Claude Snelling was 45 and a journalism professor at the College of the Sequoias when he was shot and killed in the early hours of September 11, 1975. He confronted an intruder who had broken into the family home and was attempting to abduct Snelling’s teenage daughter; the assailant shot Snelling twice and fled. Snelling died en route to the hospital.

Investigators later linked the murder to a string of more than 100 break-ins by the Visalia Ransacker. Shoe prints at the Snelling scene matched prints from other burglaries, and the Miroku revolver used in the killing had been stolen in an earlier Ransacker burglary. The assailant was identified as Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer; he was arrested and charged in connection with multiple crimes, and in 2020 pleaded guilty to Snelling’s murder and other offenses, receiving life without parole. Snelling’s daughter, Elizabeth Hupp, has spoken about the lasting impact of her father’s death and the relief she felt after the case was resolved.