FILE 411 / 3 August 2023 / 178 MIN / full

Her Emo Eyes Have Powers

Terra Linda, CaliforniaListen

The town

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Terralinda, California, which is actually a smaller town inside of another not very big city called San Rafael... in Marin County... about a half hour outside San Francisco. about 0:04:42

History, in brief

Town note

The town sits on land once owned by Manuel T. Freitas, whose family held parts of the Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita and Las Gallinas Mexican land grants.

about 0:06:29

1955

About 900 homes were built by Joseph Eichler in 1955, giving Terra Linda its distinctive mid-century style.

about 0:07:14

Town note

Guide Dogs for the Blind has been based on the edge of Terra Linda since before there was a town there.

about 0:08:40
All 8 history facts

Town note

The town sits on land once owned by Manuel T. Freitas, whose family held parts of the Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita and Las Gallinas Mexican land grants.

about 0:06:29

1955

About 900 homes were built by Joseph Eichler in 1955, giving Terra Linda its distinctive mid-century style.

about 0:07:14

Town note

Guide Dogs for the Blind has been based on the edge of Terra Linda since before there was a town there.

about 0:08:40

Town note

The Mall at Northgate is the only enclosed mall in Marin County, and Sears is its only original tenant from the 1960s.

about 0:09:25

Town note

Spaceman Bill Lee, who pitched for the Red Sox in the 1970s, is from Terra Linda.

about 0:10:00

2010

James Hetfield of Metallica bought a house in Terra Linda in 2010.

about 0:10:15

1975

The legend that 420 began with San Rafael High School students in 1975, who used it as the time they met to smoke weed.

about 0:10:31

The figures, as told

Religious

44%

Biggest faith: Catholic residents, 31.6%

about 0:15:49

Who lives here

White 56.3% · Black 2.3% · Asian 6.2% · Hispanic 29.7%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ slightly high but not too high

about 0:21:32

Violent crime
▼ about a quarter under the national average

about 0:21:38

Money

Median home value$1,209,300
Two-bedroom rent$3,300 a month
Median household income$75,668
Cost of living217

For sale

$2,495,000

Four-bedroom two-bath Eichler home

about 0:19:22
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population of San Rafael

"61,158"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:14:51

Population of Terra Linda

"7,091"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:14:56

Gender split

"a few more males than females"

Comparison: "the opposite of normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:17

Median age

"41"

Comparison: "a little higher than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:20

Married residents

"50%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:26

White residents

"56.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:35

Black residents

"2.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:35

Asian residents

"6.2%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:35

Hispanic residents

"29.7%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:35

Religious residents

"44%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:49

Catholic residents

"31.6%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:15:56

Jewish residents

"1.8%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:16:04

Democrat voters

"82.3%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:16:25

Republican voters

"15.8%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:16:32

Independent voters

"1.9%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:16:32

Median household income

"$75,668"

Comparison: "national average of about $54,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:16:34

Cost of living index

"217"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:17:00

Median home cost

"$1,209,300"

Comparison: "on a median household income of about $76,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:17:07

Average two-bedroom rent

"$3,300 a month"

Comparison: "normally about $1,200". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:17:58

Two-bedroom two-bath condo

"$750,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:18:24

Five-bedroom three-bath house

"$1,550,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:18:54

Four-bedroom two-bath Eichler home

"$2,495,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:19:22

Property crime

"slightly high but not too high"

Comparison: "in the range of pretty normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:21:32

Violent crime

"about a quarter under the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:21:38

The reviews

3.4 / 5 · average of 5

4 stars

“The people are kind and friendly, everyone seems to know one another and there is a good mix of young families and elderly couples.”
about 0:12:09

4 stars

“It is mostly pet friendly and there are lots of dogs on the roads throughout the hills.”
about 0:12:39

4 stars

“The owners are very nice.”
about 0:12:49

3 stars

“Some places are very bad.”
about 0:12:56

2 stars

“The area has deteriorated since the demise of Northgate Mall; it is now a dump, with constant strong winds, brutal summer heat, drought, poor dining and more homeless and mentally ill people around.”
about 0:13:13

In California

Closest episodes

  1. Murder In The NeighborhoodLafayette, California · 26 June 202639 km / 24 miShow on map
  2. Not Regulation BehaviorBurlingame, California · 14 February 201949 km / 30 miShow on map
  3. Not Regulation BehaviorBurlingame, California · 21 February 201949 km / 30 miShow on map
  4. The Body On The HillMilpitas, California · 7 January 202386 km / 53 miShow on map
  5. You'll Have To Chop Off More than That...Antelope, California · 16 April 2020129 km / 80 miShow on map

The story

Terra Linda is a small community within San Rafael, in Marin County, California, about half an hour north of San Francisco. Jim was born in 1917 and spent his working life chasing business schemes. He met and married Naomi, who was born in 1922, while on leave from the military in the summer of 1944. She was the daughter of a young woman from a prominent Virginia family and a sailor, and she grew up mostly in Ecuador, where Jim managed sales for American oil companies. Naomi hated Ecuador and became increasingly unstable. By the time the family returned to California she was drinking heavily, hoarding canned food, talking to invisible people in different voices and was later described as having a schizoid personality with paranoid features.

