Richard Harland Niemeier, BHS 1965

Richard Harland Niemeier, BHS 1965

Napa Valley Register, Napa, California, Saturday, February 10, 1979

Identify Slaying Victim

The murder victim found on rural Buhman Avenue in Brown Valley early Friday has been identified as Richard Harland Niemeier, 32, of Burbank.

Niemeier, a Los Angeles department store window dresser, was on vacation and had taken a flight from Burbank to San Francisco at noon Wednesday, his mother told Napa County Sheriff’s investigators. Lt. Dick Lonergan said today that Niemeier was probably killed in San Francisco’s homosexual community and dumped alongside the isolated road between Dealy Lane and Henry Road. He had been dead for only five to six hours when the body was discovered.  Niemeier’s mother told police her son was visiting a male friend in northern California while on vacation. But she said she did not know where his friend lived.

Lonergan who has been leading the investigation, said he had contacted several of the victim’s friends in San Francisco last night in an attempt to piece together his last activities. Lonergan added that Niemeier friends are helping with the investigation and none are suspects at this time. Niemeier nude body was spotted by a passing motorist about 7:15 a.m. Friday.

An autopsy report completed Friday night showed he had been shot twice in the face, once in the back of the head, and once in the small of the back. Ballistics tests on Friday showed Niemeier was not clothed when he was shot. None of the victim’s clothing or his belongings have been found.

Deputies questioned residents of the rural area and two farm workers, but no one had seen or heard anything unusual during the night or early Friday morning. Lonergan said the murder could have occurred somewhere between San Francisco and Napa, but he emphasized there was “no local connection at all.” Detectives said Niemeier was single and survived by his mother and a brother, both of Burbank.

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The Napa Valley Register, Thursday, February 22, 1979

Same Gun Used For Napa And Tehama Deaths   

Two homosexuals believed killed in San Francisco and then dumped – one in Tehama County on Feb. 5 and the other in Napa County four days later – were both shot with the same gun, Department of Justice ballistics experts confirmed today.

The nude body of Richard Niemeier, 32, of Burbank, was found on rural Buhman Avenue in the early morning of Feb. 9. The partially-clothed body of Thomas Walls Gloster, 31, of San Francisco, was found in an isolated area near Red Bluff a few mornings before. Each of the men had last been seen in the same gay bar in San Francisco the night before his death. Both had been shot repeatedly. 

Gloster had been shot six times, five times to back of the head. Niemeier had been shot four times, twice in the lower face, once in the back of head and once in the small of the back. Napa County sheriff’s detectives investigating the brutal Niemeier murder had speculated that the Niemeier slaying and the Gloster murder were connected.

Since both men frequented gay establishments, investigators concluded that they probably knew one another and may well have both run into the same murderer. Detectives further speculated that both may have been the victims of a sado-masochistic encounter which ended with death.  But until now, investigators could only speculate that the murders were connected. After the ballistics tests, they know there is a connection.

But Lt. Richard Lonergan, who is heading the probe, is still reluctant to say the same person killed both Niemeier and Gloster. “We know they were killed by the same gun,” Lonergan commented. “But we don’t know it was the same person. We can only infer that.” Lonergan would not reveal the type of weapon used in the murders but he described it as a large caliber gun. Investigators reported earlier that any one of the bullet wounds might well have killed Niemeier, lending credence to the sado-masochism theory.

“In sado-masochism the ultimate for the sadist is o kill and for the masochist, to be killed,” Lonergan noted. “And when they kill, it’s always overkill.” Lonergan said investors are continuing to interview members of the gay community in San Francisco and are working closely with detectives from Tehama County Sheriff’s department.

He said friends of the two victims have been cooperative in the investigation. As yet, detectives have no suspects in the murders. Both Niemeier and Gloster were found by passing motorist only a few hours after they had been dumped. Gloster’s hands and feet had been tied and he wore a black T-shirt.

