Copter Joins Hunt For AAissing Girl

BERKELEY - A Coast Guard helicopter today joined the search tor a 7-year-old girl who disap­peared while on a shopping er­rand to a store around the cor­ner from her IwnTCV ~ ~ N .

•Jjabnella R. fWilkerson.V 1111 Parker "St., ras bf f f l missing since 9:30 p.m., Saturday, when her parents sent her out for a half gallon of milk and a bottle of soda pop,

A 10-year-old girlfriend, whom police would not identify, told officers she saw the missing girl in the back of a car being driven north on San Pablo Av­enue at Bancroft Way about 9:30 p.m., Saturday.

Bancroft is three blocks from the girl's street.

Police Capt. William Beall said he is "convinced she isn't hiding anywhere,"

The helicopter was requested for a search of the rooftops and backyards of the West Berkeley •\

JOHNELIA WILKERSON

area where the little g i r l van­ished. ^

Officers were also entering va­cant and abandoned buildings in their expanding search.

Johnelia didn't appear at her second-grade class today at Longfellow _S c^^^^^..^E**--*^

lier as a good Ulieni who is very outgoing

and associates well with her classmates.

One of the last persons to see Johnelia was the owner of Su­perior Liquors, at 2575 San Pablo Ave., who sold her a carton of milk and a bottle of pop.

Silvia U. Gai, of 470 Cavour St., Oakland, said he put the carton and the bottle in a brown paper bag with 39 cents change from a dollar. Johnelia left im­mediately, he said.

The girl's parents, Richard Williams, 24, her stepfather, and Luella Williams. 23, de­scribed her as a happy child who "would talk to anybody."

The parents said she had not been in any difficulty at home before her disappearance, al­though she expressed resent- ^ ment toward her newborn twin: brothers. " I ' m tired of babies," she told her parents the eve--afag she disappeared.

Berkeley police called in 31 reserve officers yesterday morn­ing for a door-tc>-door check of the area around; Parker Street.

Johnelia is the'oldest of eight children, inducing the one-month-old twins. I

She is 3L feet, 6 inches tal l , weighs 50 piaundsi and wears her hair in two pigtails. She has a

^age 5, Col. 1

ight brown complexion and scars fromisev/re bums on her left thigh an

Johnelia was wearing a green, brown and purple plaid dress with a white collar and a dark blue knit sweater. She was wearing black bedroom slippers.

Police were questioning a man yesterday afternoon who said he knew something that might help —but " I didn't ki l l her."

Police said the man flagged down a police car early in the

is " ^ -^•^^ITFered to help. he had been a sus-:

pect, but that he was later re-^ leased.

Sgt. Peter Meredith, who^ headed a search control center through the night, refused to comment further on the man's appearance in the case, other than "he was emotionally in­volved and we let him go."

7-Year-Old Discovered Near Home

Lumber Pit Yields Girl Who Vanished Sfifurday Night

' i i t m n 1965 By CHARLES MACINTOSH

and GAILE BERKELEY - ^ K i t t l T s H v e n -

year-old_JohneIIa Wilkerson Iwas found dead under a ptte of weatherbeaten lumber this af­ternoon.

I t was only three blocks from the home of the second grader who has been missing since 9:30 p.m. Saturday when she went around the corner to get a half gallon of milk for her family.

Identification was established on the basis of a burn scar

. running from the knee to the thigh.

Workmen made the grisly dis­covery under a pile of boards covering a horseshoe pit near Seventh and Parker Streets in West Berkeley. The lumber was piled next to a fence at the Ducommun Metals and Supply Co. at 2550 Seventh St.

The body was found by two Oucommon emploves. Louis Ga­lena, 48. of 6231 Hilton St., and Leland E. McMullen. 39. of 618 14th St.. both Oakland. WIDE SEARCH

^||f^nel la has been the object

h e r disappearance Salurda> night when she failed to return home from an errand.

The daughter nf Mrs. Luella Williams, 23. of 1111 Parker St.. Johnelia was last seen at 9:30 p.m. Saturday when sfce went to a store around the cor­ner for the milk and z soft drink.

When she had not returned by 10:30 p.m, her stepfather. Rich­ard J . Williams. 24. reported her missing.

Mrs. Williams had told police her daughter was friendly and outgoing.

But the little girl's second grade teacher at Longfellow School. Mrs. Nina Peilerin, said she had found the child to be too shy to go with a stranger volun­tarily. ELDEST OF EIGHT

ELDEST OF EIGHT Johnelia is the eldest of eight

children. T h e youngest are twins, a month old.

Capt. William Beale said he would not bring the Williamses to the scene where the child was found.

It was a bleak setting for the g r i m discovery. The lumber shielding the little form w a s aged and weathered.

Johnelia had been described by her family as a "happy little g i r l . "

When she left the liquor store at 2575 San Pablo Ave. around the corner from her home she had a paper bag containing a half-gallon of milk, a soda pop and 39 cents — change from the dollar her mother had given her.

