Convict charged with 1976's 'Gypsy Hill' murders


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — Investigators say DNA evidence has linked an Oregon prison inmate to at least two of five killings of young women that terrified the San Francisco Bay Area for four months in 1976.

The San Mateo district attorney's office says 66-year-old Rodney Halbower is also being investigated for the rest of the killings and the death of a teenager in Nevada.

Halbower is charged in the deaths of 17-year-old Paula Baxter and 18-year-old Veronica Cascio.

Their two deaths were among six police say are connected and occurred between January and April in 1976 in California and Nevada. Four of the bodies were found in the suburbs immediately south of San Francisco and one was found near Gypsy Hill Road, giving the killings their nickname. A sixth body was found in Reno.

Halbower is scheduled to enter a plea in Redwood City on Monday.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button