Convicted killer pleads guilty to 2nd cold case murder on Stanford campus
STANFORD – A man convicted of a cold case murder at Stanford University in the 1970s pleaded guilty to a second killing on campus, prosecutors said.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, 78-year-old John Getreu on Tuesday admitted to murdering Leslie Perlov in 1973. Perlov was a librarian at the Stanford Law School.
"Justice for Leslie Perlov and her loved ones took a very long time, but it is has arrived," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.
On February 16, 1973, Perlov's body was discovered in the hills that overlook the campus. Prosecutors said she was strangled to death with a floral scarf.
Two years ago, Getreu was convicted in the March 1974 murder of 21-year-old Janet Taylor, the daughter of former Stanford football coach and athletic director Chuck Taylor. The killings were commonly known as "The Stanford Murders."
Getreu used to live near the Stanford campus and had once worked there. The DA charged Getreu in 2018 after investigators matched DNA found under Perlov's fingernails to him.
Prosecutors said Getreu is believed to have committed a string of sexual assaults and at least three slayings.
"This serial rapist and murderer will spend the rest of his life in prison," Rosen said.
Getreu is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26.