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Napa Valley Times, Tuesday, May 8, 1979

Unsolved Murders Studied For Link To Hendricks

Authorities throughout the states of Washington, Oregon and California are comparing the evidence in about 20 unsolved murder cases this week to see if slain murderer Larry Hendricks, 33, of Tacoma, Washington, can be blamed for any of the deaths. Hendricks was killed last week in Tacoma when a would-be murder victim wrestled away a gun and shot him six times. Authorities have confirmed through ballistics that Hendricks killed Richard Niemeier, 32, of Burbank, on Feb 5, and dumped him on Buhman Avenue in Napa. 

He also killed Thomas Gloster, 30, of San Francisco, and dumped his body off Interstate 5 in Tehama County on Feb. 9, authorities have confirmed. The body of a third victim, Michael Zahnle, 22, of Tacoma, was found in the same wooded area where Army Private Toivo Redditt killed Hendricks.

Napa County Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Lonergan said today the 20 unsolved cases are similar to the Niemeier, Gloster and Zahnle deaths, in that the victims were shot to death and dumped in isolated areas.

Dead man suspected of being killer of at least 4 gay men

Law enforcement officials said today they believe they have found the killer of at least four men whose tortured and beaten bodies were found recently in Northern California and Washington. Both Northern California victims were believed to have met the killer in a San Francisco gay bar.

Undersheriff Roy Durham, of Pierce County, Washington, said the killer of the four men “and probably more” was Larry Hendricks, a 23 year-old convicted sex offender who worked as a sex counsellor at the Washington State Hospital in Tacoma. Hendricks, who was believed to have shot his victims after torturing them, was himself killed late last week by one of his intended victims, Durham said today.

Durham said Hendricks dressed in his usual black leather jacket, leather pants, black turtleneck sweater and driving a black van, picked up Toivo Redditt, 23, a soldier, who was hitchhiking in Tacoma last week. When Redditt got into the van, Hendricks drew a 38-caliber Colt revolver and handcuffed the young soldier. He placed a hood over his head and leg irons on his ankles and then drove to the outskirts of Tacoma.

When they got to a wooded area, Durham said, Hendricks drove to an open grave where he showed Redditt the corpse of another victim, later identified as Michael Zahnle, 23, of Tacoma. Hendricks then beat Redditt and burned him with a lighted cigarette, saying “If you don’t cooperate you’ll end up like that body.”

When Redditt indicted he would cooperate, Hendricks bent over to unlock the leg irons, Redditt told Durham. “I knew it was my last chance. So I kicked him in the face and hit him with everything I had. Then I grabbed his gun and shot him.” Durham said Hendricks was instantly killed. Redditt drove the van to the nearest sheriff’s station and told his story. 

Durham said he did not know how many more victims there might be but “we have two missing homosexuals from Tacoma and a dentist has mysteriously disappeared and we found his near Hendricks’ home.” The Washington officials put out an all-points bulletin late last week, describing Hendricks and his method of killing and last weekend representatives of the Napa and Tehama County sheriff’s departments flew to Tacoma.

Ballistics tests have confirmed that it was Hendricks Colt that killed Richard Harland Niemeier, 32, of Burbank, and Thomas Walls Gloster, 31, of San Francisco, whose bodies were found last February in Napa and Red Bluff. Both these men frequented the same San Francisco gay bar, deputies said, and Hendricks was known to have moved from Tacoma last November to San Francisco. He returned to his Washington home in late February, deputies said.

Both Niemeier and Gloster were bound hand and foot, shot in the head and found nude. They had both been burned with cigarettes. Durham said carpet fibers taken from Hendricks van were found on the two California victims and a black van was seen near the spot where Gloster’s  body was found alongside Highway 36, about 34 miles from Red Bluff.

Durham said his office is now getting inquiries from police departments “up and down the coast” and added he had no idea “how many more victims there might be.”

Ralph Lewis Zink aka Donald Woods, BHS 1925, Actor

Ralph Lewis Zink aka Donald Woods, BHS 1925, Actor

Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1998

Donald Woods; Prolific Actor in Movies and TV Shows

Donald Woods, 91, a prolific actor who referred to himself as the “king of the Bs.” Born Ralph L. Zink in Manitoba, Canada, he legally switched to his professional name of Donald Woods in 1945. After growing up in Burbank, California and attending UC Berkeley, Woods started out as a radio and stage actor. 

In the 40-year span of his entertainment career, he appeared in 98 plays, 150 television shows and 75 motion pictures – some B movies, some higher rated – from “Sweet Adeline” in 1934 and “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1935 to “True Grit” in 1969. He hosted two 1950s television series, “The Orchid Award” and “Hotel Cosmopolitan,” and was a series regular on “Tammy” in 1965.  

Adept particularly in whodunits and westerns, Woods was a popular guest star on television’s “Wagon Train” and “The Wild Wild West.” After he left Hollywood, Woods became a real estate agent in Palm Springs. On March 5, 1998 in Palm Springs Woods passed away of cardiopulmonary failure.

John Harold Antonucci, BHS 1966

John Harold Antonucci, BHS 1966

John Harold Antonucci, was born on September 12, 1947 and passed away June 30, 2013 in Orlando, Florida, at the age of 65. 

John grew up in Burbank, California where he and his family, including his brother, Gary who also graduated from Burbank High in 1968, and a sister, Toni Parker also Burbank High 1973. The family was living at 2854 N. Myers Street. 

John was married 3 times, first to Linda A. Kinnard 1968 to 1971, he married second to Laura R. Nau-Rini 1972 to 1974. Had a daughter, Patricia. In 1982 he married his third wife Michele E. Shults.

No other details at this time.

Tyra Ann Gucciardo, BHS 1979

Tyra Ann Gucciardo, BHS 1979

NOTE: Below is Tyra’s obituary and the 2nd article written by her best friend from childhood in 2010. 

Los Angeles Times, Friday, December 27, 1985

Tyra Ann Gucciardo, beloved daughter of Joseph and Ann Gucciardo; granddaughter of Vito Paoietta, Sr., of Glendale; sister of Traci Gucciardo of Glendale. Recitation of the Rosary Friday, December 27, 7:30 pm and Funeral Mass Saturday, 9 am, both at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church. Interment in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. Visitation from 1 to 4pm, Friday at Eckerman-Heisman Funeral Service Chapel, Burbank 818 846-2131.

Gustine Press-Standard, Gustine, California, Thursday, December 26, 2010

By Julie Rose

Remembering loved ones who enriched our lives

 Believers know this already but it has to be said again….God works in mysterious ways, as I was reminded during a special moment last weekend.

I set out to attend the Compassionate Friends candle lighting ceremony Sunday with the intent of lighting a candle in memory of my parents, whom I continue to miss dearly, especially during the holidays. Christmas has not been the same since they passed and I miss them so much that I wonder at times if something is wrong with me.

Last year I lit a candle for them and although it was difficult for me to announce their names as I received the candle from Compassionate Friends organizer Glennis Kidder, I found great comfort in the process so decided to attend again this year. But to my amazement, when it came time for me to light a candle, another person came to mind. Someone I hadn’t thought about in years but felt compelled to remember.

Glennis had opened the evening with a heartfelt invitation to those in attendance to celebrate their loved ones by sharing a little bit about who they were as people. She reminded us all that although there is a time for mourning and the void that losing someone in our lives leaves, will never be filled, it is important to honor their lives, to remember their goodness, the special traits we loved about them and to honor them that night. It is important, she said, that they never be forgotten and sharing their stories that night is one way to do so.

As I was listening to other people talk about their children, siblings and friends who had passed away at a young age, I was reminded of a dear friend who passed away suddenly at the age of 24. Tyra Gucciardo was my best friend from the first time we met in first grade. She passed away Christmas Eve 25 years ago.

