Murder of Mary London, Cold Case in Sacramento, Solved

by Jessica

Mary London
pic from Newsweek

Mary London was 17 years and a 10th grader when she went to school at Sacramento High School on January 14, 1981.  She attended all her classes that day and when school ended at 2:00 pm she stayed behind to help a teacher clean up their classroom from a lesson. Sometime after this a hall monitor would be the last person to see her alive. No one on campus saw her leave and when her stepmom came to pick her up at 2:30 pm she couldn't be found.

Sacramento Charter High School via Google Maps

In 1981, Mary London was living with her father and stepmom in Sacramento on U Street. Her father owned a shoe shine parlor at 9th Street and J Street in the heart of downtown Sacramento. In December 1980, Mary had moved in with her father and transferred from McClatchy High School to Sacramento High School. Though she had yet to make new friends she was described by people as a "nice kid" and "bubbly." In the Sacramento Bee article titled, "Foul Play: High School Girl Found Murdered," a friend of the family said of Mary, "She was just beginning to live. Her father was so proud of her. If I was her father, I'd have been proud, too. She was a pretty girl."

When Mary went missing she was described as 4 feet 11 inches tall, 110 pounds and wearing rust colored corduroy pants and a sweater that was maroon. No one at the school came forward to say they saw her leave campus, or get a ride from someone else. To them she simply disappeared from the face of the earth. The only possible clue released to the public was that an eye witness came forward to say they thought they saw her get into a vehicle near 8th and K Streets in Sacramento. The possible witness believed there were three men in the vehicle and that they saw this happen between 4:00 and 5:00 pm that day. This area is almost 3 miles north-west of the school. According to google maps it would have taken her an hour walking to reach this distance. If she was seen in this area she would have been only a mile away from her house and just a few minutes from her father's business on 9th Street and J Street. Police shared the witness information with the public but did not say whether it was considered accurate or if anyone else saw what this witness saw.

Map Showing Mary's possible path walking home via google maps
U Street is her house, 8th & K Street where a witness may have seen her

The next day, Thursday, January 15, 1981 at 7:00 am, a Pacific Telephone Employee was out checking phone lines on San Juan Rd in Sacramento when they found the body of Mary London. The area she was found was rural and on a stretch of road with I-5 to the East and I-880 to the South. Mary London's body was found nude except for socks and one brown shoe. On her right wrist she had a piece of twine tied. Police did not know if she had at one point after she went missing been tied up but the piece of twine indicated that may have been possible. Mary was stabbed several times in the chest. Police didn't know at the time if she was sexually assaulted and if that changed that information was never printed in the newspaper.

Approximate area Mary London was found via google maps

Investigators began to put together a timeline of Mary's last day but with little information and DNA testing yet to come, her case quickly became cold. The Sacramento Bee, the newspaper of record for the area, added the murder of Mary London to their Secret Witness Program and offered $2,500 dollars to anyone with information that would lead to answers in this case. Under the Secret Witness program, tipsters are allowed to remain anonymous and it doesn't impact whether or not they receive the money.

In April of 2020, 39 years after Mary was murdered, Sacramento police announced that they had found the sole suspect in Mary London's murder. Using genetic genealogy, the police were able to match DNA found on the victim with a man named Vernon Parker.

Parker was 17 in 1981, when Mary went missing and was murdered. While finding this connection meant Mary's case was now solved and closed it was announced that Vernon Parker would not face a courtroom. Unfortunately, Parker was murdered only a year after it's believed he murdered Mary.

In August of 1982, one of Parker's friends got into a fight with another man at the Hof Brau Bar near 7th and L Street in Sacramento. Two hours after the fight took place, Vernon Parker walked back into the bar, told the people inside he had been stabbed and collapsed. The man who stabbed Parker, was also the man involved in the earlier fights, told police that Parker and his friend had attacked him on 10th and L Streets. He said that he stabbed Parker in self defense.

Vernon Parker was killed in the stabbing and his murderer was sentenced to five years in state prison.

The Sacramento Bee, December 18, 1982

While Vernon Parker won't be handed a jail sentence for the crime of murdering Mary London the hard work by investigators does provide answers for those who loved her. Nothing can repair the crime Parker committed in 1981 and the loss for everyone who knew Mary.

A younger Mary London
pic from Newsweek

On January 21, 1981, a funeral was held for Mary Cathy London at Thompson Funeral Home.


For More Information:

Maharidge, Dale & Alex Miller. (1981 Jan 16). "Foul Play, High School Girl Found Murdered." The Sacramento Bee, B1.

