Twenty-year-old Bryan Calvin Hartnell and twenty-two-year-old Cecelia Ann Shepard were both stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County; Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969.

The couple had been enjoying a picnic at Lake Berryessa by Twin Oak Ridge when Cecelia noticed a man close by acting strangely: he had been observed taking refuge behind a tree and had been dressed in a black executioner’s hood and a waistline bib that was decorated with the Zodiac crossed circle; he was also wearing a pair of clip-on sunglasses. He then approached the young couple pointing a gun, to which Cecelia would alert Bryan with the words, ‘oh my God he’s gotta gun!’

Shepard later recalled these details to Deputy Dave Collins after she was attacked, and in an interview, Collins would later said she told him that, ‘Brian and I were here on the blanket, down by the water and we’re just enjoying the afternoon having a nice time talking and I saw this guy, he was coming down the hillside and he seemed to stop and watch us, looking at us.’ Collins asked her, ‘what distance, how far away was he?’ to which she pointed to an area; in response the deputy said, ‘that’s about 200-300 yards away,’ and she nodded then added, ‘that’s where I first saw him.’

It is suspected they are victims of the notorious Zodiac Killer.

Page one of Cecelia Ann Shepard’s autopsy report.