Sharon K. Gossen Novoselatz was 34 when she and her husband Gerald, 39, were killed in California on January 2, 1983. The couple had moved from Wisconsin to California three years earlier; Sharon had worked as a secretary for several companies and married Gerald in 1971. Gerald was shot and killed at the San Jose residence. After his murder Sharon was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and then killed; her body was found near Crystal Springs Reservoir off State Route 92.

Authorities linked the killings to James Richard Curry, a manager of a Santa Clara storage lot and a business rival of the Novoselatzes. Curry confessed to the Novoselatz murders and to the killing of Richard Lemmon Jr., whose body was found in a wooden crate in Curry’s storage unit. Curry attempted suicide in custody shortly after his January 4, 1983 arrest and died on January 7, 1983 after life support was withdrawn.

Did anyone who knew the Novoselatzes or worked in storage businesses in San Jose or Santa Clara have information about tensions between the rivals?