The last known person to see Johnelia alive i a s Silvia U. Gai of 470 Cavour St., the clerk who bid hepygoodrtight a f t e r he ^ r v e d he ^ ^ohnella/\wh|) wore pigtails, \

Continb^n Page 2, Col. 61

Workmen Make Grisly Discovery In Berkeley

Continued from Page 1

was dressed in a plaid skirt with a white collar, dark blue sweat­er and littl.e bedroom slippers.

Police h^d combed the area around hef home door-to-door. Today \they prepared to ques­tion evay person in the neigh­borhood and run a crime check on all persons over 10.

The coroner must now de­termine how she died. If foul play was involved, as believed, the search which began in hopes of finding a little gir l alive, wi l l be focused with equal intensity on her attacker.

A Coast Guard helicopter was pressed into service yesterday to skim rooftops in case John­elia might be on a building or i n . a park.

Reserve officers had joined the regular force Sunday looking for the school child, who even then may have been lying dead; by a pile of lumber. |

3rim Find Recalls i3 Other Tragedies • When tb<small>*{tin form of .^JohncHa Avilkerson Was found

utTder~"Tw6>jiLiUi*nhprod lum-• her in BoMteley. the discovery • raised g h o s t s from the past . and evoked bitter memories of ; other tragedies.

Stephanie Brvan. I)orcen Hes-Tkett. Judy Williamson—three • names that tell three tragic

stories. The first began on a sunny

.afternoon, April 28, 1955, when -Stephanie, the 14-year-old daugh--ter of Dr. and Mrs. Charles

S. Bryan Jr.. vanished while walking from school to her

-Berkeley home. • I t ended 23 months later — " ^ a r c h 15, 1957 — with the exe­cution in San Quentins g a s

-chamber of Burton W. Abbott, 'convicted of her kidnap-slaying. • SENSATIONAL CASE i

Between those dates the Bay Area was gripped by the hyste-

• rJa of a sensational investiga-; t l on and trial .

Officers were led to Burton Abbott by the discovery July;

.115, 1955. in his basement, of ^Stephanie's billfold. - Later Berkeley police and FBI 'jigents found two of the girl's l ibrary books, two notebooks, a torn undergarment, her glasses and her book on parakeets bur-'

Tied in the sandy .soil of Abbott's •basement. ' -Abbott, a slender, pale 28-'year-old accounting student at

; the University nf California, ' denied knowing how her belong-. Jngs found their way into his • ^Alameda home, BODY DISCOVERED

He was arrested five days; later when Stephanie's partially-Tdecomposed body was found in ;a shallow grave near his Trinity "'County mountain cabin. !

Some 118 witnesses testified i

I at his 48-day trial before Ala­meda County Superior J u d g e Wade Snook.

! The jury deliberated 52 hours and 30 minutes before condemn ing him to die.

It was moi'e than a ye;ir after his formal sentencing Feb. 10, 1956. that the state exacted its penalty at San Qucntin.

I DOREEN'S STORY Doreen Heskctts story began

in much the same way as Steph­anie Bryan's on March 25, 1963.

The pretty, blonde 5-year-old left a kindergarten classmate

I 2V2 blocks from her Napa home. ' She never arrived.

Her body was found the fol-j lowing Nov. 21 in a remote pas-! ture south of Napa, about three miles from where she was last seen.

She apparently died at the hands of a murderer.

Dozens of suspects have been interviewed. Thousands of ques­tions have been asked. As yet, detectives have no suspects in the grisly slaying.

•"We know what we're looking for," Napa County Undersheriff Wes Gardner said. "We just don't know who." A DIFFERENT KIND

.Judy Williamson's story was different from the other two.

An 18-year-old coed at the University of California, she dis­appeared Oct. 29. 1963. on her way from her Albany home to catch the bus which usually took her to class.

Allhough she was never found, and police have uncovered few clues, investigators believe she was kidnaped and probably murdered.

Johnella's is a new story. It has a beginning, but its

end won't be written until her killer is found.

"Delay in

^ B E R k E L E Y - L i t t l e Johnelia, _^Ukerson/nay have been held

captive by her killer for 23 Jipurs before she was slain. . :Alameda County deputy cor­oner Roland Prahl said today the girl died "36 to 40 hours" before her body was discov­ered at 12:15 p.m. yesterday.

The 7-year-old's body was found under a pile of lumber

More Stories and Pictures on Page 5

in a side yard of the Ducom­mun Metals and Supply Co. at 2550 7th St.

The area had been thoroughly searched Sunday at 4 p.m. by a Berkeley Police reservist.

• ' I searched that corner of the yard on my hands and knees," Reservist Earl W. Mur­ray said, ' and there was no pile of lumber there then." ONE OF DOZENS

Murray was one of dozens of reservists and other volunteers who began searching for John­elia after she failed to return from a trip to a neighborhood store Saturday night.

Johnelia was last seen in the store at 9:30 p.m.

Prahl's report would place the

An autopsy disclosed that the g i r l was beaten repeatedly

: around the head and shoulders with a blunt instrument and then stabbed in the neck.

Berkeley Police Inspector Ralph Schillinger said physical evidence indicates the gir l was beaten where her body was found. LABORATORY TESTS ^

The autopsy report also saitf Johnelia was sexually molested and Prahl said laboratory tests are being conducted to deter­mine if she was raped.

