Lisa Ann Beery, a 15-year-old Caucasian girl, was kidnapped at knifepoint on January 26, 1974, while hitchhiking near her home. Her abductors were Philip Joseph Hughes Jr., a convicted serial killer, and his wife, Suzanne Perrin. The couple took Lisa to a house in Oakland, California, where she was forced into the basement. There, she was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death.
After the murder, her body was wrapped in a sheet and dumped in a shallow grave in a deserted area of Contra Costa County. Her remains were discovered five years later in Moraga, California.
Philip Joseph Hughes Jr., known as "The East Bay Strangler," was responsible for multiple murders in Contra Costa County throughout the 1970s. His crimes included the killings of Maureen Field in 1972, Lisa Ann Beery in 1974, and Letitia Fagot in 1975. Hughes carried out these murders with the assistance of his ex-wife, Suzanne Perrin. His criminal activities came to light in July 1979 when a friend of Perrin contacted the Oakland police department on her behalf, citing her fear of Hughes. Perrin later met with a police sergeant and disclosed information linking Hughes to Lisa Beery’s murder. This led authorities to obtain a search warrant for Hughes' home in Pleasanton, California, where they seized evidence related to the crime.
Hughes was arrested and brought to trial. On April 3, 1980, he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Lisa Ann Beery. A jury later ruled that Hughes was legally sane at the time of the crime. During the trial, Dr. Hugh Winig testified that Hughes had "an actual need to kill someone and have sex with them after they were dead." On May 21, 1980, Hughes was sentenced to life in prison for Lisa’s murder. Six months later, on October 14, 1980, he was convicted of the first-degree murders of Maureen Field and Letitia Fagot. On November 25, 1980, a Superior Court judge sentenced Hughes to two concurrent life sentences, describing him as "a dangerous man to society." Hughes remains incarcerated at the California Correctional Institution.