"Capital Teen's Slaying Joins Secret Witness List." (1981 Jan 29). The Sacramento Bee, B3.

Mary C. London Funeral Notice. (1981 Jan 21). The Sacramento Bee, A21.

Mary London Secret Witness Information. (1981 Apr 23). The Sacramento Bee, AA6.

"Stabbing Victim." (1982 Aug 25). The Sacramento Bee, B2.

"Killer Draws Prison." (1982 Aug 18). The Sacramento Bee, E5.

McGough, Michael. (2020 Apr 23). "DNA links suspect to 1981 cold case murder of disabled Sacramento teen, police say." The Sacramento Bee; available at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article242230826.html

Murdock, Jason. (2020 Apr 24). "DNA Breakthrough Identifies Suspect In Cold Case Murder of California Teen Unsolved For Nearly 40 Years." Newsweek; available at https://www.newsweek.com/california-sacramento-police-cold-case-mary-london-dna-genetic-genealogy-testing-1499951

Unsolved Murder of Veronica Martinez (1992)

Written by: Jessica

About halfway through our first season we realized that the cases we had covered had also been cases that were, for the most part, covered in depth by the media. While researching we came across thousands of cases that we had never heard of, and also had received far less media attention. Many of these cases were unsolved and in most loved ones or police were asking the public for help. This is when we decided to end our episodes with a cold case to highlight in some small way the victims of these unsolved crimes.

One of the first cases we came across while researching the murders perpetrated by Cary Stayner was the murder of Veronica Martinez near Cool, CA in 1992. After Stayner was captured police around the state looked through their cold case files to see if the possibility that these unsolved cases might involve Stayner. Several cases popped out as possibilities. They tended to be cases where the victim was murdered, or found murdered in the wilderness, and in the general vicinity of places that Stayner was known to have been or traveled. While none of these cases have ever been linked to Stayner through any direct evidence they do highlight how little attention the victims received, especially in contrast to the murders of Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong. 

Conversely, there were only a handful of articles on the murder of Veronica Martinez and we were unable to find a photo of her. She hasn't been forgotten by the people who love and miss her and police need information from the public to help solve this awful crime.

Veronica Martinez was only 19 years old when she was last seen in Sacramento, CA on January 27, 1992. On that day, Veronica had her friend drop her off at a Pak N'Save grocery store on Florin Rd and told them she would have her brother pick her up when she was done. Martinez never returned. Her family filed a missing persons report on January 30, 1992 in Cool, CA, a small town 40 miles outside Sacramento.

At the time Veronica Martinez was a mother of two, with one on the way. In 1992 her children were 2 and 4 years old and were not with her when she disappeared. When she was last seen she was wearing a white sweater and red pants. She is of Hispanic descent, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 130 pounds.

On March 7, 1992, 11 days after disappearing, Veronica Martinez' body was found off Hwy 49 between Auburn and Placerville in El Dorado County. Depending on where the body was found this was anywhere from 35-60 minutes away from where she was last seen. Her body was found by a man who was collecting bottles on the side of Hwy 49, a mainly rural road throughout the area. Martinez was placed near "Cool Cave" and at the bottom of a steep ravine in heavy brush. She was nude, except for a bra, wrapped in plastic and her head had been decapitated.

Veronica Martinez was found along Hwy 49 between Placerville & Auburn
via Google Maps

Police believe that Veronica Martinez may have been alive and held for a period of time before being found. Her autopsy showed she had been deceased for 7-10 days and her body was badly decomposed. It is not believed she was sexually assaulted. Police do not know what Veronica Martinez' cause of death was.

The search for whomever murdered Veronica Martinez is ongoing. As this case wasn't widely covered, we know very little about Martinez. She was a mother of two and was pregnant with her third child. She worked as a waitress in Sacramento to provide for her family. She and her loved ones deserve answers and justice.

If you have any information about the murder of Veronica Martinez please contact the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force by phone at 530-621-4590 or by email at coldcasetaskforce@ecdgov.us

For more information:

"Sheriff Looking into Link in Women's Murders." (1992 Mar 15). The Press Tribune, A-2.

"Autopsy on Headless Body Inconclusive (Police Digest)." (1992 June 16). The Press Tribune, A-2.

KXTV Staff. (2017 Sept 27). "Cold Case Homicides that Haunt the Greater Sacramento Area." ABC 10; available at: https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/cold-case-homicides-that-haunt-the-greater-sacramento-area/477359931