The story is so confusing, and since it happened so long ago, it's even harder to put the pieces back together. I was in 11th grade when De Anna was murdered, and when I started to research her story just a few weeks ago, I began without even knowing her name; I only knew that she had left a house party and then was later found dead. I didn't even know the correct year in which it all happened, but I did happen to remember that there were three boys that were implicated, and that a lot of kids appeared to know who they were, but they upheld the 'code of silence' and no one was ever prosecuted for the crime.
Thanks to the 'Vacaville Reporter' topix thread, I have put the particulars together. Hopefully we'll learn more as time goes on.
Joe Silva lived in a house along with Jim Zimmermann (19 years old) who was a boarder. There was a house party at their place, and as usual there was a lot of high schoolers drinking and using drugs. De Anna Johnson attended the party and it's not clear if she was killed at the house, or if she left the party and then was later killed. She was strangled and bludgeoned in the head so badly that her dental records had to be referenced for an identification. The rumor at the time was that she left the party and was seen with three boys. The boys implicated were Jim Zimmermann (the 19 year old son of James Zimmermann, the pastor at Vacaville's Bethany Lutheran church), Marvin Ray 'Ziggy' Markle, and Bryan Ariza (who was a high school sophomore at the time).
I don't have any facts regarding how the Vacaville police department dealt with the case, but only know that Bryan Ariza was arrested, after a Grand Jury heard all the evidence, in 1986 but was never indicted for the murder. The police department has always kept tabs on the suspect(s) but never has moved forward with an arrest and trial.
I'm hoping for much more information, and for someone to eventually receive the $50,000 reward for a conviction of the guilty person/people.
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