CA CA - Clyda Delaney, 24, & Nancy Warren, 64, Mendocino Co, 13 Oct 1968

[j_rey916]

BUMP for Nancy and Clyda. I'm still looking........

 

[j_rey916]

In this link, they are trying to link it to the Manson murders, but the strangulation was not part of the Manson MO. So i don't think that's even a possibility. Just IMO though.

https://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/...on-family-responsible-for-the-zodiac-murders/

It just doesn't seem feasible, does it? The crime scenes from the Manson murders and this one are SO different. I just can't see any connection.

 

[Betty P]

BUMP for Nancy and Clyda. I'm still looking........

Thanks for bumping. I was just thinking of the case the other day and couldn't recall their names.

 

[j_rey916]

Thanks for bumping. I was just thinking of the case the other day and couldn't recall their names.

I think of them every day. So glad I'm not the only one that remembers them~

 

[j_rey916]

Although a cold driving rain rinsed away footprints and much forensic material from Clyda's body, there were the still the bootlaces used for garrotes to consider. These were characterized as new, but not recently purchased. They were also of an odd length—36.5 inches long. No peculiarities in knotting were mentioned.

Early on, it was noted that though a cashbox in Nancy Warren's trailer had been pillaged of a minor sum, a glass jar containing $300 was clearly visible on a closet shelf but had been ignored. Later, it became apparent that a jewelry box had been stolen from the same closet. The jewelry box was described as being black lacquer, 5 by 5 by 12 inches, with a pink, green, and rose floral design on its cover. Contents were given as unset diamonds up to half a carat in size; diamond rings; brooches; watches; and pearls. Value was estimated at close to $5,000. A description of the jewel box and its contents were circulated to LE agencies.

Blood was recovered from under Nancy Warren's fingernails. In those pre-DNA days, the most they could do was type it via the A, B, AB, O system. It turned out to be a different blood type than Dulaney's. By the time DNA analysis was thought of, the blood sample evidence had deteriorated into uselessness.

I read recently *somewhere* that the knots in question were granny knots. I'm going back through my stuff to see where I read that.

 

[j_rey916]

BACKGROUND

She married a local logger, John Ussery. They quickly had three sons. At some point they moved away from Ukiah. However, Clyda parted from Ussery and returned to Ukiah with her three boys. There are two differing accounts of this: one says she left Ussery “a couple of years” before the murder; the other says she parted from the logger only a few months prior to the murders.

John Ussery moved to Oregon while he was still in high school; he is in the Ukiah High yearbook in 1958, then shows up in the Ashland (OR) High School yearbook the following year. I'm assuming Clyda followed him up there (their marriage certificate was registered in Oregon in 1961). As for when she left, their divorce was finalized (in Oregon) on Feb 20, 1967. Clyda had been done with Ussery for well over a year when she was murdered.

 

[j_rey916]

Clyda's ex-husband, John Ussery, was determined by Oregon LE to be in the area of Eugene OR during the murder. When notified of the deaths, he returned to Ukiah and retained an attorney to further his suit for custody of his sons. At 10:30 AM on 17 October, the day of the double funeral, Ussery volunteered to take the children on a fishing expedition to nearby Lake Mendocino. Ussery's lawyer assured the Warrens, with whom the children were staying, that Ussery would return the children after the funeral. The Warrens returned from the burials to an empty house. At 5 PM, Ussery called the MCSO from Medford OR to report the boys were with him, safe and sound. A deputy forwarded the news of the domestic kidnapping to the embittered Warren couple.

Do you know why LE let this go? Was it because he's their father and had the right to just take them? It seems like such a terrible thing to do. Also, when you say "the Warrens", to whom are you referring? Clyda's father and wife?

 

[j_rey916]

Clip shows a Disney show was on at 7:30 PM and lasting an hour.

Ukiah Daily Journal, 11 October 1968: 11 Oct 1968, Page 18 - Ukiah Daily Journal at Newspapers.com

Hi burblestein,
The link takes me to a pay wall. Are you sure that this is the only Disney show that was on that Sunday night? I'm trying to whittle down my timeline of the night.

 

[j_rey916]

I might add, that despite Johnny Ussery Jr.'s suspicions, there is no evidence that Don Dulaney murdered Clyda and Nancy. An investigator checked his financials, and could find no evidence of payment to a hitman./QUOTE]

Hi again, where did you find out that they checked his financials? I did t see that anywhere.

 

[burblestein]

Somehow, I have gotten waaaaayyyy behind on answers. Let's see what I can reply to in the next few posts.

 

[burblestein]

Beginning back at post #41:

I found nothing in Nancy's background that would have caused someone to murder her. I won't say there wasn't such...just that I didn't find anything. (Now watch, as j_rey digs something up....)

I didn't find any info about DNA.

 

[burblestein]

Post #42 reply:

I have found tenuous connections between the Mansonoids and Mendoland.

1. Charlie was arrested in Legget and spent 30 days in Mendo's hoosegow in 1967.

2. Five of the Manson women were serving 63 day sentences in that same jail two months before the murders.

3. One of those women had to be in country court after that to reclaim her child from foster care.

4. The LaBiancas had their hands tied behind them with leather thongs.

So, it's not just a case of the usual scroungy Mendo characters confusing the issue. On the other hand, I did say tenuous connnections....

 

[burblestein]

Post #42 revisited:
I checked out Dulaney's subsequent career. He was never again promoted. However, he served until retirement at age 55. Then again, I had one of his contemporaries confide to me that CHP always did suspect him. I don't recall my source for the retirement info, or whether or not it was MSM.

 

[burblestein]

Post #60:

If Clyda retrieved a weapon from her purse, why didn't she use it? Or was it taken from her? If so, why was she killed with bootlaces instead of her own knife or gun?

 

[burblestein]

Post #68:

There was only one Disney show scheduled that night. A year later, it changed its title to "Wonderful World of Disney".

 

[j_rey916]

Post #68:

There was only one Disney show scheduled that night. A year later, it changed its title to "Wonderful World of Disney".

You're right- "Walt Disney" played on channel 4 at 7:30 for what looks like an hour.

 

[j_rey916]

A MCSO detective would go so far as to search for a large cash disbursement or other evidence that Dulaney had paid a contract killer to commit the murders. No evidence was found.

Where did you read that they looked through Dulaney's financials? I've never seen that mentioned.

 

[j_rey916]

Post #60:

If Clyda retrieved a weapon from her purse, why didn't she use it? Or was it taken from her? If so, why was she killed with bootlaces instead of her own knife or gun?

After thinking it over, I don't think she was getting a weapon. I've dumped my purse out more than once just to find something in it, so it could be unrelated. Or maybe the killer(s) did that afterwards to make it look like a robbery?

 

[burblestein]

The answer to this may be that she was looking for a smaller item not easily noticed, and it was not a weapon. But then, what was she looking for? And why?

 

[j_rey916]

The answer to this may be that she was looking for a smaller item not easily noticed, and it was not a weapon. But then, what was she looking for? And why?

Maybe a key to her grandmother's trailer?