On November 7, 1973, 15-year-old Richard Allen Earl Jr. was one of nine people murdered during a mass killing at the Parkin residence on Orchard Road in Victor, near Acampo, California. The victims included members of the Earl and Parkin families and Mark Allen Lang. That evening Walter and Joanne Parkin had gone bowling, leaving their children Lisa and Robert with 18-year-old Debra Earl; Richard Jr. was also at the house.

When the Parkins returned they and other victims were forced into a walk-in closet while the children were left in the master bedroom. The perpetrators then shot the children in their sleep and killed the adults in the closet. Richard Jr., his sister Debra, and their parents Richard Sr. and Wanda were among those killed; Mark Lang, Debra’s fiance, was also murdered.

Richard Allen Earl Jr. was buried at Cherokee Memorial Park in San Joaquin County. Does anyone have memories of the Victor community in 1973 or information about the families that could add detail to this case?