Shoreline Mystery Solved after 33 Years

Updated 12/22/2007

On Friday 12/21 a man was charged in a 33-year-old murder:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/344494_coldcase22.html

This morning the Seattle Times posted a follow up on the case with more information, and we'll probably see more. King County Sherriff's department had a whole series of detectives assigned to this case over the last three decades, and they finally cracked it. I love cold case investigations, especially ones like this that are so old. When I read the original headline in the P-I - Man charged in 33-year-old slaying case - I thought, "cool...another DNA test has found a killer." But this was different as soon as I started reading the article; there's more to the story here...

Why did she look familiar to me? Something about the picture really caught my attention, like I had seen it before. Then I read that the murder had occurred in unincorporated King County - now Shoreline - in 1975, and I gasped.

She looked familiar because she had gone to school with my oldest sister, and her memorial picture was on the back page of Jan's 1974-75 Shoreline High School annual.

The memory of this case rushed back to me like a tidal wave. It was a picture that I had looked at time and time again, with an 11-year old mind trying to understand why someone this pretty had died. One look at the picture today and I was in 5th grade all over. I remember feeling sadness and confusion back then, listening to Jim Croce and looking through Jan's annual - lingering long on the picture of Diana Peterson. I guess I didn't really know why at the time, and I now find it interesting that over three decades later I still remembered once I saw the picture.

After I read the article I called Jan. "Do you have your annuals handy?" She did. "Do you remember someone in your class being killed?" She didn't, but started looking through her annuals - only to find Diana Peterson's picture in one of them. Jan was just as shocked about the incident as me, and just as relieved that the crime appears to be solved. While talking to Jan about it, I actually started getting choked up. 33 years later, and I still had feelings about it inside. The Peterson family also has a huge sense of relief now that they know something has broken free in the case.

Kudos to the King County Sherriff's office for their determined work over the years. Rest In Peace, Diana.

Clark Neighbor Web Marshall Passes Away

Today at 11am we lost our neighborhood's only surviving World War II veteran - Web Marshall - to complications of Parkinson's, Diabetes, and Alzheimer's. He was 80.

Sherry remembers him as a lively and humorous man when she was growing up, always helpful and filled with jokes and cool stickers for the kid bikes in the neighborhood. He is credited for cutting down one of the most irritating trees in our backyard in the 1970s (I wasn't around then). Web was retired all the time I knew him; he always waved and asked, "How you doin?" anytime I was around.

His wife Jan gave him everything he needed in later life, including the care necessary to address the multiple issues that hit him. It was a huge struggle for her, but we have tremendous respect for Jan in her efforts to make Webbie's life a bit more comfortable.

May you Rest In Peace, Mister Marshall. It's been an honor knowing you.

Bumps to Blanket: Regrading Seattle

I happened across this Wikipedia article about the Regrading projects in Seattle during its early history. Being a huge history nut, it was great to see something like this posted on the Internet for the world to see. What I didn't realize was that there were many many more than just the "Denny Regrade" project I had heard about for years. Executive Overview: Seattle cuts the top off high places and puts the dirt in low places to create more land. Try that today! EPA and Activists will be all over you like history professors on the dollar rack at the used book store...

As a young boy living in Preston I lived next to the elderly Charlie Erickson, whose family was instrumental in the regrade project. I wish I could have remembered more of Charlie than what he fed me after Kindergarten in 1969-70. My parents, and a book written by his daughter, indicate that he was quite a character. He was also one of the best logging road designers in the Northwest, and could out-hike both my sisters...even in his eighties.

So in a sense at 6 years old I had a brush with Seattle history, one that fed me Spaghetti-Os.

Airfield-Beacon Christmas Lights - Part II

Christmas lights and Disco? Yeah baby...

Mobile Moment - Airfield-Beacon Christmas Lights

News Flash: You've been outdone this Christmas! The two houses in these marginal camera phone pix shine bright enough to route air traffic. The FAA should probably issue them call signs. Both houses can be seen near the athletic field at Lake Washington High School. One of them was decorated in one obvious color - Retina-Searing Blue. The other one not only had lights, but incorporated every 3D plastic display mannequin in existence:

If you're in the Rose Hill area of Kirkland, drive by and decide for yourself. If you're not anywhere close to that, be thankful and know that from afar you've been outdone. BTW - Sherry and I both love that these folks went to the trouble. It was quite a site!

Enjoy! KDC