Riley (6), who on the afternoon of January 9th 1975 disappeared close to her Gratton Way, North Highlands residence while playing in a park. Harriet was discovered suffocated a few blocks from her residence callously discarded in a dumpster. Her disposal site differed markedly from the other victims.
Fred Franklin Robinson (33) stood trial for the murder of Katherine Harlan, but despite investigators claiming he had admitted strangling the young 9-year-old girl he plead innocent at his trial. Several material eyewitnesses came forward vouching for Robinson's whereabouts at the time of Katherine's abduction, with the autopsy showing she was beaten to death. Charges against Robinson were eventually dropped by the judiciary claiming lack of evidence and nobody has subsequently been identified as the murderer of Katherine Harlan. Four of these murders (excluding Harriet Elizabeth Riley) have one striking feature in common, to which we shall turn to now.
Fred Franklin Robinson (33) stood trial for the murder of Katherine Harlan, but despite investigators claiming he had admitted strangling the young 9-year-old girl he plead innocent at his trial. Several material eyewitnesses came forward vouching for Robinson's whereabouts at the time of Katherine's abduction, with the autopsy showing she was beaten to death. Charges against Robinson were eventually dropped by the judiciary claiming lack of evidence and nobody has subsequently been identified as the murderer of Katherine Harlan. Four of these murders (excluding Harriet Elizabeth Riley) have one striking feature in common, to which we shall turn to now.
There were many more murder victims during this six-year window in Sacramento, but these four young girls were dumped in extremely close proximity to one another, close to West Riego Road. Nancy Darlene Feusi was found approximately 729 meters from West Riego Road. Stephine Black was found 1.8 miles from West Riego Road and only 1.44 miles from the dump site of Nancy Darlene Feusi. Katherine Harlan was found on Powerline Road which crosses West Riego Road. Terri Maree Pata's body was found approximately 2.4 miles south of West Riego Road. All four victims were found just off the side of a road in an extremely rural area of Sutter County and Placer County, which border each other. Their ages may vary from nine to twenty-three, but the close proximity to each other sets off the alarm bells. Herman Lee Hobbs was inextricably tied to the murder of Terri Maree Pata through DNA, but was he responsible for some or all of the other victims?
We have discussed Nancy Darlene Feusi (23) before, so it was particularly unnerving to find the dump site of Stephine Black (11) was in the same Pleasant Grove neighborhood, only one-and-a-half miles northeast. Their ages differed markedly, with Stephine Black being abducted on her way to school and Nancy Darlene Feusi having likely been abducted closer to 3:00 am after leaving a dance hall. However, they were both abducted from Sacramento County 15 months apart from one another and both were found only 1.44 miles apart in a remote northern location, just beyond Sacramento County lines. This area was extremely rural, having seemingly been chosen through familiarity and knowledge of this location. In terms of how the victims were killed, we know that both Nancy Darlene Feusi and Terri Maree Pata were stabbed at least 29 and 27 times respectively about the body, so was Herman Lee Hobbs responsible for the murder of Nancy Feusi also?