SIMI VALLEY : Secretary’s Slaying Remains a Mystery

Despite a weeklong investigation, Simi Valley police say they still lack both a motive and a suspect in the mysterious slaying of a local legal secretary.

Dorothy May Brinkley, known by her friends and family as Dee-Dee, was found slumped over in the front seat of her car shortly after 3:15 p.m. Jan. 15.

The 44-year-old Cole Avenue resident died of blunt and sharp injuries to her head and neck, the Ventura County coroner’s office said.

Police have not disclosed the type of weapon used in the killing nor have they established whether Brinkley was slain in the parking lot of Valley Federal Savings, 2390 Tapo St., or brought there afterward, Sgt. Jim Payne said.

Detectives believe, however, that she was killed between midnight and the early morning hours of Jan. 15, he said.

Last seen alive on Jan. 14, Brinkley left her job as a legal secretary on Winifred Street about 6 p.m., detectives said. For the past month, Brinkley had been looking for an apartment to rent, and, when she left work, Brinkley drove her silver and white 1988 Mercury Cougar to Workman Avenue to look at an apartment, detectives said.

Little is known about her activity after that visit except that her body was found less than a quarter of a mile away almost 24 hours later, they said.

Neighbors of the victim, who lived in the 3300 block of Cole Avenue, an unincorporated area north of the city, described her and her family as quiet but friendly. Brinkley lived at home with her husband, Herbert, and her 23-year-old son, Chris Ladriene. Herbert Brinkley has declined to comment on his wife’s death.