•"We probably won't have any report on the possibility of criminal assault until tomor­row," Prahl said.

Scientific tests may also hold; the key to the identity of John­ella's slayer. i

Berkeley police carefully re-] moved 17 four-by-four timbers which were stacked on the body. They wil l be examined to see if they wil l yield finger­prints or some other clue. ONLY EVIDENCE

pile of lumber there then." ONE OF DOZENS

Murray was one of dozens of reservists and other volunteers who began searching for John­elia after she failed to return from a trip to a neighborhood store Saturday night.

Johnelia was last seen in the store at 9:30 p.m.

Prahl's report would place the probable time of her death be-*• " P T i fi""<ATff 12.30 a .m. M o a a a } .

An autopsy disclosed that the g i r l was beaten repeatedly around the head and shoulders

I with a blunt instrument and then stabbed in the neck.

Berkeley Police Inspector Ralph Schillinger said physical evidence indicates the gir l was beaten where her body was found. LABORATORY TESTS ^ :

The autopsy report also saitf Johnelia was sexually molested and Prahl said laboratory tests are being conducted to deter­mine if she was raped.

•"We probably won't have any report on the possibility of criminal assault until tomor­row," Prahl said.

Scientific tests may also hold the key to the identity of John­ella's slayer.

Berkeley police carefully re­moved 17 four-by-four timbers which were stacked on the body. They wi l l be examined to see if they wil l yield finger­prints or some other clue. ONLY EVIDENCE

The lumber and three plaster casts of footprmts found near the body are the only physical evidence in the case.

Berkeley Police Capt. William Beall said uniformed officers are combing the area where the body was found and the neigh­borhood where Johnelia lived, 4V2 blocks away.;

- ' Still missing is the brown pa-"per bag With a carton of milk and a bottle of Eoit arink which Johnelia was ca T y i n g when she

C o n t i n u ^ Page 2, Col. 1

left the store at 2575 San Pablo Ave. at 9:S0 p.m. Saturday.

When she didn't return to her home at l l l l Parker St., around the comer^from the store, her parents, M r . amd Mrs. Richard; Williams, caHgd police.

At the Williams home neigh­bors visited the grief-stricken mother and stepfather of the slain g i r l to offer sympathy and assistance.

Mrs. Leon West, of 1115 Parker St., said the family, which in ­cludes seven children younger than Johnelia, is in financial dif­ficulties.

She Didn't ome Back

Girl's body was found in side-yard of i/arehouse five blocks from her home

i ^ T I E JAN 1 3 1965

BERKELEY - The green-shingled bungalow at l l l l Par­ker St. has a sad look about it .

The grass is not so green and the plants are not quite so straight and tall as they are elsewhere in the neatly kept neighborhood of modest homes just east of San Pablo Avenue •near Berkeley's indu.strial dis­trict.

People stand in the street and stare at (he green house. Cars drive by slowly. / " ^ "'" - ^

It is . . ^ h n e l ^ Wilkerson .s',, house.

The man of the house. Rich­ard J . Williams, 24, Johnella's step-father, does most nf the talking to the steady stream of friends, relatives and neighbors who climb the three porch

By FRED C iRRETSON

steps and knoi the door.

"She went oir come back," \ caller. " I went oking for her I went out in down. Right ii San Pablo the I couldn't find li

" M y friends children to SC IK week, we drive and we pick th. time to come i said. " I wani they're all righi

Around the liquor store, on nuc. clerk Slivj, that Johnelia bought a half and a soft drink

hesitantly on

jnd .she didn't lliams told a

car. It broke the middle of r broke down.

lelp take the now. All this

;hem to school up when il'.s e." Williams

:o know that

;orncr, at a an Pablo Avc-U, Gai recalls

came in and jallon of milk

It's not the sort of neighbor­hood where people are normal­ly afraid, yet all the shutters are closed these days.

But something happened F r i ­day, although not many people noticed at the time, recalls .Mrs. Norma McClure, of 1841 Addison St., a friend nf the Wil­liams.

"A 12-year-old girl went nut to the stnre at 7:30 p.m.," said Mrs. McClure. '"A man followed her. He was a big man, with dark hair. The girl was scared. She ran all the way hnmc."

It was a little thing, but on Saturday t h e neighborhood talked about it . They were afraid something terrible might happen.

Fund Begun For Funeral

A special fund has been estaWtSHM to help pay funeral

^eSpenses foV 7-year-old_Johii£iIa '''Willierson., who was^niolested ^-eftd—mu«Iered.

Contributions to the Johnelia Wilkerson Fund are being held in trust for the little girl's fam­ily by the National Bank of Berkeley.

Mrs. Cicniva Morris, of 3515 Waller Ave., Richmond, said to­day the Granada Jr. High School P-TA in Richmond is collecting food and clothing for the Wil-kersons.

She said that donations of food and clothing, may be sent to her home in Richmond.

Johnellp's stepfather, Richard William.s, of l l l l Parker St.. Berkeley, works as an airplane washer for United Air Lines at San Francisco International Air­port.

