True Crime On This Day January 7th

Last Updated on September 20, 2022 by Ben Oakley

January 7th

On January 7th in true crime, murder in Washington, war, murder in Kentucky, killed in the line of duty and robbery in Arizona.

1978

21-year-old Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin was brutally killed after a night out with family and friends.

When her boyfriend returned to her apartment, he found Deana in bed with a macramé belt around her neck and blood on her chest.

She had been stabbed three times and had male DNA on her underwear, but police couldn’t connect it to anyone at the time.

23 years later in a cold case review, investigators matched the DNA to Clarence Wayne Dixon.

Dixon was already serving a life sentence in prison for a 1986 sexual assault and had lived opposite Deana’s apartment at the time of the murder.

In November 2007, almost 30 years later, Dixon was sentenced to death for the murder.

1979

During the Cambodia Vietnam War, the Vietnamese captured the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It marked the beginning of a decade long Vietnamese occupation of the city and the country.

The Cambodian Khmer Rouge continued to be recognised by Western powers as the legitimate government of the country.

In 1989, the Vietnamese finally left the city after international and economic pressure.

1980

In Tacoma, Washington, 12-year-old Carla Wright vanished on the walk to school. Her mother was unable to take her to school due to medication and an early doctor’s appointment on the other side of town.

Carla had taken a shortcut to Gray Junior School but never reached her destination. 12 days later, Carla’s body was found near the trail she had taken.

She had been raped and strangled to death. Despite links to child killer David Fischer, no suspect has ever been arrested. Her murder remains a cold case to this day.

1981

In Jefferson County, Kentucky, 17-year-old Kevin Miguel Stanford shot dead service station attendant, 20-year-old Barebel Poore, during a robbery.

He had gone to the Checker gasoline station with the intention of robbing it but he ended up dragging Poore to the restroom where he brutally raped and beat her. He kidnapped her and threw her in his vehicle, along with stolen cigarettes and a small amount of cash.

He drove Poore to a remote location in the woods where he shot her in the face and back of the head. Despite being a juvenile at the time of his arrest, Stanford was sentenced to death.

After an appeal in 2003, the death sentence was commuted to life in prison, where Stanford has remained ever since.

1982

In Pima County, Arizona, 63-year-old bank manager Kenneth Hartsock was stabbed to death during a robbery at his branch. Shortly after 8am, Walter Burnhart LaGrand and his brother Karl, entered Valley National Bank in Marana, armed with a toy gun.

They tried to force Hartsock to open the vault but he was only in receipt of half the combination. The brothers tied up Hartsock and another worker then began beating him.

Hartsock died of 24 stab wounds, caused by a letter opener. The pair were arrested the same day and both sentenced to death.

Karl was executed by asphyxiation gas on February 24^th 1999. Walter was executed by the same method in Arizona on March 3^rd  1999.

1983

In Puerto Rico, 34-year-old Police Officer Raul Maldonado Coreano was shot and killed while attending the scene of an automobile accident.

Despite being a police officer there are very few details available in Raul’s case but no suspect has ever been caught. The murder remains unsolved to this day.

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