In the days leading up to Christmas of 1984, the home of Anna Arevalo was filled with the joy and gentle chaos of new motherhood. At 24, Anna, a young secretary, was navigating life with her infant twin daughters. But the festive season was shattered by an act of unimaginable violence that would leave a permanent scar on her family and the Oakland, California, community.
On December 23, 1984, Anna was brutally murdered in her own home, a place that should have been a sanctuary for her and her babies.
Relatives discovered the horrific scene after Anna, a female, became unreachable. They found her inside a closet, having been shot multiple times. In an adjacent room, police found her twin daughters, physically unharmed but suddenly orphaned just two days before Christmas. The senselessness of the crime was staggering. The initial investigation uncovered that Anna had been sexually assaulted and her home was ransacked, suggesting a robbery that had escalated to a brutal murder.
The case took a more sinister turn as investigators began to connect the dots between Anna’s death and other violent crimes in the area. Ballistics testing revealed that the bullets used to kill Anna were fired from the same gun used in the shooting and sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl just six weeks earlier, on November 8, 1984. The young girl had survived her attacker, and her case now provided a crucial link in the hunt for a killer who was growing bolder and more violent.
The reign of terror continued into the new year. On January 24, 1985, two employees at a beauty parlor in West Oakland, Marilyn A. Moore and Vicky J. Russo, were shot multiple times during a robbery. Moore, 35, died from her injuries, while Russo was left severely wounded. Just a week later, on January 31, 62-year-old Doris Wong Lee was found shot to death in her Oakland Hills home during another burglary. A pattern of ruthless violence was emerging, and the community was gripped by fear.
The breakthrough came on February 5, 1985, when police arrested Anthony Rene Wimberly, a 22-year-old parolee with an extensive criminal record dating back to his early teens. An informant's tip led police to Wimberly, and evidence quickly mounted against him. His fingerprints matched those found at Anna Arevalo's home, and he was identified by the surviving 12-year-old victim. Following his arrest, Wimberly confessed to the murders of Anna Arevalo and Marilyn Moore, as well as the rape of the young girl.
Anthony Rene Wimberly, who also went by the name Anthony Rene Lee, was charged with a devastating crime spree that included three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, two counts of attempted murder, rape, five counts of robbery, and four counts of burglary. His trial brought to light his violent history and the trail of shattered lives he left behind. The prosecution painted a picture of a predator who killed to eliminate witnesses and showed no remorse for his actions.
Though prosecutors initially sought the death penalty, after multiple juries deadlocked on the sentence, the state opted not to pursue a fourth penalty trial. Anthony Rene Wimberly was ultimately sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He was convicted for the murders of Anna Arevalo, Marilyn Moore, and Doris Wong Lee, ensuring he would never again pose a threat to the community.
While the legal chapter on Anna Arevalo's murder is closed, the profound loss for her family endures. Her twin daughters grew up without their mother, their lives forever shaped by a brutal act that occurred before their memories could even form. Anna is remembered as a vibrant young woman and a loving mother whose life was stolen, leaving behind a legacy of questions about what could have been.
