‘Be Our Eyes’ : Monterey Park Police Ask Help to End Wave of Violence

Their neighbors--right there in Monterey Park and across the San Gabriel Valley--were being beaten, raped or murdered, and about 650 anxious residents met with Monterey Park police to find out what was going on and what they could do about it.

Police had called the Thursday night emergency meeting of what they thought would be no more than 300 Neighborhood Watch captains and other residents, but without a scrap of publicity, Monterey Park’s City Council chambers were jammed with worried people.

“Be our eyes out there,” police asked the crowd, distributing a composite drawing and description of the man wanted in the latest murder, that of 61-year-old Joyce Nelson, dead of head injuries in flicted early Sunday morning by an intruder in her Monterey Park home.

And the shocker of the evening was the news of another victim, a 65-year-old Monterey Park woman raped in her home shortly after the Nelson murder.

All told, within the last eight weeks, four people have been murdered--two women in Arcadia, a man and a woman in Monterey Park--and four other women beaten or raped, from a 16-year-old girl in Sierra Madre to two octogenarian sisters in Monrovia.

And the alarmed citizens pressed police for some idea of what is going on.

“We can’t specifically connect the crimes,” said Police Chief Jon Elder, “but at this point we believe we are looking for one suspect.”

The Sheriff’s Department is assisting local law enforcement officials in seeking possible links among the crimes. Lt. Joe Santoro reminded the audience, “This is not something happening only in Monterey Park; it is taking place in the west San Gabriel Valley,” and “there are several hundred police officers working on the case.”

There has been considerable cause for concern.

On May 14, William Doi, 65, was murdered and his wife was raped after a burglar entered their Monterey Park home. In Arcadia, Patty Elaine Higgins, 32, was murdered June 28 and Mary Cannon, 77, was murdered July 2. Both women, like Nelson, lived alone and were slain during the early morning hours.

Also under investigation is a July 5 attack on a 16-year-old girl in her Sierra Madre home and the June 2 assault on two sisters, Mabel Bell, 84, and Nettie Lang, 81, in their Monrovia home.

The man being sought by Monterey Park police, according to the flyer, is a Caucasian, age 25 to 30, about 6 feet tall, weighing 160 pounds, with curly brown hair.

Motivated by Power

He is unusual for a burglar, police said, operating at night, looking for confrontation, for excitement, motivated by power over his victims. And he is a killer.

Police believe that he drives into a neighborhood and then checks out houses on foot for potential victims. They theorize that Joyce Nelson fell asleep while watching television, heard a noise, got up and confronted the man, who killed her and ransacked her home (other homes have been ransacked as well, but no inventory of stolen items, if any, has been available).

“If you are in the habit of watching television late at night,” Santoro said, “keep the drapes closed so no one can see inside. Otherwise you are an easy target. Lock all your windows, even though the weather is hot.”

And if you hear something, Santoro says, call police.

‘Didn’t Think Anything’

In the Nelson murder, he said, investigators “went out and interviewed the neighbors, looking for any potential witnesses who might have heard something in the night. We found three neighbors who had all heard something suspicious at 3 a.m. and all said, ‘I didn’t think anything about it.’

“One said he heard rustling in the bushes and a dog barking. The second, who was sitting in front of his house, said he heard a scream. And the third said he heard a noise and the sound of a speeding car. We don’t know if that was the suspect, but in just this one instance three people could have called us that night.”

Victim William Doi, who had been shot, managed to telephone the emergency number 911 before losing consciousness and dropping the phone. His call, which automatically flashed his address on the emergency dispatcher’s screen even though Doi was dying, may have saved his wife’s life.

“Learn how to dial 911 in the dark,” Santoro told the audience. “Practice until you can do it. Your address will come up on a screen at the police department and you don’t have to say a word. Mr. Doi dialed 911 and he was unable to speak, but he left the receiver off the hook.

“The reason you have to learn to dial in the dark is because this fellow is attacking at night, breaking into homes when it is dark. So you must dial quickly and quietly.”

Several Unmarked Cars

Police manpower has been doubled and several unmarked cars are patrolling neighborhood streets at night--something that police say has cut response time from three minutes to one.

But, Chief Elder said, “it will take a combination of police and citizen efforts to break the case. Help us and be our eyes out there.”

It is advice that the city’s 180 Neighborhood Watch block captains plan to take back to their neighborhoods.

Arcadia’s two murders have caused concern there also, but police plan no formal meetings, although crime prevention officer Don Alcorn said he will be available to speak if requested.

Alcorn said he has been inundated with phone calls since the murders.

“Most of our calls are from middle-aged women living alone, and they are scared to death,” he said. “My advice is to secure the house, get to know the neighbors, have a plan of action if someone comes into the house and then don’t worry about it.”

Arcadia’s, like most police departments, will check people’s homes and advise them on how to make them more secure.

And residents should always phone “if they see anything suspicious, even if it seems trivial,” officers said. “No matter how hot it is, if people leave their windows open at night, they are inviting someone to come into the house.”