Billy Chadd

Serial Killer

Billy Lee Chadd: Serial Killer and Rapist

Billy Lee Chadd, born December 14, 1954, in San Diego, California, is an American serial killer and rapist responsible for three confirmed murders committed in California and Nevada between 1974 and 1978. Chadd also confessed to a possible fourth murder in Kansas, although investigators were never able to verify that claim. His crimes involved burglary, sexual assault, kidnapping, binding victims, strangulation and repeated knife attacks. Two of his confirmed murder victims were women in the San Diego area, while his third confirmed victim was a man killed in Las Vegas. Chadd's criminal history began well before the confirmed murders. As a teenager he was arrested for rape and placed in the California juvenile correctional system. He escaped from custody more than once and continued displaying violent behavior. By his early twenties, Chadd was married and had a child, but he struggled to maintain employment and committed burglaries. It was during one of those intended burglaries that he committed his first confirmed murder.

The Murder of Patricia Franklin

Patricia Franklin was a 30-year-old secretary employed by Scripps Clinic who lived in the Linda Vista area of San Diego. Contemporary reporting places her murder on the night of July 26, 1974. Some later accounts list July 27 because her body was discovered the following day. According to Chadd's eventual confession, he was driving through Linda Vista looking for a residence to burglarize. He selected Franklin's home and entered while she was inside. The planned burglary turned into a prolonged sexual assault. Franklin was restrained with cord, sexually assaulted and ultimately attacked with a knife. Investigators determined that she had suffered numerous stab wounds, particularly around her neck, and evidence also indicated that she had been strangled. After killing Franklin, Chadd ransacked the house and fled. Her body was discovered on July 27. San Diego homicide investigators found a partial fingerprint at the scene, but at the time they had no suspect with whom they could compare it. Interviews with Franklin's friends and coworkers produced no obvious motive or attacker, and the case remained unsolved for several years. The Franklin homicide would later become important after investigators began examining similarities between her death and the 1978 murder of Linda Hewitt. Once Chadd became a suspect, investigators were eventually able to connect him to Franklin's killing, and Chadd provided a detailed confession describing how he had selected her residence while searching for a place to burglarize.

The Murder of Delmar Bright

After Franklin's murder, Chadd moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. There he found employment in the restaurant industry and eventually became acquainted with Delmar Bright, who worked in the hotel industry. On August 7, 1975, Chadd and Bright went to Bright's apartment in Las Vegas. Chadd later described a situation in which Bright offered him money to pose nude. Once inside the apartment, Bright was restrained with electrical cords. Chadd turned the encounter into a killing, using a knife and a cord around Bright's neck. Bright's throat was cut and he was strangled. Chadd attempted to remove evidence from the apartment before leaving. The murder initially became associated with another violent offender, and authorities did not immediately recognize Chadd as Bright's killer. It was only after Chadd was arrested in connection with crimes in California that he confessed to Bright's murder and provided investigators with details of what had happened inside the Las Vegas apartment. The Bright case demonstrated that Chadd's violence was not limited to female victims or to California. Nevada ultimately prosecuted Chadd for Bright's death, giving him another life sentence in addition to the punishment he received for the California murders. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Patricia Franklin Age: (30), Date of Death: July 27, 1974

Billy Lee Chadd - Wikipedia