He and the girl's mother, Mrs. Luella William-S, have seven other children.

Time Vital On Trail

By IRA LURVEY BERKELEY — In their

glassed-in cubicle with its thumb-tacked maps and too much heat, a crack crew of B e r k e l e y policemen worked amuftd,^the clock today to catch tMe sex4[iller of little Johnelia

^"v^mt-i^ to some extent, a race against time," said the team's coordinator, Sgt. Peter Meredith.

•'The longer it takes, the colder the clues and the hotter any potential suspect's alibi. It 's a lot easier to prove a man's lying about what he did last night, than about last month," Mere­dith said.

For Meredith and the 11 other men now assigned full time to the Wilkerson case, the nights

.Are stretchii^ into days.aad then nights again.

"There are no short-cuts," he said. "A mystery novel can end on the last page. We just go on to the next morning and dig and dig some more."

The team has set up its own "Wilkerson Police Force" with­in the department. I t therefore has knowledge and control of every word on the case.

Every item on the case funnels through the red pencil-pads and Meredith's overcrowded desk in the tiny office in the police head­quarters. From there it is sifted and analyzed onto a daily " I t e m Sheet," a scaled-down version of the entire police force's daily bulletin.

T h e t w o plainclothesmen •checking in with Meredith last

night reported their particular assignment checked-out nega­tive, that the suspect they ques­tioned had an established alibi for the crucial period when John­elia is believed to have been killled.

"Okay," Meredith acknowl­edged, "now let's try this." He pulled out a six-page typewrit­ten list of names. "These are our local sex offenders. Two other

teams have started work on checking these out—but each time they got detoured before finishing.

"Now we found this morning that most of these addresses are worthless. However the better addresses, when these men change places, are recorded on their prison sheets. So what we've been doing is pulling ail the prison sheets and updating the addresses, then going to the

[ suspects. We'll check every one of them out."

No call goes unnoticed. In the desk beside Meredith, astute, analytic William Dawson records

i every comment on a running j sheet. I I t is the parallels that draw I the attention. ' Monday, before Johnella's body was found, a woman who insist-

\d she remain anonymous re-; ported seeing a man driving ' along San Pablo Ave. Saturday : evenng stop at 19th Street in ! Oakland for a traffic signal. She observed him talking to a young g ir l about to cross the street. So intent was the man in his con­versation, the caller reported,

that he dd not notice the light change to green.

Was he trying to entice that girl into his car? Did she refuse, thus sending him further up the street in his quest, whether he knew it or not, of his victim?

Tuesday night, the Oakland Police Department reported it had received a similar call, from a woman who did identify her­self. This woman, reading about Johnelia, also remembered this intent man driving north on San Pablo at 19th.

"This is certainly one of our better leads,'' Meredith said. "We started out with two l i ­cense numbers given by these witnesses. One checked clean. But the other seems to be hov­ering around Concord and we're still working on that."

Work on the case really had begun at 11 p.m. Saturday, when Johnella's parents first phoned the police department to report her missing.

Meredith was the sergeant on duty at the time.

" I felt right away that this was wrong," he said. " A 7-year-old g ir l who just goes around the

corner at 9:30 p.m. shouldn't still be gone by 11. Our regular beat man, Roger Hewitt, was tied up on another matter at the time. l thought I 'd try to solve John­elia by checking her girl friend's houses, so I shifted Mike Di -Miceli over from an adjoining beat.

"When DiMiceli failed to turn up anything, I knew my suspi­cions might indeed turn out for the worst. We almost immedi­ately shifted into a full-scale plan."

To being with, the entire third platoon was held over — 15 pa­trolmen, three sergeants, a lieu­tenant and two reserves. Through the pre-dawn hours Sun­day, they ran a house-to-house check in the two blocks imme­diately adjacent to Johnella's house at l l l l Parker.

"F irs t we tried the houses with lights on," Meredith said. "Then, when that turned up no­thing, we moved to those that were dark."

During those hours she was held captive by someone who molested her and beat and stabbed her to death.

Autopsy Hints

C a p t i v e for Day BERKELEY - Officers today

hunted for the lair ot-*HrittPTs who held Johneli l Wilkerson^ 7, captive for af^least 2i fiours, molested her and then murdered her.

They hope the place will lead them to the man.

Johnelia disappeared about 9:30 p.m. Saturday on a trip from her West Berkeley home to a nearby store to buy a half-gallon of milk and a bottle of soda pop.

Her bludgeoned, stabbed and assaulted body was found Tues­day beneath a pile of weathered lumber at Seventh and Parker Streets, A^/z blocks from her home.

An autopsy revealed she prob­ably died early Monday.

"Somewhere, somehow, she was kept captive all day Sun­day." said SJgt. Peter Mere­dith, officer fcoordinating the investigation.

we want had a he could keep

ued Page 3, Col. 2

aq pinoM siasssA pajaAvod-jeap -nu J O auuejv lUBqojajv 'S'fl B uaqAV aiuoD pinoAV ^ep aqj padoq oq piBS juspisaj j a q i

3qi ui uoiieandde japeojq J B J J O SSIUlOJd 8 A I § piBS uosuqof

\vem sasodJnd^nTAp_ jo i SIURJH i I Continued from ?age 1

; her . . . and pfobably was ab-; sent repeated!^ from wherever j he was ^uppoged to be . . . so ""he cou!(fi be /with Johnelia."

