CA CA - Frances Rash, 40, Dublin, 2 Jan 1979

[jewelsmac]

On January 2nd 1979 Frances Rash, 40, entered her Dublin home to find an armed man inside and her two children tied up on the floor. She was taken into a bedroom and killed. The children managed to free themselves and get to a neighbors house to call police, but the killer has never been found.

The children told police they had received two phone calls from a man claiming to work for GEMCO saying they had won a prize drawing.

The suspect was described as an Asian man between 26-30 years old, weighing 150-160 pounds and wearing shoulder-length hair, slightly tinted metal-framed glasses, an orange down jacket with zipper and dark pants, and carrying a brown attache case.

Alameda County Sheriff Cold Case Homicide Unit at 510-667-3661 or the anonymous tip line at 510-667-3622. Reference case No. 79-0054.

A composite sketch was made of the suspect.

Sheriff's office marks 40th anniversary of Dublin cold-case murder

 

[jewelsmac]

Investigators Seek Leads In Unsolved Dublin Homicide
Four decades ago, a Dublin mother was killed in her own home. Investigators are asking for the public's help to solve this cold case.

DUBLIN, CA — If Francis Rash was alive today she would be 80 years old. She probably would have watched her two children graduate from college and get married. Maybe she would have held grandchildren in her arms. Sadly, those moments were stolen from Rash when she was fatally shot in her Dublin home more than forty years ago.

On Jan. 2, 1979 at 9:25 a.m, the Dublin mother stumbled across an armed intruder in her home located in the 6700 block of Tory Way. Investigators said the unidentified person had captured her children, tied them up and left them on the floor. Although the children were able to escape and call for help, their mother was not as fortunate. The suspect took her to a bedroom and shot her, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Homicide investigators said that prior to their mother's death, one of the children took two phone calls from a man who claimed to work for Gemco and told the child they won a drawing.

Investigators said the Asian man appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, according to witnesses. He had shoulder-length hair, glasses and weighed about 150-160 pounds. He was wearing an orange jacket, dark-colored pants and was carrying a brown case.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office shared details of the homicide, along with a sketch of the suspect, in an effort to generate new leads and solve the cold case.

 

[jewelsmac]

I remember this because she was the librarian at Wells Middle School where both my brothers attended school.

I have seen her name as both Francis and Frances in news articles. I will try to get it corrected to Frances in the thread name.

 

[jewelsmac]

Articles state that Frances arrived home unexpectedly at 9:30am. Perhaps whomever did this may have watched her leave, made the calls to the children and then went to the home. This was before cell phones so this person could not have just been waiting in their car for her to leave. January 2nd 1979 was a Tuesday, perhaps the children were still on Christmas break from school.

 

[PommyMommy]

Nothing taken from the home, she wasn't raped...was she married, separated, divorced...?
MOO

 

[jewelsmac]

Nothing taken from the home, she wasn't raped...was she married, separated, divorced...?
MOO

I am working on getting more information. A husband is not mentioned in any of the news articles I have found so far

 

[jewelsmac]

It seems she was still alive when the police arrived, this old news article shows she was in the local hospital in critical condition. She died the morning after the
stabbing, on January 3rd.

Woman stabbed by Intruder
Santa Cruz Sentinel January 3, 1979

 

[jewelsmac]

Friday December 29th: Man calls Rash home and tells 17 year old daughter of the victim that she had won a raffle prize from GEMCO, a local store. She had filled out a raffle entry at the store in October 1978. He asked if he could deliver the prize and she told him no, as she was alone in the house.
* Police state the 4 other Dublin/San Ramon homes received similar calls during this time frame. Those people contacted the store and found they had not won. One of these calls was made by a woman

Monday January 2nd: The man calls again and this time the daughter says ok because her 13 year old brother is home with her. He arrived 10 minutes later and immediately pulled a gun and tied up the children.

Frances arrived home from work at Wells Middle School, where she worked as a Library assistant, at 9:45am.

The intruder bound her and stabbed her. Article states that neighbors did hear her scream but did not call the Sheriff. The intruder ran off. The children had freed themselves and went to a neighbors house to call the police.

She was taken to Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore. She died the following morning.

Robert Rash, Frances' husband was at work at the time of the attack.

