Fernando Velazco Cota

Case identification

Fernando Velazco Cota

Timeline

• October 14, 1984 — Two officers of the California Highway Patrol noticed a white van around 8:00 p.m. on Highway 101, about fifteen miles north of San Jose; the driver shot himself after a traffic stop.
• September 10, 1984 — Co-ed Kelly Ralston, 21, was stabbed to death by an intruder in her San Jose apartment.
• September 11, 1984 — Housewife Gwendolyn Hoffman, 57, disappeared from her home in Campbell; on September 13 her strangled body was recovered from the trunk of her own car, two miles from her home.
• September 13, 1984 — The strangled body of Gwendolyn Hoffman, 57, was recovered from the trunk of her own car, two miles from her home.
• September 15, 1984 — Tania Zack disappeared when her car ran out of gas near Los Gatos; her body was recovered on October 5.
• September 26, 1984 — Lori Miller, 20, was reported missing by her live-in boyfriend after he came home from work to find their phone off the hook, eggs burning on the stove, and the smoke alarm buzzing in an empty house.
• September 30, 1984 — A group of children reported rancid odors emanating from an empty house within two blocks of Lori Miller’s home.
• October 5, 1984 — The body of Tania Zack was recovered, discarded in a roadside ditch.
• October 6, 1984 — Lori Miller’s corpse was found in a ravine a few miles south of San Jose.
• October 17, 1984 — The New York Times reported that investigators searched Fernando Velazco Cota’s apartment and turned up evidence indicating he may have killed as many as six women.
• 1975 — Fernando Cota received a rape conviction from El Paso, Texas; he attacked a nurse and two days later mailed a note reading: "Sorry about the argument we had. Still loving you."
• September 1983 — Parole released Fernando Cota from prison after serving eight years of a twenty-year sentence.
• May 1984 — A young woman and her daughter moved in with Fernando Cota; they soon departed, citing his behavior as "too weird."
• Two weeks earlier — Teresa Sunder, 29, was first reported missing.

The offence and discovered victims

The incident began as a traffic stop on Highway 101. Two officers of the California Highway Patrol noticed a white van weaving erratically in the fast lane of Highway 101 around 8:00 p.m. on October 14, 1984, about fifteen miles north of San Jose. They stopped the van and moved in on foot after leaving their cruiser.

When the officers asked to look inside the van, Fernando Cota erupted from the driver’s seat with a pistol in his hand. He shouted:

"Kill me! Kill me! I'm very sick. If you don't kill me, I'll kill myself!"

He then jammed the barrel of his gun inside his open mouth and fired a single shot, producing almost instant death.

Inside the van, a wooden box resembling a coffin held the body of a young, dead woman. The woman was nude except for panties and a pair of stockings, and chains and rope secured her hands. She had been raped and strangled. The woman was identified as Kim Dunham, 21, who had been reported missing one day earlier.

Subsequent investigation linked Cota to additional sex-related murders through a common thread identified by local homicide investigators reviewing other open cases.

• Kelly Ralston, 21 — Kelly Ralston was stabbed to death by an intruder in her San Jose apartment on September 10.
• Gwendolyn Hoffman, 57 — Gwendolyn Hoffman disappeared from her home in Campbell on September 11; on September 13 her strangled body was recovered from the trunk of her own car, two miles from her home.
• Tania Zack — Tania Zack disappeared on September 15 when her car ran out of gas near Los Gatos; her body was recovered on October 5, discarded in a roadside ditch. She had been raped and bludgeoned, and rope burns on her wrists suggested she was held alive for some time after her abduction.
• Lori Miller, 20 — Lori Miller was the manager of a cafe in San Jose. She was reported missing by her live-in boyfriend on September 26, after he returned home from work to find their phone off the hook, eggs burning on the stove, and the smoke alarm buzzing in an empty house. That afternoon, the boyfriend told detectives that someone posing as a plumber had come knocking at their door; Lori learned that her landlord had no knowledge of the visit and told the man to leave. Lori’s semi-naked corpse was found October 6 in a ravine a few miles south of San Jose. She had been bound and tortured, strangled, and raped.
• Joan Leslie, 28 — Joan Leslie, 28, a transient, was stabbed to death; her corpse was recovered in a subdivision near Aptos, fifteen miles due south of San Jose.
• Teresa Sunder, 29 — In San Jose itself, on September 30, children reported rancid odors emanating from an empty house within two blocks of Lori Miller’s home. Police discovered the remains of Teresa Sunder, 29, who had been first reported missing two weeks earlier. She had been raped and beaten brutally by her assailant.

The narrative also described that Cota was definitely linked with only one of eight crimes in a five-week murder rampage, but detectives remained convinced that, by proximity of time and place, he was responsible for all the homicides in question.

Investigation and related evidence

After Cota’s death, investigators conducted searches that supported the possibility of involvement in multiple unsolved homicide cases. A lieutenant, Don Trujillo, was cited describing evidence from Cota’s apartment.

A prepared statement by Lieutenant Don Trujillo included:

"Crime scene technicians discovered a closet that was apparently used to hold kidnap victims."
"There were metal brackets secured to the floor that were used with chains and manacles."

Investigators also found bogus identifications, a false badge, and other evidence they thought could link Cota with several unsolved homicide cases.

Arrest and death

There was no arrest made because Fernando Cota died during the encounter with officers.

When state highway patrolmen confronted him, he told them:

"I'm a very sick man, kill me. If you don't kill me, I'll kill myself."

After being stopped, he shot himself with a pistol inside his open mouth.

Prior history and background details

An examination of Fernando Cota’s record showed a rape conviction from El Paso, Texas, during 1975. The record indicated that Cota attacked a nurse and, two days later, mailed a note that read:

"Sorry about the argument we had. Still loving you."

The "argument" resulted in a twenty-year prison sentence, of which he served eight years. Parole released him in September 1983.

Cota’s wife left him, with their children, while he served the prison term. After release he moved to California, settling in San Jose.

In May 1984, a young woman and her daughter moved in with Cota, but they soon departed, citing his behavior as "too weird."

Other details

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans Six San Jose Slayings Are Linked to Dead Man The New York Times October 17, 1984 reported that a man killed himself on a freeway just before police found a woman’s body in his van, and that officers who searched his apartment said they turned up evidence that indicated he may have killed as many as six women. The report stated that investigators searched Fernando Velazco Cota’s apartment and found evidence suggesting possible involvement in the slayings of five San Jose area women over the past seven weeks in addition to the death of Kim Marie Dunham, 21, whose body was found in his van.

The New York Times passage also described Fernando Cota as 38 years old and referenced a prepared statement by Lieut. Don Trujillo. It also described the possibility of a closet used to hold kidnap victims and the presence of metal brackets secured to the floor used with chains and manacles. The report also said police were investigating the possibility that Cota could be involved in the slayings of five San Jose area women over the past seven weeks.