Meredith a|;d his team of U officers i r e [ centering their search in tilp tVest Berkeley area where JohnJtila lived and where the body was found.

They theorize that the killer probably did not take her far from the area, murder her and then return to hide the body.

I f their assumptions are cor­rect, the killer may still be in the area.

Meredith said evidence found at the scene indicated Johnelia was beaten where her body was found.

He said a heavy depression beneath her head led investi­gators to believe she had been slammed to the ground. Whether this is where she died is still uncertain.

Officers began another door-t(j-door check of the area today in search of a witness who might

Search f Ki l lep^

— which could provide a clue. For some doors it wil l be the fourth time police have rung the bell since Saturday night.

Police are also questioning loiterers on the streets in West Berkeley.

In addition, the investigation has become a job of sifting,

Four Clues ^ Could Lead To Slayer

Berkeley police are looking for several articles, any one of which could be a clue leading them to the killer of 7-year-old Johnelia Wilkerson.

When the little girl's body was found Tuesday, her slip­pers and panties were missing. The slippers were described as soft - soled men's black mocas­sins with elastic across the in­step. Johnelia had borrowed them from her mother to walk to a store near her home.

Also missing were her pur­chases — a I2-ounce bottle of Royal Crown Cola and a half-gallon paper container of Chal­lenge milk — which were in a

i paper, bag witl^ 39 cents j | i I change she received at the^store )

checking and recheckin^ slim _ leads. : I

Last night the police iiepart-- I ment received two telephone calls from a man who insisted

; his " f r iend" was the murderer. Officer Bill Dawson finally

traced the call to a public tele^ | phone booth at Jack London Square in Oakland. When de­tectives arrived at the booth, no one was there.

When Johnella's body w a s found, her black, soft-soled moc­casins and her panties were missuig.

Also missing was a brown paper sack containing a half-gallon of Challenge milk, a 12-ounce 'oottle of Royal-Crown Cola and 39 cents in change from the store.

Officers hope to find them, and that the articles will help lead t h e m to the hideaway where Johnelia was slain. ^

Johnelia lived with her paf-^ ents. Mr . and Mrs. Richard Williams, and seven brothers and sisters, at l l l l Parker St.

Funeral services for her will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the New Hope Baptist Church, 36th and Market Streets in Oakland.

Her body is being held at Saints Christian Funeral Chapel,

, 936 West MacArthur Blvd. _ ,

•if.

Potential

In Slaying BERKELEY - Police inves­

tigating the imjTTler ^ 7-year-old Johnelia^Wiikersoff today f o u n J ^ p^i^tilial clUF^ — a brown paper sack containing an empty half-gallon milk carton and some bloody rags — in a West Berkeley garbage can.

The discovery was made by (rfficers accompanying Berke­ley's two city refuse trucks on collection trips through the West Berkeley residential area.

Earlier, at two different lo­cations, officers found two pairs of girl's panties. Capt. William Beall, who would confirm only that officers had conducted the search, refused to discuss the possible significance of the ar­ticles.

Johnelia, who vanished last Saturday, was found dead Tues­day beneath a pile of weath­ered lumber at Seventh and Parker Streets. 4'2 blocks from her West Berkeley home.

Her black mocassins and her ^panties were missing. Also miss­

ing was a brown paper sack con­taining a half-gallon of milk, a bottle of soda pop and 39 cents in change she had received at a store,

Johnella's mother. Mrs. Luel­la Williams, of l l l l P a c k A j ^ l j

was wearing were either white or gray.

Officers today retreived a pair of tan panties with white lace and one white pair.

Police have devoted hundreds of man hours checking and re-checking leads, searching for clues and questioning scores of persons.

Today they apparently are no closer to the murderer than they were when Johnella's stabbed and bludgeoned body was found Tuesday.

The only suspect arrested so far in the case was released last night after hours of intensive in­terrogation.

Lt. Walter Garratt said that detectives are satirfied the man was not in the area when John­elia vanished about 9:30 p.m. Saturday on her way home from a r m r b y store. The man. a 27-year-old, Oakland, laborer, was arrested after,heimade several phone calls to\paice about the case. \

Although a preliminary au-

Continued Page 2, Col. 1

topsy performed after John­ella's body was found indicated she diea et rly Monday morn-jng, CoiVty Coroner Dr. Ev­erett Kina evised the time of death yestsi day to within a few hours after she was abducted.

His statement, which followed a report by pathologist Dr. George Loquvam, blasted an earlier theory that Johnelia had been held captive for a full day before she was slam.

A reserve police officer who searched the area Sunday said Johnella's body was not under the lumber pile at that time.

In fact, he said, he didn't even remember seeing the lumber Sunday.

However, Capt. Beall said evi­dence found at the scene indi­cates Johnelia was beaten where her body was discovered.

The suspect was arrested yes­terday afternoon in a telephone booth at a service station near 39th St. and Broadway in Oak­land.

