Douglas Edward Gretzler: The 1973 Murder Spree Across Arizona and California
Background
Douglas Edward Gretzler was an American serial killer whose brief but extraordinarily violent crime spree took place in Arizona and California during the autumn of 1973. Born on May 21, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, Gretzler had drifted west after leaving his wife and young daughter. In Colorado he became acquainted with Willie Luther Steelman, an older ex-convict with a lengthy history of criminal behavior. The two men formed a partnership centered on robbery, drugs, kidnapping, and increasingly serious violence.
Between October and November 1973, Gretzler and Steelman were responsible for seventeen murders. The killings occurred in a period of only about three weeks and frequently followed robberies or kidnappings. A recurring motive was the elimination of people who could identify the pair or connect them with earlier crimes. Their victims ranged from hitchhikers and acquaintances to an Arizona married couple and, finally, nine people held hostage in a California home.
The First Murders
On October 17, 1973, Gretzler and Steelman kidnapped Kenneth Francis Unrein and Michael Raymond Adshade in Arizona and forced them into Unrein's Volkswagen van. The captives were driven west into California. By the following day, the group had reached the vicinity of Knights Ferry in Stanislaus County. Near Littlejohn Creek, Unrein and Adshade were taken from the vehicle, bound, and initially led to believe that their abductors intended merely to leave them behind. Instead, Gretzler and Steelman returned and killed both men by strangling and stabbing them. Their bodies were hidden beneath vegetation near the creek. The detailed chronology places their deaths on October 18, 1973.
The Murder of Steven Loughran
While returning toward Arizona, Gretzler and Steelman encountered 18-year-old Steven Allan Loughran, a hitchhiker they picked up near Monterey Bay in California. Loughran traveled with them to Arizona and spent time with the men at the home of Robert Robbins and Katherine Mestites. On October 23, Steelman became involved in a confrontation with Loughran. Later that day, Gretzler and Steelman drove him to an isolated gully near the Superstition Mountains. Loughran was ordered into a sleeping bag and was shot in the head. His body was abandoned in the remote desert area.
Robert Robbins and Katherine Mestites
Gretzler and Steelman feared that Robert Robbins and his companion Katherine Mestites could connect them with the disappearance of Unrein and Adshade. On October 24, 1973, while Mestites was away from the trailer where the couple lived in the Apache Junction area, Gretzler attacked Robbins from behind with an electrical cord. Robbins was strangled and then shot in the head. His body was concealed beneath a mattress.
The following evening, October 25, Mestites returned to the residence. She was told that Robbins had gone away temporarily. Later, while she was kneeling at a small private altar, Steelman shot her in the head from behind. The bodies of Robbins and Mestites were discovered on October 28. Mestites is also identified in records as Yafah Hacohen.
The Killing of Gilbert Sierra
After leaving the Phoenix and Apache Junction area, Gretzler and Steelman traveled to Tucson. Late on November 1, 1973, they encountered 19-year-old Gilbert Rodriguez Sierra, who was driving a Dodge Charger. Sierra was forced from the driver's position at gunpoint and eventually confined in the trunk of his own automobile. The men drove toward the desert near Gates Pass outside Tucson.
In the early hours of November 2, Sierra was removed from the trunk and forced to kneel. Steelman's gun initially misfired. When Sierra attempted to escape, he was shot in the back and fell into a ravine. Steelman followed him and fired additional shots at close range, killing him. Sierra's body was found approximately twelve hours later.
The Michael and Patricia Sandberg Murders
On November 3, 1973, Gretzler and Steelman kidnapped Tucson student Vincent Armstrong after he stopped his car to give them a ride. Armstrong managed to escape by throwing himself from his moving vehicle and running for help. Gretzler and Steelman continued in the stolen car until they noticed Michael Bruce Sandberg outside the Villa Paraiso condominium complex in Tucson.
Sandberg was forced at gunpoint into his home, where his wife, Patricia May Sandberg, was present. The couple was held captive while Gretzler and Steelman changed clothes, altered their appearances, and searched the residence. Michael and Patricia were eventually bound. Gretzler shot Michael Sandberg in the head. Patricia was also shot in the head, after which Steelman fired additional shots and struck her to ensure that she was dead. The killers stole the Sandbergs' money, credit cards, checks, camera, clothing, and automobile. Gretzler was later convicted in Arizona of both Sandberg murders, and these convictions ultimately resulted in his death sentences.
