Joan Katherine Foster Gianera was born July 19, 1951, in Vienna, Austria, and was killed on January 25, 1973, at her home on Western Drive in Santa Cruz, California. She and her husband, Jim Ralph Gianera, were shot and stabbed in the attack; their child was not present and was with Joan’s mother at the time.

The murders were carried out by Herbert Mullin, who had been a high school classmate of Jim Gianera. Mullin’s killing spree in the early 1970s claimed 13 lives; the case record notes he believed his actions would prevent earthquakes and that he suffered from schizophrenia. He was arrested and later found guilty of ten murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Does anyone have memories of the Gianera family or the neighborhood on Western Drive from that period that might add personal context to Joan’s life?