He was talking to Berkeley' police Sgt. Peter Meredith at the time.

Officers said the suspect called police four times on Wednes­day without identifying himself and expressed deep interest in

Wffterson-murder. Meredith said the suspect in­

dicated in one conversation he would call again Thursday, and Meredith arranged to have the call traced.

When he called Thursday, the booth was located by the tele­phone company and Sgt. Don Smithson was dispatched to the service station where he made the arrest.

{'irst Major Clue Slaying

BERKELEY — The first ma- store, where she had purchased jor clue in the sex - miipder"oK a half - gallon of milk and a bot-7-year-old Johnelia \^ i lkersonr^ /soda pop.

Her bludgeoned was uncovered last night with and stabbed body was found Tuesday be-

junk lumber near Seventh and Parker Streets 4 2 blocks from her home.

When Johnella's body was found, her panties and her black soft - soled moccasins

"the general indus-iwere missing. Also missing was the brown paper sack in which she had carried the milk, soda pop and 39 cents in change from the store.

On - the - spot checks of rub­bish collected by the city's two refuse trucks on their regular West Berkeley routes Thursday and Friday produced no rele­vant clues.

Officers turned up m a n y Challenge brand milk cartons such as Johnelia purchased, sev­eral pairs of panties and some blood - stained rags — but said

was connected

the discovery of the dead girl's neath a pile of blood-smeared panties.

Patrolman Willard Dawson declined to reveal exactly where the undergarment was found. He said only that it was recov­ered from trial area" of West Berkeley, where the girl lived.

Officer Dawson said the dis­covery of the panties resulted from a citizen's telephone call about noon yesterday.

The garment was identified by Johnella's mother, Mrs. Richard Williams, of l l l l Park­er St.

The panties have been turned over to the criminalistics lab­oratory at the Santa Rita Sher­iff's Substation for analysis.

Johnelia vanished about 9:30 p.m. last Saturday on her way none of them home f r o m a neighborhood with the case.

1,400 at Funeral of jiain Girl

More t h a n 1.400 mourners jammed the New Hope Baptist Church in Oa)tfemiKtpday to at-, tend the f u p r a l of nn^rder vie-' t im Johnelfc Wtili£i:aoP<*7.

'Meanwhile. Be rice ley p o l i c e continued tnPrr search for the slayer, whn abducted Johnelia the night nf Jan. 9 while she w asi on an errand to a store around the corner from her West Berke­ley home.

Officers said they had no new ciues and no suspects.

Chief among the mourners at the church at 36th and Market Streets were Johnella's mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Williams, and other members of the family.

Eulogies w ere delivered by a dozen clergymen, led by the Rev. James T. McCullum. pas­tor of the church, over the tiny white casket containing the sec­ond-grader's b o d y / ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Th("( • ^ i ^ v o r o ^ v o u must torcver k e e p out of your vocabulary.' the parents were admonished. "These words are ' i f and "why."

"These two word? could drive you insane. You could ask your self—the rest of your lives "If we didn't send her out that night, would this have happened?' and "Why was it my baby?'

"Don'l ask yourself this." After the service, the crowd

gathered on both sides of the street as Johnella's body was carried to a waiting hearse, and the Rev. Mr. McC^ullum intoned the sixth verse r of the 23rd Psalm:

"Surely goodne;s and mercy shall follow me < 11 the days of my hfe. and 1 ;ha!l dwell in the house o the - ord forever." j

As the funeral f "ocession went from the chuiN Roiling Hills

ue^lvJ V - i d v ) -imm j r u l i i u ' J P S O C

Continued from ^age 1 Cemetery in Ripiimond, Berlteley police continu/ed tiieir investiga­tion. , /

A " (anfe^ion" by a man police lescyibe as mentally un-balanct d bias been completely discour ea Sgt. Peter Meredith said. /

The \man. who will be examined by a psychiatirst. is being held for interfering with an investigation.

Johnelia was found bludg­eoned, stabbed and sexually attacked, at Seventh and Parker Streets. 4'a blocks from her home at l l l l Parker St.

Her panties and black moc­casins were missing. Also mis*-

: ing was a brown paper sack containing a half-gallon of milk , a bottle of soda pop and 39 cents in change from the store.

A pair of apparently blood­stained panties was recovered last week in West Berkeley's industrial area.

Johnella's mother said they could have been her daughter's. Police refused to disclose exact­ly where the undergarment was found, and said today a labora­tory analysis of the stains has not been completed.

Hundreds Mourn FoT K Child

"Surely, goodness and mercy shall jollow me,

"All the days of my life, "And I shall dwell in the

I House of the Lord forever." With these words, part of the

23pd-4*saljii, tiny Johnella_R£ii£' 'A'HIkerson, 7, of u i r ' P a r k e r

"Berkeley, was consigned to her grave in Rolling Hills Ceme-

; tery yesterday. I Some 1,400 mourners attended ! rites for the slain girl in New jHope Baptist Church, 36th and Market Streets, Oakland.