She and I spent our childhoods almost attached at the hip; people thought we were sisters. We went to school together, were in Camp Fire Girls together, played on the same softball team and spent every day after school at one of our homes. We grew up together, shared our dreams and kept our secrets and celebrated our triumphs. She is a major part of most of my childhood memories. We were inseparable. When my family moved to San Jose we still stayed in touch and got together as often as we could even though we lived over 300 miles apart. 

And then one day, one awful day, I visited her for the last time. She had had a pain in her arm one day and three weeks later, on Christmas Eve 1985, God called her home, just that quickly she was gone. I was devastated and I didn’t understand how He could let that happen. I was mad at God and mad at the world for quite a while actually.   

Time passed, life went on, and eventually I came to terms with her death and my loss. Somewhere along the line, I came to realize the gift she had been in my life. How fortunate I had been to have such a wonderful friend and what a tremendous gift it was to be her friend.  

I was reminded of that gift on Sunday as I lit a candle in her memory. And since then, I have been bombarded with memories of fun times with her, like the year we got matching umbrellas and rain slickers and we tried to fly with them one very windy day. (that didn’t turn out so well, but it’s a memory that brings back a smile of innocent times.) Or the Christmas we each got the same doll from Santa Claus. I think it was called Dancerina. I just remember she had a plastic crown that you push to make her twirl. We were so excited we each got one. By the way, our parents were very good friends, too, and in constant communication.

My best friend Tyra Ann Gucciardo, was a kindhearted, gentle, fun, responsible, smart young woman that I am grateful to have shared my childhood with. She was a gift and I thank Glennis and those who attended the Compassionate Friends ceremony for reminding me.

Roger Lee Franklin,BHS 1965

Roger Lee Franklin, BHS 1965

Roger Franklin, Ukiah music and entertainment photographer, dies at 75

By Bob Calhoun, Ukiah Daily Journal, February 20, 2023

Roger Franklin enjoyed a long career with the Ukiah Unified School District, but he became known throughout Mendocino County for his photos of concerts, car shows and other events. He died in his home on Friday, Jan. 27. He was 75.

Roger – called Rog by his close friends and family – wasn’t in a band, but he was a pillar of the local music and arts scene nonetheless. Instead of a guitar or drums, his instrument of choice was his camera, which he used to gain admission to hundreds of concerts, beer fests and other happenings. To return the favor, Franklin supplied musicians, promoters and performers with professional quality images, always free of charge.

“If you go to an event and say you’re a photographer, they’ll always let you in to shoot,” Franklin told The Ukiah Daily Journal in February 2019.

“He (Franklin) was very good, excellent in his photography and he has thousands of photos to prove it,” says Ukiah landscape photographer Robert B. Taylor, a close friend and frequent travel companion of Franklin’s.

“He was known by many, many people and he was always very generous in sharing his photos with people,” Taylor adds.

“He was always really friendly, and everybody knew him in town and everybody liked him,” his brother Ken Franklin concurs. “And they all remember him taking photos everywhere.”

Roger Lee Franklin was born on April 2, 1947, in Culver City, Calif., the Los Angeles suburb known as the home of MGM Studios. His parents, George Washington Franklin and Martha Niswander Franklin, soon moved to Burbank where George established a successful carpet cleaning business. Once in Burbank, Roger was joined by two brothers – Kenneth (Ken) and Gregory – and a sister, Bonnie, all born three years apart.

Franklin graduated from Burbank High School in 1965. A year earlier, he met his future wife, Rebecca “Becky” Norris, in Burbank at a Wee-Winders car club meeting. “It was love at first sight,” Rebecca recalls. The couple dated for four years before finally getting married on May 10, 1968 in an intimate ceremony in the chapel of a Methodist church.

