In the winter of 1955, Marceline Herdlick, an 82-year-old woman, was living an independent life in her second-floor apartment on California Street in San Francisco, California. A tailor by trade, she was still self-sufficient in her advanced years. Her quiet life, however, came to a brutal and sudden end on January 9, 1955, when her home was invaded by a man who would later be identified as a serial killer.
On that Sunday, Vender Lee Duncan, a 26-year-old house painter with a troubled
past, was walking through the neighborhood. Looking up, he spotted Marceline's apartment and decided to break in. He scaled the fire escape and peered through her window, where he saw her counting money. Intent on robbery, Duncan forced his way inside through the window. Fearing he would be caught, he immediately attacked the elderly woman, striking her in the face with enough force to knock her to the ground. He then choked her to death.
For more than two years, Marceline's murder remained unsolved, one of several violent attacks against elderly women that cast a shadow of fear over the city. The assailant left few clues, and the community was left to wonder who was preying on its most vulnerable residents. The answer would not come until 1957, following another series of brutal crimes.
The breakthrough in the case came after Duncan attacked 68-year-old Ada Romig on April 5, 1957, beating her severely with a brick in a vacant lot. Just days later, he was arrested for burglary. While in custody, Duncan began to talk, and the full horror of his crimes came to light. He confessed to the murder of Marceline Herdlick in 1955 and the killing of another elderly woman, 75-year-old retired nurse Elizabeth Manning, whom he had beaten to death in her Webster Street apartment on September 4, 1955.
Vender Lee Duncan, who also went by the name Vander, was born in Texas and had a history of violence, having previously served a sentence for assault with intent to murder after stabbing a man 24 times. He had drifted to San Francisco with his common-law wife, and when his work as a house painter proved insufficient, he turned to burglary, preying on the homes of elderly women.
Duncan's trial began on April 15, 1958. Prosecutors chose to charge him with the two 1955 murders. In a turn from his earlier confessions, Duncan entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. After an 11-day trial, a jury found him guilty on all counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, rape, burglary, and assault with intent to commit murder. The jury also determined that he was sane at the time of his crimes.
Following his conviction, Duncan was sentenced to death. He appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court of California and petitioned Governor Pat Brown for clemency, but both efforts were denied. On May 29, 1959, Vender Lee Duncan was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison. His execution brought an end to the reign of a predator who had targeted and murdered defenseless women in their own homes, finally delivering justice for Marceline Herdlick and his other victims.
