CA CA - Eric Coy, 9, Martinez, 24 January 1987

On the morning of January 24th 1987, a group of youngsters discovered the body of nine-year-old Eric Coy in a wooded area behind Martinez Junior High School. He was riding his bike to a friend's house when he was attacked and stabbed eleven times. A sketch of a possible suspect was released following the murder but he has never been identified. The murder remains unsolved but the current detective is determined to find the person responsible.

Cold Case Still Under Investigation

This weekend represents the somber anniversary of the savage murder of Eric Coy, 9, who was found by other youths with 11 stab wounds caused by a sharp object or knife 6-7 inches long to the upper torso, including one to his neck, near the footbridge at the west end of the Martinez Junior High School property about 11 a.m. on Jan. 24, 1987.

Click to expand...

The initial investigation also noted the suspect had been lying in wait prior to contact with the victim in this unprovoked attack.

Mathers acknowledged in the days leading up to the attack investigators learned there was a disagreement between the Coy family and a neighbor. But, to date, no additional information has been developed to refute or prove this theory any further.

Click to expand...

Boy, 9, Riding Bicycle Near School, Is Slain - January 26, 1987

An unprovoked, brutal and horrifying attack in broad daylight and the guy gets away with it. That's pretty unbelievable-except it happened!

I can't imagine the neighbor dispute would lead to something this extreme especially against a child who would probably not have been directly involved.

This must have been a total psycho who was around the Bay Area at the time.

There are two sketchs of the guy so I assume at least two people saw him. The drawings are quite similar although not identical.

Westley Allan Dodd comes to mind although he doesn't look much like either sketch.

Bumping

I think I might know who the attacker is, but I have no evidence. At the time, he was a ten year old boy. I believe it was a crime of revenge. He later attempted murder on his wife almost exactly ten years later. The guy talks about it in passing, referencing Eric Coy as "my friend". He was posting on Facebook about "revealing the attacker" on the anniversary, and one if his friends commented "when you post s*** like this it makes me think you did it." He's talked about making a nonprofit and hosting candlelight vigils for Eric Coy. This seems like a manifestation of guilt, as another article noted, the affected family itself doesn't even have an active memorial online. The guy is really off, and has always been really isolated from the rest of kids his age. I don't know what to do about it, I feel weird reporting a gut feeling to an active investigation but it makes so much sense to me. Would cops ever suspect a child? What's really eerie is that he looks like the sketch police released at the time. The dark piercing eyes, slicked black hair, nose and acne marks look just like him. He's a really tall guy, he was a really tall kid too. It's just too coincidental.