CA CA - WANTED: Carl Alfred Eder - murdered 4 kids & mother, 1958 - escaped 1974

Calif. Killer Still At Large 50 Years After A Brutal Crime


Carl Alfred Eder

Sex: Male
Race: White
Current Age: 70
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 165 - 175 lbs.
Other Phys. Characteristics:
Cops say Eder probably still has several moles on his cheeks and left eye. They say he has sunken eyes and hollow cheekbones.

Case summary:

El Cajon, Calif. resident Thomas Pendergast was driving on the San Diego Freeway in the fall of 1958 when cops say he noticed a hitchhiker on the side of the road. Thomas offered the 16-year-old a ride and later decided to invite the homeless teen home. El Cajon cops say that six weeks later, hitchhiker -- Carl Alfred Eder -- was arrested for murdering Thomas' wife and four children.

Location information:

Cops say Eder may be working as a lab technician. They say he is skilled with knives and woodwork. He is very good at making cabinets.

Last Seen: El Cajon , CA

Last updated July 20, 2008

Photos at link below:

Authorities created this age-enhanced photo of convicted killer Carl Eder.

Authorities created this age-enhanced photo of convicted killer Carl Eder with a mustache.

This photo was taken of Carl Eder while he was awaiting trial for the murder of a mother and her four children in El Cajon, Calif.

This mug shot was taken of convicted killer Carl Eder when he was arrested for murdering a mother and her four children.

Convcited killer Carl Eder's murder spree in 1958 was feature on the front page of the evening tribune.

This is a picture of the reconstruction that was created of the body that was found on the Pendergasts' property.

This necklace was discovered on the body of the victim found on the Pendergasts' property.

This picture is of the body that was found on the Pendergasts' property.

LINK:

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=55472
 
Do you suppose he could be Carl Eder?

Websleuths thread:

TX TX - San Angelo - WhtMale 966UMTX, 70-90, Lived Under Multiple ID's, Mar'05 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

And Doe listing:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/966umtx.html

The age would be right, and this gentleman seems to have a thin, angular face and prominent nose like Carl Eder's. Eye color is also on-both are described as having blue or hazel eyes. The thing that gives me pause is that Carl Eder is described as being tall and gangly, while the Texas Doe has a height of 5'7 given-not exactly what I'd describe as tall. However, age-related bone loss and muscle degeneration could account for losing several inches of height. My grandmother was 5'7 in her prime and 5'2 when she passed away. If he lost five inches of height in his old age, that would put him at 6'0-a height one could describe as tall.

Thoughts? I think it could be possible, but I'm a noob here. So any feedback and direction is quite welcome.
 
Authorities renew search for 1974 prison escapee
Napa Valley Register
January 03, 2013

The California Department of Corrections is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a convicted murderer who escaped from prison in 1974 and was last seen two years later in the Upvalley area.Carl Alfred Eder was convicted of murdering a mother and her four young children.

Eder had ties to motorcycle gangs and radical left-wing groups. It’s possible that he was murdered by members of one of those groups who were nervous about his violent rhetoric, said Agent Scott Webb of the California Department of Corrections’ Special Service Unit.

One informant said Eder had threatened the life of then-President Gerald Ford, Webb said last week.“If he was spouting off all this crazy talk, it’s likely that they just put a bullet in his head and dropped him in a ditch, and that’s where he’s been since,” Webb said. That’s the most plausible explanation for Eder disappearing without a trace for so many years, he said.Eder would be 70 years old today. He’s described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, 175 pounds, with blond or gray hair, blue eyes, scars on his left hand and abdomen, and a mole under his left eye.

Eder has been featured on “America’s Most Wanted” several times over the years. Webb said the hunt for Eder is periodically renewed when the Department of Corrections looks back over its cold cases.“With so much happening in DNA technology, we go through these cold cases every two years,” Webb said.Eder escaped in October 1974 from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where he’d been serving two life sentences for murders he’d committed when he was only 16 years old. He left a note reading, “I’ve done enough time and I’m leaving.”

In 1958, Eder had been homeless and hitchhiking when he was picked up by Thomas Pendergast of El Cajon, who took pity on him and let him stay with his family until he could find a job and a home. Eder murdered Pendergast’s wife and four children six weeks later.

Eder later told detectives he’d exploded in a rage because one of the children, 4-year-old Diane, was annoying him. He shot the mother, Lois Pendergast, in the head. Then he stabbed each of the four children to death: Diane; David, 9; Thomas Jr., 6; and Allen, 2.

He was last seen in 1976 in the Calistoga and St. Helena areas, where he’d been linked to anti-government groups like the Venceremos Brigade and the Symbionese Liberation Army.Eder was also known to have ties to the Berkeley and San Francisco areas, New York, Kansas, and possibly Latin America or Canada.

Eder is a skilled cabinet maker and wood carver. He also had experience as a lab technician.

More, including photos at link below...

LINK:

http://napavalleyregister.com/star/...cle_fd936830-553d-11e2-a5ad-001a4bcf887a.html
 
Sue--

The chin looks remarkably similar, but it seems to me Eder's eyes are spaced further apart. It's an interesting thought, though. As you say, the height is off, but the age seems about right. I find it hard to imagine, though, that Eder would have stayed out of the way of law enforcement for that long, had he lived.

Still, you've got to wonder about the body that was dumped on the Pendergast property a couple years after he escaped. It doesn't appear to have made it into NamUs, which is a shame. It was specifically found not to match Eder. The question is whether it was dumped there to make it appear as though it might be him.