Woman knifed by Intruder Dies
S.F Examiner - Wednesday January 3rd, 1979

 

[PommyMommy]

It seems she was still alive when the police arrived, this old news article shows she was in the local hospital in critical condition. She died the morning after the
stabbing, on January 3rd.
View attachment 174283
Woman stabbed by Intruder
Santa Cruz Sentinel January 3, 1979

Oh, my gosh, this is horrible. I'm going to go with the early news clippings that say she was stabbed, not shot.

Friday December 29th: Man calls Rash home and tells 17 year old daughter of the victim that she had won a raffle prize from GEMCO, a local store. She had filled out a raffle entry at the store in October 1978. He asked if he could deliver the prize and she told him no, as she was alone in the house.
* Police state the 4 other Dublin/San Ramon homes received similar calls during this time frame. Those people contacted the store and found they had not won. One of these calls was made by a woman

Monday January 2nd: The man calls again and this time the daughter says ok because her 13 year old brother is home with her. He arrived 10 minutes later and immediately pulled a gun and tied up the children.

Frances arrived home from work at Wells Middle School, where she worked as a Library assistant, at 9:45am.

The intruder bound her and stabbed her. Article states that neighbors did hear her scream but did not call the Sheriff. The intruder ran off. The children had freed themselves and went to a neighbors house to call the police.

She was taken to Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore. She died the following morning.

Robert Rash, Frances' husband was at work at the time of the attack.

Woman knifed by Intruder Dies
S.F Examiner - Wednesday January 3rd, 1979

The man gave his name as "Harvey." He bound her, slashed her throat and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Was the knife used by "Harvey" from the home or did he bring it with him?

Do we know the address of the Gemco store?

"He arrived 10 minutes later." "He escaped running east on Tory Way."

MOO

 

[jewelsmac]

Friday December 29th: Man calls Rash home and tells 17 year old daughter of the victim that she had won a raffle prize from GEMCO, a local store. She had filled out a raffle entry at the store in October 1978. He asked if he could deliver the prize and she told him no, as she was alone in the house.
* Police state the 4 other Dublin/San Ramon homes received similar calls during this time frame. Those people contacted the store and found they had not won. One of these calls was made by a woman

Monday January 2nd: The man calls again and this time the daughter says ok because her 13 year old brother is home with her. He arrived 10 minutes later and immediately pulled a gun and tied up the children.

Frances arrived home from work at Wells Middle School, where she worked as a Library assistant, at 9:45am.

The intruder bound her and stabbed her. Article states that neighbors did hear her scream but did not call the Sheriff. The intruder ran off. The children had freed themselves and went to a neighbors house to call the police.

She was taken to Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore. She died the following morning.

Robert Rash, Frances' husband was at work at the time of the attack.

Woman knifed by Intruder Dies
S.F Examiner - Wednesday January 3rd, 1979

Correction: January 2nd was a Tuesday, not a Monday.

 

[jewelsmac]

Oh, my gosh, this is horrible. I'm going to go with the early news clippings that say she was stabbed, not shot.

The man gave his name as "Harvey." He bound her, slashed her throat and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Was the knife used by "Harvey" from the home or did he bring it with him?

Do we know the address of the Gemco store?

"He arrived 10 minutes later." "He escaped running east on Tory Way."

MOO

The article says she was stabbed with a Kitchen knife, so I am thinking it was from the home.

I am working on a map to show the areas

 

[PommyMommy]

The article says she was stabbed with a Kitchen knife, so I am thinking it was from the home.

I am working on a map to show the areas

Yes, I do too, which confuses me even more. Looking forward to seeing your map.
MOO

 

[jewelsmac]

Location Map

Wells middle school library ,where she worked was only .2 miles from her home.

 

[jewelsmac]

The police stated that the "you won a prize" had been tried on other families in town around the same time frame.

The killer/killers would have had access to the raffle entries in order to get the phone numbers and addresses of potential victims. This would indicate an employee or security/cleaner/contractor.

Also, I am thinking either the potential victims were watched/stalked ahead of time. The killer showed up at the house 10 minutes after he called. No GPS then, no cell phone or Google maps....he knew where the house was or had driven there before, trial run maybe?