The gir l , victun of a sex-slay-I er, was buried in a white cas-' ket, trimmed with pink and covered by a delicate white net. She was dressed in a gentle pink silk dress, and the bier was surrounded by seven floral pieces varying in hue from vibrant yellow to deep violet.

'Abide with me " As if in one breath, t h e

mourners sent the little victim on the way to her grave, as her mother, Mrs. Luella Williams. 23, and the stepfather, Richard Williams, 24, looked on, stricken by grief. Williams is an airlines porter.

The young parents, lost, in , Johnelia, the eldest of their

eight children. The youngest are twins, just a month old.

Johnella's battered, stabbed and sexually molested body was found last Tuesday under a pile of lumber at Seventh and Parker Streets, Berkeley, about four and a half blocks from her home

She had left the home Satur­day night to go to a nearby store to buy a half gallon of milk and a bottle of a soft drink.

Berkeley police Sgt. Donald Smithson, who with two aides attended the funeral yesterday, said the force was without clues to the slaying.

One man who sought to con­fess to the crime had his con­fession discounted, and there are no other prime suspects, said Sergeant Smithson.

And as he and his assistants scanned the 1,400 persons who jammed the church for the ser­vices, clergymen from through­out Eastbay conducted services for the little girl .

"Jesus loves me, This I know,

For the Bible Tells me so,"

Sang the mourning crowd. Then a sleek black hearse re­

ceived her and delivered her to a pitiful little sliver of grave.

Bill Asks Death for

Tribune Capital Bureau SACRAMENTO-Aroused by.;

the murdep--of -.^even-year-old. ..johnelia ^Ikerson'jof Berkeley,

a lgg ia loto^ today introduced a bil l providing that the death

j penalty can be imposed forc­ible rape on a gir l under 18.

Assemblyman E. R i c h a r d ' Barnes, R-San Diego, referred

to the Berkeley gir l and five other youngsters who have been sexually molesled recently i n announcing his measure.

"Millions of California c i t i ­zens are asking themseWes how they would feel if these crimes had been committed against their own daughters." he said.

"This crime against an inno­cent child is. to me, the most hideous of crimes and should be so designated by society in assigning the supreme penalty for the offender."

Barnes emphasized that if the deterrent effect of his proposal would save the life of one little girl it would be worthwhile.

Under his bi l l , the jury would have the option of imposing the i death sentence.

The Barnes Bi l l is one of; dozens of measures introduced this year in an apparent legis-' lative attack on crime and im- i morality.

Assemblyman Clair W. Bur-gener, R-San Diego, yesterday proposed that the California | Highway Patrol be allowed to ; vary the size and shape of i t s '

vehicles to combat what he calls '' the professional speed­er,"

Burgener said that the pro­fessional speeder is alert to the silhouette of CHP automobiles.

Under bis proposal, all car doors would be white and be painted with the CHP iusignia.

Good Clue

Slayer Hunt BERKELEY-Poiice here are

waiting for a "good phone cal l" or some other scrap of informa­tion which might lead-ttrem-HQ^ the liiller of Johnellalwillierson.^

Johnelia, 7, disappeared Sat-urday, Jan. 9, between her home and a neighborhood store.

I Her lifeless body was discov-' I ered under a pile of lumber ' three days later. THREE MEN

Police are looking in particu­lar for three men who are be­lieved to have been in the store at or near the time Johnelia vjas there buying a carton of milk and bottle of soda pop.

They called upon the men to come forward and offer any in­formation they might have about the child's disappearance.

Hundreds of man hours of in­vestigation have produced noth­ing. ' ' •

Physical evidence collected at the site where Johnella's blud­geoned body was found is still being analyzed by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. 'ONE GOOD CALL'

"We're still looking for one good phone call that could cut out three weeks of ground pounding," Police Lt. Walter Garratt said.

One new point was revealed in the investigation today. Gar­ratt and Insp. Ralph Schillinger said the killer had to be strong enough to lift a five-by-five foot oak timber that weighed 87 pounds on top of Johnella's life­less body.

The position of the timber in the lumber pile indicates that i t was lifted' and placed there, they said.

Police Hunt Red Car in

BERKELEY - Berkeley po­lice are joining Albany police in their search for a small red car, hoping to turn up some new clue in the seir'slaylltg. of 7-year-old Johnellamilkersoru

A man driving the car at­tempted to pick up a seven-year-girl on her way home from Cor­nell School in Albany Wednesday aflerncon. The driver asked the girl for directions to Talbot street and when she said she didn't know, the man said, "Hop i n . "

The girl ran down the street several blocks and the man pulled alongside and again in­vited her to "hop i n . " The gir l ran to the porch of her grand­mother's home nearby and the car drove off.

The girl reported the incident to a neighbor, who called Al­bany police.

Berkeley p o l i c e Inspector Ralph Schillinger said he had

^ffflid HP m*hrU WUker-J^ son case reialing tu 't that description but tha; uiv cir­cumstances warrant close inves­tigation, Johnelia was reported missing Jan. 9 when she failed to return from a store around the corner from her home in the industrial section. Her body was found three blocks away from her home on Jan. 12.

