The Birthday Cake Killers: Inside the 1973 Victor Massacre
In November 1973, Douglas Gretzler and Willie Steelman murdered nine people in Victor, California, including the Parkin family and their neighbors. The homicide investigation revealed a brutal massacre where victims Walter Parkin, Joanne Parkin, their children Lisa and Robert, Richard and Wanda Earl, their children Debbie and Ricky, and Mark Lang were systematically executed in their own home. This killing spree began in Arizona with multiple murders across the Southwest, totaling seventeen victims. The suspects used eyewitness elimination as their primary motive, leaving a trail of bodies from Phoenix to Sacramento before their arrest at the Clunie Hotel.
Two drifters walked into a family home during a bowling night and turned it into the crime scene that would haunt a tiny California town forever. After shooting nine people, including two children, the killers sat down in the kitchen and ate birthday cake. This is the story of how a depressed kid from the Bronx and a brain-damaged ex-con from California formed one of the deadliest partnerships in American criminal history, racking up seventeen bodies in less than a month while crisscrossing the Southwest like their personal hunting ground.
#TrueCrime #VictorMassacre #GretzlerSteelman #CaliforniaMurders #1973Murders #UnsolvedNoMore #MassMurder
🔔 Subscribe for True Crime Cases multiple times a week
Never miss a story. Subscribe to 10 Minute Murder for bite-sized true crime episodes delivered fresh every week.
Get a weekly email from me about the upcoming cases and more:
10minutemurder.com/newsletter📱 Follow for Behind-the-Scenes Content Get exclusive case updates, research photos, and sneak peeks of upcoming episodes:
💬 Have a Case Suggestion? Know a fascinating case that deserves coverage? I love listener suggestions and feature the best ones in upcoming episodes. Email: joe@10minutemurder.com Website:
10minutemurder.com ⭐ Help Grow the True Crime Community
- Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review to help other true crime fans discover the show
- Share: Send this episode to fellow true crime enthusiasts
- Join the Discussion: Tag us in your episode reactions on social media
🎧 Want Even More True Crime? If you love the brief and bingeable vibe, check out my other podcast: 10 Minute Mystery - same bingeable storytelling, different cases. Search "10 Minute Mystery" wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for being part of the 10 Minute Murder community. Let's make 2025 the ultimate year for bite-sized true crime storytelling. 🖤
Become a supporter of this...