I am not sure how much the killer brought with him other than the gun. He stabbed Frances with a kitchen knife, which i am thinking must have come from the house.
Why stab her when he had a gun? Was the gun just to scare the kids?
Did he intend to abduct the daughter?

 

[jewelsmac]

Site map

My previous site map seems to have disappeared.

 

[McCueball]

The police stated that the "you won a prize" had been tried on other families in town around the same time frame.

The killer/killers would have had access to the raffle entries in order to get the phone numbers and addresses of potential victims. This would indicate an employee or security/cleaner/contractor.

Also, I am thinking either the potential victims were watched/stalked ahead of time. The killer showed up at the house 10 minutes after he called. No GPS then, no cell phone or Google maps....he knew where the house was or had driven there before, trial run maybe?

I am not sure how much the killer brought with him other than the gun. He stabbed Frances with a kitchen knife, which i am thinking must have come from the house.
Why stab her when he had a gun? Was the gun just to scare the kids?
Did he intend to abduct the daughter?

I was just 4-years-old at the time and lived a few houses down on Tory Way. I was home with my mother that morning, and while I don’t recall events at all, it was discussed often over subsequent years. This is purely hearsay, but I was always told that Mrs. Rash’s throat was slashed with her own kitchen knife, and that the boy’s hands and feet were bound, but the girl was only tied by the wrists. My parents speculated that he was either still in the process of binding the girl, or had intent to sexually assault her, when Mrs. Rash came home unexpectedly and caught him off guard. Our next-door neighbor, “Mike,” was the person who contacted police after the girl came running down the street, screaming. My mom was always shocked that she didn’t hear anything, and only learned what happened when Mike came to check on us a short time later, worried because he knew we were alone. This case has haunted me for 40 years, and I’m so happy to see renewed interest in solving this horrible crime. I did read a few years ago that a grant was awarded to test DNA from cold cases, and this one was mentioned specifically. I wonder what happened with that?

 

[McCueball]

Grant defrosts cold cases – East Bay Times

 

[PommyMommy]

I was just 4-years-old at the time and lived a few houses down on Tory Way. I was home with my mother that morning, and while I don’t recall events at all, it was discussed often over subsequent years. This is purely hearsay, but I was always told that Mrs. Rash’s throat was slashed with her own kitchen knife, and that the boy’s hands and feet were bound, but the girl was only tied by the wrists. My parents speculated that he was either still in the process of binding the girl, or had intent to sexually assault her, when Mrs. Rash came home unexpectedly and caught him off guard. Our next-door neighbor, “Mike,” was the person who contacted police after the girl came running down the street, screaming. My mom was always shocked that she didn’t hear anything, and only learned what happened when Mike came to check on us a short time later, worried because he knew we were alone. This case has haunted me for 40 years, and I’m so happy to see renewed interest in solving this horrible crime. I did read a few years ago that a grant was awarded to test DNA from cold cases, and this one was mentioned specifically. I wonder what happened with that?

Wow, glad to have you here, McCueball. Welcome.

 

[PommyMommy]

Grant defrosts cold cases – East Bay Times

From the article published September 12, 2005, updated August 17, 2016:

[...]

Dudek said the sheriff’s office has used the grant to re-examine evidence in nine other cases, including the 1983 murder of Kellie Poppleton, whose body was found in Alameda County just outside of Fremont; the 1979 throat-slaying homicide of Frances Rash in Dublin; and the brutal 1991 slaying of Jessica McHenry in Livermore.

[...]

With the funding, Dudek said, two detectives were assigned to dredge up evidence in cases dating back 30 years.

[...]

 

[carash]

I am Cyndy Rash. And you don’t have your facts right. My mom did not work at Wells Junior High. She was the librarian at Fallon Elementary school. She was not shot, she was stabbed with a butcher knife from our kitchen. The assailant did call, but I did not tell him to come to our home. He entered our home without my brother and I admitting him. Our feet and hands were tied, but after numerous attempts, I was able to free my feet and run to escape. My mother was alive when the police came, but died early the next day. I never entered any contest at Gemco. But I do believe that the murderer was a pharmacist who worked across the road from Gemco. And I do believe that he was involved and prosecuted in similar crimes in Southern Californian.
I have never been able to return to CA...