She was bright and pretty, wrote poetry, stole, took drugs and told people she was a witch. She hated her mother and the two fought constantly. After the family moved to Terra Linda, she was transferred from Terra Linda High School to a one-to-one school in San Rafael. Jim was often away working, and Naomi's behaviour grew worse.

He was overweight, shy and desperate to be liked, and he sold drugs to make friends. He fell in love with her immediately. She was less impressed at first, but he gave her drugs and gifts and did whatever she asked. She dominated him, told him she was a witch and that her eyes had power over him, made him steal women's clothes from shops, and threatened to become a prostitute if he refused her. He attempted suicide twice when she broke up with him. Her parents banned him from the house.

She told friends she wished they were dead, asked one man for a bomb to blow up their car, asked another whether he knew anyone who killed people, and with a former carnival worker called Mike Monroy bought a telescopic sight to shoot her father. In May 1975 she put Darvon and Dalmane in her mother's food, but Naomi ate little and complained about the taste.

He found the claw hammer she had left for him and struck Naomi repeatedly in the forehead. The hammer lodged in her skull.

After dark they wrapped the bodies, drove to China Camp, a remote spot off North San Pedro Road on the edge of San Pablo Bay, and burned them in a large concrete firepit used by hunters. They returned at six the next morning, found Jim's torso and head still intact, and built a bigger fire. At 9.49 a.m. a firefighter, Vic Torini, found the blaze, assumed hunters were burning a poached deer, shovelled the ashes over the wall and poured water on them.

A week later Jim's business partner, Colonel Phil Royce, called the police because Jim had vanished. She was sent for psychiatric evaluation. Anonymous calls led police to the China Camp firepit, where they found bone fragments, clothing and a burned dress. An anthropologist identified human remains. The press called the case the barbecue murders.

A friend had lent him the .22 revolver, which he borrowed on 21 June and returned on 23 June.

Psychiatrists described him as passive, highly suggestible and hungry for approval.

Her lawyer, Terence Hallinan, had been promised half her inheritance, but she was barred from inheriting.

In 1992 the Los Angeles Times called her the queen of the trashers after she was found with stolen credit cards, counterfeit identification and forged cheques. Police believed she was one of the leaders of a twenty-person ring and the main supplier of false documents. Her later whereabouts are unknown.

The case

The barbecue murders of James and Naomi Olive

Victims

James 'Jim' Olive. adoptive father, a business manager and franchisee, born in 1917.
Naomi Olive. adoptive mother, an alcoholic with schizoid personality and paranoid features, born in 1922.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 August 2023.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Diana Krieger. 17-year-old friend and prosecution witness who said called herself a high priestess with power over .
Mike Monroy. former carnival worker who had an affair with and planned with her to shoot her father.
Tom McCarter. 20-year-old friend who shared satanic religion.
Carolyn Shallman. 21-year-old juvenile hall volunteer appointed guardian of estate.
Terence Hallinan. defence lawyer, promised half her inheritance.
Colonel Phil Royce. Jim Olive's business partner, who called police after Jim disappeared.
Vic Torini. firefighter who found the fire at China Camp.
Dr Gerald Hill. psychiatrist who testified about demeanour and hypnotised him.

The timeline

  1. 1917 James 'Jim' Olive is born.about 0:34:39
  2. 1922 Naomi is born.about 0:34:39
  3. the summer of 1944 Jim Olive meets and marries Naomi while on leave from the military.about 0:34:29
  4. 1955 Jim and Naomi Olive adopt three-day-old in Virginia.about 0:39:19
  5. about age ten finds her adoption papers in her father's filing cabinet.about 0:40:26
  6. 1973 drops out of high school before his senior year after his father beats him.about 0:25:57
  7. January 1974 writes to Mike about 'that man who would take care of my mom'.about 1:54:15
  8. October 1974 , 19, meets 16-year-old on the front lawn of Terra Linda High School while she is having a bad LSD trip. (Terra Linda High School)about 0:28:28
  9. May 1975 puts Darvon and Dalmane in her mother's food in an attempt to poison her. (Olive house)about 1:18:19
  10. June 1975 Under hypnosis describes asking him how hard to hit her mother and talking about putting pills in soup. (Olive house)about 1:30:03
  11. June 21st, 1975 After a violent argument with her mother, calls and says 'get your gun, we've gotta kill this bitch today'; she puts Darvon in Naomi's soup. (Olive house)about 1:31:21
  12. June 21st, 1975 bludgeons Naomi Olive with a claw hammer in the sewing room, then stabs her and tries to smother her. (Olive house)about 1:33:24
  13. June 21st, 1975 Jim Olive returns home, sees his wife's body and is shot four times by . (Olive house)about 1:36:11

Last meals

  • Naomi Olive. soup with Darvon capsules; she ate only a couple of bites because it tasted wrong drugged by her daughter shortly before she was bludgeoned, June 1975about 1:31:42

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode