Richard Lemmon Jr., 37, of Bakersfield, California, was killed on February 17, 1982. He had been storing two motorcycles, a truck and other belongings at a Santa Clara storage facility and became acquainted with the facility manager, James Richard Curry. The relationship later turned tense. Curry lured Lemmon to a storage unit to discuss Lemmon’s items, produced a .38 caliber revolver and shot him once in the head, killing him instantly. Curry placed Lemmon’s body in a wooden crate, sealed it, and left it inside the locker. Curry later gave one of Lemmon’s motorcycles to his son.

The case remained unresolved until January 1983, when Curry was arrested in connection with multiple San Jose-area murders. He confessed to Lemmon’s killing, led authorities to the storage unit where Lemmon’s remains were found, and provided details about the crime. Curry, born in Texas in 1946, had a prior robbery conviction and had been managing the Santa Clara facility after moving to California. Curry died by suicide in his jail cell before trial, so the cases were not adjudicated in court.