James Richard Curry

Serial Killer

James Richard Curry: A Detailed Account of His Crimes

Early Life and Background

James Richard Curry was born on November 16, 1946, in Bexar County, Texas. Little is known about his early life. He was the illegitimate son of a man and woman from Dallas who had an affair, with only his mother deciding to raise him under a different name. In the late 1960s to early 1970s, he was arrested for robbery and assault and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment at the Huntsville Unit, where he remained until his release in 1977. After his release, Curry moved to California, settling in the small community of Waukena, where he found employment in a locksmithing company.

Confirmed Victims

• James DeWitt Robinson (40): Disappeared in 1978 in Waukena, California. Robinson was a fellow locksmith who had received a $10,000 settlement from a personal injury lawsuit and had property dealings in Tulare. He vanished without a trace and has still not been found to this day, but since he was not reported missing at the time, his disappearance was not investigated by the authorities.
• Richard Lemmon Jr. (38): Murdered on February 17, 1982, in Santa Clara, California. Lemmon, a Bakersfield native, had stored his two motorcycles, a truck, and other belongings in one of Curry's storage lockers. The men developed a cordial relationship, but sometime around early 1982, Curry had a falling out with him and decided to kill him. He lured Lemmon to the storage locker and shot him once in the head with a .38 revolver. After killing him, he stuffed his body in a wooden crate, sealed it, and left it in the storage locker. Curry would later give Lemmon's motorcycle to one of his sons.
• Mary Edith Silvani (33): Murdered on July 17, 1982, near Lake Tahoe in Washoe County, Nevada. Silvani was sexually assaulted and then killed by shooting her in the back of the head. Her body was found along the Sheep's Flat hiking trail near Incline Village. Due to the lack of identification, she remained a Jane Doe for 37 years until DNA analysis and genetic genealogy identified her in 2019.
• Gerald Novoselatz (39): Murdered on January 2, 1983, in San Jose, California. Novoselatz, along with his wife Sharon, owned a rival self-storage facility. Curry had a dispute with them stemming from a 1981 Christmas party, when he alleged that a drunken Gerald was being rude and obnoxious and that he had criticized his business. Curry went to the Novoselatzes' apartment in San Jose, as Gerald wanted to purchase a .45 revolver from him. When he began inquiring on how to handle the weapon, Curry took it, aimed it at Gerald, and shot him once in the head, killing him on the spot.
• Sharon Novoselatz (34): Murdered on January 2, 1983, near Crystal Springs Reservoir, California. After killing Gerald, Curry stole $400 from the apartment, raped Sharon, and forced her into his yellow Lincoln Continental, from where he planned to drive to the San Francisco International Airport and put her on a random plane. On the way, Curry stopped the car along State Route 92 to relieve himself. At that time, Sharon attempted to run away but was chased down by Curry. After he captured her, he proceeded to sexually assault and then shoot her in the head, leaving her body near the Crystal Springs Reservoir.

Arrest and Suicide

Two days after the murders of the Novoselatzes, Curry was arrested on suspicion of killing them after voluntarily appearing for questioning. While he was being interrogated at the Santa Clara County Jail, authorities obtained a search warrant for Curry's self-storage unit, where they found Lemmon's decomposing body stuffed in the crate. When queried, he confessed to the three murders to Det. Sgt. Robert Morse, after which he asked Morse to shoot him. On January 6, 1983, while incarcerated at the Santa Clara County Jail awaiting further charges, Curry made a makeshift noose from a mattress cover and attempted to hang himself. A prison volunteer distributing books to the inmates found him and quickly reported it to the commanding officer, who attempted to resuscitate him without success. Curry was then taken to the San Jose Hospital and placed in the intensive care unit, where he was kept on life support and under constant surveillance. On January 7, doctors at the San Jose Hospital decided to disconnect Curry's life support after determining that his vital signs were too faint for any sort of recovery. He was pronounced dead at 7:30 PM, with his cause of death ruled as suicide by hanging. ...Read More

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Richard Lemmon, Jr. Age: (37), Date of Death: February 18, 1982

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Suspected Victims:

James DeWitt Robinson Age: (40), Date of Death: 1978

James Richard Curry - Wikipedia

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