The only clue Berkeley police have in the case is a pair of bloodstained panties believed to be Johnella's, They are present­ly being subjected to laboratory tests at the Santa Rita crime facility.

A door-to-door check of resi­dences in the area where Joh­nella's body was found is ex­pected to wind up today. So far police have been unable to turn up information that might help them.

Plaster casts of two footprints near the lumber pile under which Johnella's body was found have been checked and are not related to the crime.

Still missing are the black, soft - soled moccasins Johnelia wore the night of her disappear­ance and the 39 cents change, half-gallon carton of milk and bottle of cola she carried from the store.

Pohce are still hoping that someone may come forward with some bit of information that wil l help them with the case.

Timetable In Murder

fe\k B E R K E I ^ Y ^ M u r d e r victim

i Johnella/Willierson},7, was last '"Jmi--aiwe--aL.aJ3C*n 10:10 p.m.

Jan. 9. instead of 9:30 p.m. as originally believed.

Police Inspector Ralph Schill­inger. still pushing a relentless search for her killer, said today it is hoped the new information will produce other witnesses who may have seen the child at the later time.

He said the hour was estab­lished by a careful reconstruc­tion of events by witnesses pres­ent the Saturday night the little girl disappeared.

Three teen-age girls who were in Superior Liquors at 2575 San Pablo Ave. when Johnelia came in to get milk and a soda pop remembered the child was in the store during a certain va­riety act showing on a television set there.

The act was broadcast at 10:07 p.m. and the girls left the store a few minutes later. As they drove away, they recalled seeing Johnelia in front of the store with her purchases in a brown paper bag.

Johnella's body was found Jan. 12 under a stack of lumber in the corner of a metals supply company 472 blocks from her home.

Girl Slaying B E R K E L E Y - A n e w -

but shadowy—figure has been placed onJhe sceire, where little Johnelia rwilkersoru was last se^iT'Tan. 9 before her murder.

Three teen-age girls at the l i ­quor store on San Pablo Ave. where Johnelia had gone for i milk and a soft drink described a man who left the store shortly before the child. [

They told Police, Inspector' Ralph Schillinger he^was a Ne-! gro between 45 and 50 w i t h ! streaks of gray in/his hair and a two or three day growth of beard. /

The girls estin^ted his height at about 5-feet-^, and said he was heavy ^et, ifit not fat.

He pedalted aNvay on a rusty bicycle witK 90 front fender.

ContinMd Page Z, Col. 8

Continued froih Page 1

He was wearing a dark sweater and dark raeged trousers.

Schillinger, in his efforts to solve the murder of the 7-year-old schoolgirl, hopes to talk to anydne wpo might have seen her on the Saturday night of her disapp^r^nce.

He appealed to the man to come to the police station for a confidential talk, because his account of events that night might turn up a clue.

On Jan. 12, Johnella's body was f o u n d , bludgeoned and| stabbed, under a pile of boards at a factory yard AVz blocks from her home at l l l l Parker' St.

2nd Spot Involved In Girls AAurder

BERKELEY - Debris, like deeds, speaks louder t h a n words, and it implicates a sec­ond industrial site in the final, pffced w^derings of Johnelia

AVilkerson.) i f t ~ t h e ^ u r d e r of 7-year-old

bhnella more than a month ago, few words are heard, but industrial leavings culled from her clothing and from another work area not far away speak through the medium of Alame­da County Criminologist Robert Cooper.

His microscopic comparisons show sameness in sawdust (from h e r stockings), paint chips and tiny aluminum frag­ments (from her dress) and minute particles of a nonmag­netic, non-ferrous metal (from her stockings), found at both work spots.

Debris from Site No. 2 In­cludes a single orlon thread that could have come f r o m Johnella's blue, orlon sweater.

Whether the talking debris wi l l eventually testify in court remains for the outcome of con­tinuous investigations by Inspec­tor Ralph Schillinger and two other officers.

Ironically, the matching de­bris was collected where some blood-stained panties were found, yet it has not been shown

conclusively that the panties were Johnella's.

The second-grade pupil disap­peared Jan. 9 while on a night­time shopping errand around the corner from her home at •flu Parker St. Her body was found Jan. 12 beneath a pile of weathered timberj in the side yard of a metals plant near Seventh and Parker Streets, 4 /2 blocks from t h e home she shared with seven younger brothers and sisters.

Medical examination disclosed she had been beaten, stabbed and sexually molested.

Berkeley police have written more than 400 reports on the case.

Johnelia Wilkersonj7 . left her home at I i r T T a f k e r St. in Berkeley at 9:30 p.m. J a n . 9, 1965. to get a half gallon of milk and a bottle of soda pop for her p a r e n U . f ^ ^ . ^

Three teen-age girls shortly after 10 p.m. outside the store aro ner from her home. Herf parents did not see her alive a£|ain.

T h r e e days la^et", Workmen discovered the secDndrgrade stu-;^nd^ra(

dent's body beheath a pile of weathered timbers in the side y a r d of ^ mrftals plant 4 Vk blocks froru h^r home.

M e d i c a l e x a i m n a t i o n s r e ­v e a l e d she hard been beaten, stabbed and s e S u i ^ molested.