Opinion ID: 2594806
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Spadoni-Petersen Murders

Text: Robert Galindau was a friend of Carol Spadoni and Eva Petersen. He and the two women met for coffee and doughnuts three times a week at a doughnut shop. On April 24, 1991, after not having heard from the women for several days, Galindau telephoned them. Two days later, on April 26, he drove to their house on Sanchez Street. He noticed there were three or four days' of newspapers in the yard and a couple of packages on the hood of one of the two cars parked in the driveway. He went around back and saw a cage containing cats. The cats had no food or water and did not look well. Believing something was wrong, Galindau notified police. Burlingame Police Officer Frank Pickens arrived at the house around 7:20 a.m. There were newspapers and packages piled outside the house and he heard dogs barking inside. He received no response when he knocked at the front door. He searched the house for signs of forced entry, but found none. He did, however, discover that a side door to the garage was unlocked. He entered the garage and saw that the door from the garage into the kitchen was open. The body of an elderly woman was lying on her back on the floor of the garage with her feet facing toward the kitchen. There was a gag in her mouth with what appeared to be a gunshot through it. Pickens and another officer entered the house together and found the body of a second woman who, like the first woman, had been gagged. The first body found was that of Eva Petersen. A towel had been folded over and pushed into her mouth and a bullet had been shot through the towel. Petersen was naked from her waist down; her sweat shirt and brassiere had been pulled up above her breasts and around her neck. There was another bullet hole above her right breast and a stab wound in her neck. There were also cuts around one of her nipples and around her right eye; the cut to her nipple could have been made with a knife, and the cut to her eye may also have been made by a knife. Blood smears on the kitchen floor indicated that she had been dragged across the kitchen. The stab wound to her throat had been made while she was still alive. The cause of death was the gunshot wounds to her head and chest. The second victim was Carol Spadoni. Her body was found in the living room, dressed in a nightgown. Her nose and mouth were covered with duct tape wrapped so tightly it would have cut off her breathing except that she had been stabbed in the throat creating a functional tracheotomy. She had a bullet wound behind her right ear and three stab marks in her abdomen. Additionally, half of her right breast was sliced off, exposing a silicone implant. There were also stab wounds to her vagina, and her intestines were protruding from her anus as the result of a laceration. The cause of her death was the gunshot wound with the stab wounds and duct tape suffocation as contributing factors. Because decomposition had begun to set in, the pathologist who examined the bodies could not determine if any sexual assault had occurred. A journal found on the kitchen table showed a final entry dated April 23, 1991. Envelopes addressed to the victims from defendant were found on the kitchen table and a letter addressed to Mrs. Carol Jablonski from defendant was found in a bedroom. A computer check revealed that defendant had received a traffic citation in Burlingame on the afternoon of April 23 for failing to yield the right-of-way. The officer who initiated the stop observed no signs of intoxication or nervousness during his brief encounter with defendant. Police obtained a search warrant for Eva Petersen's bank records and discovered a check for $200 written to defendant and signed by Petersen. The signature on the check did not match Petersen's signature on her bank signature card. A teller at the bank in Millbrae where the check was cashed later identified defendant as the person who had cashed it on the afternoon of April 23. In addition to cashing the check, defendant also withdrew $500 from his own savings account. Defendant was arrested in Kansas on April 28, 1991. In his wallet, police found $710, a $90 check drawn on Eva Petersen's bank account and credit cards in her name. A small address book was also found in defendant's wallet. It contained the names, address, and dates of birth of Eva Petersen and Carol Spadoni. Beneath each name were the words Death, April 23rd, 1991. The dates of the murders had not yet been made public. A search of defendant's car revealed a loaded .22-caliber revolver beneath the driver's side seat, and a box of .22-caliber cartridges in the ashtray. Bullets removed from Eva Petersen's body matched the bullets in the revolver. The bullet recovered from Carol Spadoni's brain matched the rifling characteristics of the revolver, but the bullet was too damaged for a conclusive finding. Duct tape found in the vehicle was consistent with the duct tape used on Spadoni. Also recovered from defendant's car were homemade wire handcuffs and an electric taser. Police also found a knife sheath from which the knife was missing; the sheath tested presumptively positive for blood. A black leather belt was also recovered. On the back of the belt the names Carol Jablonski 4-23-1991, Burlingame, California and Eva Petersen 4-23-1991, Burlingame, California were written in ink. A handwriting expert determined that the writing on the belt was defendant's, as was the writing in the address book found in his wallet. Blue pants found in a travel bag were stained with semen and human blood. Also found in defendant's vehicle was a tape recording in his voice in which he described arriving at the victims' residence, killing them, and sexually assaulting Eva Petersen. In the tape, defendant described shooting Spadoni through the brain, tying duct tape around her mouth and nose, stabbing her in the throat, slicing open her breast and stabbing her ass and pussy. He also described shooting Petersen, fondling her breasts, sodomizing her, having sexual intercourse with her, and attempting to take her eyes out. He also described stabbing her in her throat, and in her stomach, ass and pussy. After he killed the women, defendant described moving their bodies, eating, showering, and shooting Petersen through a towel he had placed in her mouth.