The Victor Massacre
Gretzler and Steelman then returned to northern California. Steelman knew Walter and Joanne Parkin, who owned a small market in Victor, near Lodi in San Joaquin County, and believed that the family had access to a substantial amount of cash. On the evening of November 6, the two men entered the Parkin home on Orchard Road. The Parkins were initially away bowling, while their children were being watched by neighbor Debra Earl and her younger brother Richard Earl Jr.
As the evening continued, additional people arrived and were taken hostage, including Debra's parents, Richard and Wanda Earl, and her fiancé, Mark Lang. Walter and Joanne Parkin returned home later that night and were also seized. Walter was forced to accompany Steelman to the family's market and open a safe containing several thousand dollars. After they returned to the house, Gretzler and Steelman decided that the hostages could not be allowed to identify them.
During the early hours of November 7, 1973, the Parkins' two children, Lisa and Robert, were shot while in the master bedroom. The seven remaining hostages had been bound and confined together in a walk-in closet. Gretzler opened fire on them, shooting Walter and Joanne Parkin, members of the Earl family, and Mark Lang. Steelman also fired into the victims. All nine people in the home were killed. Gretzler and Steelman departed at approximately 1:20 a.m. The bodies were discovered later that morning.
Verified Victims, Dates, and Locations
- Kenneth Francis Unrein — October 18, 1973 — near Littlejohn Creek, Knights Ferry, Stanislaus County, California.
- Michael Raymond Adshade — October 18, 1973 — near Littlejohn Creek, Knights Ferry, Stanislaus County, California.
- Steven Allan Loughran — October 23, 1973 — isolated gully near the Superstition Mountains, Arizona.
- Robert G. Robbins — October 24, 1973 — trailer residence in the Apache Junction area, Arizona.
- Katherine M. Mestites, also known as Yafah Hacohen — October 25, 1973 — trailer residence in the Apache Junction area, Arizona.
- Gilbert Rodriguez Sierra — November 2, 1973 — desert canyon near Gates Pass, Tucson, Arizona.
- Michael Bruce Sandberg — November 3, 1973 — Villa Paraiso condominium complex, Tucson, Arizona.
- Patricia May Sandberg — November 3, 1973 — Villa Paraiso condominium complex, Tucson, Arizona.
- Walter George Parkin — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Joanne Carol Bettger Parkin — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Lisa Diane Parkin — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Robert Allen Parkin — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Richard Allen Earl Sr. — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Wanda Jean Cummings Earl — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Debra Jean Earl — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Richard Allen Earl Jr. — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
- Mark Allen Lang — November 7, 1973 — Parkin residence on Orchard Road, Victor area, San Joaquin County, California.
Arrest and Confessions
The discovery of the nine victims in California triggered an intensive manhunt. Investigators quickly connected the stolen Sandberg automobile and other evidence to Gretzler and Steelman. On November 8, 1973, police located the pair in Sacramento. Gretzler was arrested at the Clunie Hotel at approximately 10:04 a.m. Steelman was arrested later that morning following a police confrontation at another residence.
Evidence recovered after the arrests connected the men to crimes in both states. Investigators found stolen property, identification documents, checks, ammunition, and a revolver linked to multiple killings. Gretzler also confessed to the murders of Michael and Patricia Sandberg. The investigation ultimately established a trail of seventeen murder victims stretching from California to Arizona and back to California.
Convictions, Death Sentence, and Execution
In California, Gretzler pleaded guilty in June 1974 to nine counts of first-degree murder for the killings at the Parkin residence. He received nine concurrent life sentences. He was later extradited to Arizona, where he was tried for the kidnapping of Vincent Armstrong and the murders of Michael and Patricia Sandberg. A jury convicted him, and Arizona courts sentenced him to death for the two murders.
Gretzler remained on Arizona's death row for more than two decades while his case moved through repeated appeals and resentencing proceedings. His accomplice Willie Steelman also received death sentences in Arizona but died in prison in 1986 before he could be executed. Douglas Edward Gretzler remained under sentence of death until June 3, 1998, when the State of Arizona executed him by lethal injection. He was 47 years old.
Legacy of the Case
The Gretzler-Steelman killings remain notable for the extraordinary concentration of violence into such a short period. Their victims included strangers who offered them transportation, acquaintances considered possible witnesses, a married couple whose home and property they wanted to steal, and two neighboring California families caught in a planned robbery. Gretzler was formally convicted of eleven murders, although investigators attributed seventeen killings to the pair. The November 7 massacre near Victor was particularly devastating: nine people, including two children, were killed in a single residence only hours before Gretzler and Steelman were captured. Their arrests brought to an end a murder spree that had crossed two states and left seventeen people dead between October 18 and November 7, 1973.