Wish that AMW link still worked, but here's the facial recon and the jewelry from the Pendergast property UID.

reconstructionbodyfoundonpendergastproperty_zps4dbdfdc3.jpg
jewelryfoundwithbodypendergastproperty_zps64cb7345.jpg


Also wish that there was more info about Howard Franklin Hardin, who disappeared from Norwalk, outside of LA, back in 1972. Ambercat dug up a 1975 LA Times article that mentioned him, including a pic that is hard to make out, but no detailed description. At that time, his half brother was looking for him, but there's no NamUs listing, and Ambercat's thread here is the only of the usual places mentioning him. It's too bad there are cases like these, not entered after all these years.
 
Email I sent to the contact in charge of case number 966umtx:

Good morning Mr. Smith,

I am contacting you today in regards to a potential match between an unidentified man and a missing person.

The unidentified: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/966umtx.html

The missing: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/14880/58

Both the unidentified individual and the missing have long, narrow features and relatively wide-set eyes. Both men have narrow but prominent jaws, and relatively bulbous tips of the nose. Ears are similar in both location and appearance on their heads. Each of these individuals appear to be proficient in obtaining and utilizing false identification, as evidenced by the assortment of aliases listed-both in Mr. Eder's NamUs page and in the case report created on the Doe Network website. Finally, the UID had damaged the finger pads on both of his hands to a point where verifying identification through fingerprinting would be nearly impossible. Mr. Eder is a fugitive from justice. Destruction of that which could identify him as a criminal would be a sensible maneuver on his part if he wished to remain a free man.

There is some differentiation in height between these two men, however this could be accounted for. Measurement errors happen, and bone loss due to age or disease process can cause a person to lose numerous inches of their height.

While it may not be a perfect match I believe it is a strong possibility and that the similarities between the men outweigh the differences. I sincerely hope that my thoughts on this very intriguing case will encourage you to compare the two.

Sincerely,

Sue Doe Nimm

If nothing else, it will eliminate a possibility.
 
Since I'm on a roll with emailing law enforcement tonight, I resubmitted the information on this man being a PM with Carl Eder to Russell Smith and Carrie Sutherland. Probably should have followed up a bit sooner than I did, but the past few months have gotten away from me. Here's hoping for resolution, no matter which direction it favors.
 
I found something, don't know if this is the guy, but he went under different names.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/28/charles-harrison-obituary

This link goes to the works of CH, an artist. I cannot find any reference to Carl Eder at this URL. I think something was changed. I could see Carl Edger having several aliases most definitely. When Carl Edger was last seen in 1976, is it known who saw him and if LE tried to capture him at that time? What areas did they investigate at the last reported siting of Carl Edger?

Satch
 
This link goes to the works of CH, an artist. I cannot find any reference to Carl Eder at this URL. I think something was changed. I could see Carl Edger having several aliases most definitely. When Carl Edger was last seen in 1976, is it known who saw him and if LE tried to capture him at that time? What areas did they investigate at the last reported siting of Carl Edger?

Satch

So darn sad.. I would have used other descriptions. BUMP
 
Sorry if this has been posted in the past,

What was the date that Carl Eder escaped from prison in 1974?

Satch
 
This is an awful case :-(
Some homeless people are homeless because they're anti-social. Pendergast tried to be a good Samaritan and the upshot was that his wife and four young children were murdered by the teenager whom Pendergast had tried to help. That punk murdered five people because a four-year-old was annoying him.
 
Carl Alfred Eder Escaped Prison Over 50 Years Ago After Murdering Family Of Five
https://stillunsolved.wordpress.com/tag/fugitive/


Carl Alfred Eder was a 16-year-old homeless teenager in the fall of 1958 when Thomas Pendergast, a family man and father of four, seen the young man hitchhiking alone on the San Diego Freeway and decided to give him a lift. He later invited the teen to stay at his home until he got a job and got on his feet.

Less than two months later, on December 12, 1958, a gruesome discovery was made at the Pendergast family home in El Cajon.

Thomas Pendergast had gone to work earlier that day and came home to his wife Lois Pendergast, 4-year-old daughter Diane, 2-year-old toddler named Allen, 6-year-old Thomas Jr. and 9-year-old David, who all had been bludgeoned/stabbed to death.

They were murdered in cold blood and Eder was the culprit...

LINK:

Carl Alfred Eder Escaped Prison Over 50 Years Ago After Murdering Family Of Five
 

Photos of Carl Alfred Elder circa 1958 and 1972

Carl Alfred Elder age progressed photos.
 
The height of Eder is puzzling. When he was arrested he was reported to be 5ft 4in (see Desert Sun 16 December 1958 — California Digital Newspaper Collection). Whilst boys often grow at 16 and 17 it is unusual to grow 8 inches. The article also clarifies that he had run away from Irondequoit, NY and there is a record of his birth (or of someone of that name) in Rochester NY on 30 June 1942 on Ancestry.
 
I can't believe that someone with his violent tendencies could go 46 years without ending up back in the system. I think he probably died in the 70s. It's tough to be sure, though.
 
I can't believe that someone with his violent tendencies could go 46 years without ending up back in the system. I think he probably died in the 70s. It's tough to be sure, though.

Honestly, I am questioning the long-held belief that violent criminals are destined to be chronic repeat offenders. With this new era of genetic genealogy crime-solving, we are seeing multiple instances where horrific crimes were committed and then the perpetrator stopped completely and lived (at least by all appearances) a relatively normal life. The prime example being golden state killer, Joseph D'Angelo.
 

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