Richard Allen Earl Sr., a 38-year-old white male, was among nine individuals tragically murdered on November 7, 1973, in Acampo, California. This mass killing, known as the Victor Murders, involved the Earl family and their neighbors, the Parkins. The victims included Richard's wife, Wanda Jean Cummings Earl, age 37; their daughter, Debra Jean Earl, age 18; their son, Richard Allen "Ricky" Earl Jr., age 15; Walter Parkin, age 33; his wife, Joanne Parkin, age 31; their children, Lisa Parkin, age 11, and Robert Parkin, age 9; and Debra's fiancé, Mark Lang, age 20. The victims were found bound and executed in the Parkin home, with the children discovered in the master bedroom and the adults in a walk-in closet.
The perpetrators, Douglas Gretzler and Willie Steelman, were arrested shortly after the murders. Gretzler was apprehended at the Clunie Hotel in Sacramento, and Steelman was captured following a standoff at a masseuse's apartment. Both men were convicted of multiple murders in California and Arizona. Gretzler was executed by lethal injection in 1998, while Steelman died of liver cirrhosis in prison in 1986.
