John Getreu

John Arthur Getreu was born on August 26, 1944, in Newark, Ohio, one of four children born to Army serviceman Charles J. Getreu. Due to his position in the military, the Getreu family frequently traveled between various bases both in the USA and abroad, having lived in Japan, Hawaii and North Carolina.[2] In 1960, Charles was transferred to West Germany for his military service, moving to the town of Bad Kreuznach with his family. John spent his teenage years there, attending the Bad Kreuznach American High School, where the children of other American servicemen also attended.

After serving more than six years in prison, Getreu was paroled and released. He then left West Germany and returned to the United States, settling in Reno, Nevada. He married a woman named Susan, and shortly after the wedding, the couple moved to Palo Alto, California, where they lived from 1971 to 1975.

During this period, having no education, Getreu was forced to make a living as a low-skilled laborer and changed a number of professions varying from a security guard, carpenter and laboratory technician at Mills Hospital.[2] In the mid-1970s, Getreu joined the Boy Scouts of America and got a job as a counselor, organizing camps and camping trips in his spare time.

In 1975, he was charged with sexually abusing a 17-year-old female Explorer Scout and later convicted, but some charges were dropped after a mutual agreement was reached between Getreu and the victim.[6] As a result, he received a minor prison sentence and an administrative fine. Susan divorced him following his conviction, and in 1978, Getreu remarried to another woman named Lynda.

After the second marriage, he returned to Newark, had two children and became involved in business activities. Getreu showed no signs of mental illness or suspicious behavior, and was generally well-regarded by those around him. In the late 1980s, Getreu left Ohio and moved back to California, this time settling in Alameda County. In 2003, his second wife died from cancer, and in 2008, he married for a third time. He soon joined the Fremont Elks Lodge, a religious fraternal order that advocated for Christian values and patriotism, where he held the position of Exalted Ruler. In this position, he was responsible for supervising duties of the members.

On November 20, 2018, Getreu was arrested at his home in Hayward for the murder of 21-year-old Leslie Marie Perlov, a Stanford University graduate and law firm employee who went missing from Palo Alto on February 13, 1973. Three days later, her fully clothed corpse, showing signs of sexual assault and strangled with her own scarf, was discovered along the Stanford Dish hiking trail.[7] The initial investigation failed to identify the culprit, and the case remained cold until 2018, when authorities contacted researchers from Parabon NanoLabs to conduct DNA testing.[8] Seminal fluids found on Perlov's body were isolated and a genotypic profile of the killer was soon developed - in the fall of that year, Getreu was identified as the source of the seminal fluid and subsequently arrested.

On May 16, 2019, following additional testing of his DNA, Getreu was charged with another murder - that of 21-year-old Janet Ann Taylor, a Cañada College student who was found raped and strangled on March 24, 1974.[9] She was last seen on campus grounds attempting to hitchhike back to her home in La Honda, and her body was discovered on the following day in a roadside ditch near Sand Hill Road, near Manzanita Way.[6] Janet Taylor was the daughter of Chuck Taylor, a famous coach and retired football player who, at the time of his daughter's death, held an administrative position with the Stanford University soccer team.

Getreu's trial for the murder of Janet Taylor began in late 2021 in San Mateo County, and lasted three weeks. On September 15, Getreu was found guilty on all counts by jury verdict and sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole.[6] He was then transferred to Santa Clara County, where he was to stand trial for the murder of Perlov.

Due to his failing health, the trial was suspended and Getreu was admitted in a prison hospital to undergo treatment. It resumed in late 2022, but the 78-year-old Getreu was forced to attend court proceedings from his hospital room via video link.[12] On January 10, 2023, he pleaded guilty to the murder of Perlov, admitting that he had killed her after she resisted his attempts to rape her.[12] He was later sentenced to an additional term of life imprisonment without the chance of parole.[13]

On September 26, 2023, it was reported that Getreu died behind bars four days prior, but the cause of death has not yet been revealed.[14]

• Harold Haulman – another American serial killer who committed additional murders after serving time for a killing committed in Germany
• CeCe Moore
• List of serial killers in the United States
• Parabon NanoLabs

• California Inmate Locator