Keith and Patrice Harrington were murdered in their bed on Tuesday, August 19, 1980, some time after 11:05 p.m.  Keith’s father, Roger Harrington, last saw the couple alive when he departed their home on August 19 at approximately 6:00 p.m.  He returned to the home on Thursday, August 21, at approximately 6:30 and discovered the bludgeoned bodies of his son and daughter-in-law.    They had been dead for three days.  Patrice's sister, Sue Carlin, was the last to speak to the couple- telephoning them on August 19 at approximately 11:00 pm. 

 The conversation ended around 11:05.  Keith and Patrice were murdered shortly thereafter. The killer apparently entered the home through an unsecured door or window.  Evidence suggests that he then blitzed the couple.  Both Keith and Patrice were bound with pre-cut ligatures that the killer brought to the scene.  The killer then sexually assaulted Patti- bludgeoning both of them to death when he was finished. The Harringtons lived within the gated community of Niguel Shores, in Laguna Niguel.  Keith was twenty-four years old at the time of his death and a medical student at the University of California Irvine.  Patti was twenty-eight years old and worked as a registered nurse through the Lescoulie nursing registry.  They were married three months prior to their murder- it was the first marriage for both of them.