To avoid the draft and the possibility of serving in Vietnam, Franklin joined the Air National Guard and served six years out of Van Nuys where he learned to be a teletype operator, a skill that landed him a job at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank in the early 1970s.

“There were no computers then so all messages were sent from his office,” Rebecca recalls. Franklin worked closely with many directors and producers and the young couple got to attend many screenings with movie stars. Frank Sinatra even gave them a wool blanket that the family still has.

“It was a fun gig,” Rebecca adds.

On April 10, 1972, the Franklins had their first son, Greg, named after Rog’s brother Gregory, who was struck by a car and killed on his way to school in 1960 when he was just 6 years old. A short time later, the growing family left the glamor of the movie industry behind and bought a house in Boron, Calif. on the edge of the Mojave Desert to be near Rebecca’s parents.

In Boron, Franklin worked as a millwright at U.S. Borax and started dabbling in photography. He set up a darkroom in their home in the days before digital cameras liberated photographers from having to use basic chemistry in their art. Franklin’s original motivation for picking up the camera was to take pictures of Greg and the couple’s second son, Daniel, who was born in 1977.

After the death of Rebecca’s mother in 1986, the Franklins moved north to Ukiah, Calif. where Roger and Rebecca began long careers with the Ukiah Unified School District. Roger serviced every school in the district as a technology and systems specialist while Rebecca taught third grade at Nokomis School. Roger’s brother Ken and his wife, Susie, also taught elementary school there. Roger retired from the district in 2009 and Rebecca joined him in retirement a year later.

“Anything that was mechanical, he was the go-to guy to fix it at the school district, and that includes computers, and just about everything else too,” Taylor says.

But it was in Ukiah’s cooler climate that Franklin blossomed as a photographer and ingratiated himself into the local music scene. He amassed countless images of concerts ranging from Willie and the Nighthawks at the brew pubs that were walking distance from his home to B.B. King at Konocti Harbor in Lake County and even punk wrestling shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Franklin has photo credits in the Daily Journal going back to 1996 and several of his images of the 1990s-era punk wrestling show Incredibly Strange Wrestling were published in Bob Calhoun’s memoir “Beer, Blood & Cornmeal” (2008, ECW Press).

In March 2019, Franklin joined his friend Robert B. Taylor and photographer Amy Melious for a public exhibition of their work titled “Gathering Light” at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah.

“His photographs are a tribute to the creative force, the focus, vitality and raw emotion of musicians on stage,” Daily Journal reporter Carole Brodsky wrote about Franklin’s work. “Franklin’s photos expose those vulnerable pieces of a performer’s soul during those intimate moments where the lines between audience and performer fade and disappear.”

“That was the highlight,” Taylor says of collaborating with his old friend.

“I really want everyone to know how generous he was,” Taylor continues. “He revamped the ventilation system in my darkroom, and he spent many hours helping me with Photoshop to get my photography book ready for publication.”

“He was always willing to help folks,” Ken Franklin says. “A few days before he died, he was fixing the circuit breakers here at the house.”

“He was a congenial, patient and calm guy,” Taylor reflects. “He was a nice guy to be around.”

Roger Franklin is survived by his wife, Rebecca (Becky); his brother Ken and sister Bonnie; his two sons, Greg and Daniel; and three grandchildren.

A memorial will be held for Roger Franklin on March 25, 2023 at 2 p.m. at Near & Arnold School of Performing Arts Theater, 508 W. Perkins St. Ukiah, CA.

 

Vahe Abolian, BHS 2003

Vahe Abolian, BHS 2003

November 3, 1985 - February 1, 2023

Below is from a post from a classmate and friend:

Hey Bulldogs with all the excitement surrounding our upcoming 20 year reunion, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and inform everyone about the passing of Vahe. I remember Vahe as good kid, someone who never bugged anyone really and sometimes did some weird stuff but never hurt anyone. My sincerest condolences goes out to his family. RIP Vahe       NO other details at this time.