Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, January 27, 2007
Officer Richard Radetich probably never saw his killer.

The 25-year-old traffic officer was sitting in a parked patrol car writing a ticket on June 19, 1970, when a gunman fired three shots from a .38-caliber revolver through the driver's-side window. He died about 15 hours later, leaving behind his wife and their 8-month-old daughter.

Radetich's slaying bears some similarities to other unsolved killings of San Francisco police officers from 1967 to '71. Among those was the 1971 death of Sgt. John Young, who was fatally shot while working at the reception desk of Ingleside Station.

On Tuesday, San Francisco police and the state attorney general's office announced that eight men had been charged with Young's murder. Authorities linked the men to the Black Liberation Army, a violent offshoot of the Black Panthers. At the same news conference, police announced a $100,000 reward for information about Radetich's slaying. The case also is scheduled to be featured tonight on the television show "America's Most Wanted.''

Both Young and Radetich were gunned down during what proved to be the most dangerous time for San Francisco police officers since 1878. In 1970-71, seven officers died in the line of duty; six of the cases were homicides, and one was a helicopter crash. Three of the killings are still unsolved.

The 1970s also was the deadliest decade in U.S. law enforcement history, when a total of 2,260 officers died -- an average of 226 each year. Nationwide, the deadliest year was 1974, when 275 officers lost their lives. By the 1990s, that had dropped to an average of 159 deaths per year.

From 1967 through '71, surprise attacks involving guns or bombs killed four San Francisco officers: Officer Herman George (1967), Sgt. Brian McDonnell (1970), Radetich (1970) and Young (1971). Militants have been among those suspected in the killings.

George was gunned down while typing a report at a police substation in the Hunters Point neighborhood. His killer was never caught. McDonnell died after the bombing of Park Station on Feb. 18, 1970. Several other officers were injured in the explosion, which investigators have long suspected was set off by the Black Liberation Army or other militants. The BLA, which has been linked to at least 12 police killings nationwide, took responsibility for Young's slaying in a letter to The Chronicle. The group also is suspected in several other nonfatal attacks on San Francisco officers -- including the bombing of an officer's funeral.

"Police were being killed because we wore the badge," said retired homicide Inspector Napoleon Hendrix, who attended the Police Academy with Radetich in 1965. "It was a crazy time, because people were targeting us for doing our job. These (killings) were different than a struggle or pursuit or shootout. These were flat-out ambushes. They were trying to pick us off and blow us up."

No group ever claimed responsibility for killing Radetich.

Over the years, investigators have considered several theories. The Police Department's Phoenix Task Force, which also investigated Young's death, reactivated the Radetich investigation in 2004. Investigators won't discuss the other unsolved police killings, but in 2005 a San Francisco grand jury heard testimony and gathered evidence in the McDonnell case.

"We aren't closing the door on any theory," said Capt. Kevin Cashman, who oversees the task force. "We're hoping the reward will trigger some interest. We're willing to look at anonymous tips, eyewitness testimony -- any detail that could resurrect this case for us."

Police initially arrested Joe "Wesley" Allen Johnson, an ex-convict also wanted for the robbery of a Western Union office in which he fired at police but missed. Homicide investigators at the time said Johnson was angry with police after the shootout and apparently took revenge on an unsuspecting Radetich. After Johnson was extradited from Ohio, the murder charges were dropped because of lack of evidence.

Investigators also looked at the possibility that Radetich had been killed by the Zodiac killer. One of the letters from that serial killer said, "I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38." But investigators at the time ruled out any Zodiac link, in part because the serial killer, who has never been caught or conclusively identified, had used a 9mm handgun in his other crimes.

"If it was BLA or some other political group, it seems like they would have taken credit," said Hendrix, who was directly involved in the Radetich investigation. "It's always been a puzzling case. Rich Radetich was a fine man and a fine police officer. He had no enemies that we know of.

"The majority of us felt that there was an underlying factor here -- he was killed because someone wanted to kill a cop."

Radetich was working alone on an overtime shift the day he was killed. He parked his patrol car in the 600 block of Waller Street where he was writing a ticket for a parked Oldsmobile that had an out-of-date license plate. The spotlight of his patrol car was focused on the Oldsmobile's plate, and he had written 5:25 a.m. on the citation he never finished. When police arrived, they found him clutching his police radio, gun still holstered.

According to initial reports, no witnesses saw the predawn shooting or the gunman.

"It was really a cowardly act of terrorism," said retired Chief Tony Ribera, a longtime friend of Radetich's family. "He was an up-and-coming officer with a bright future ahead of him. He was a great guy, just starting a family and moving forward with his life and that was all taken away by an assassin."

After Radetich's death, the department assigned two officers to each patrol car.

The string of officer killings "really devastated the officers in our department," Ribera said. "His assassination and the other officers who were assassinated in those years really hurt us."

A local boy whose father emigrated from Croatia, Radetich always wanted to be police officer. After graduating from Balboa High School, he took criminology classes at San Francisco City College until he was hired by the department at age 21.

"The Radetich family was never the same," said Ron Radetich, a cousin who retired as a lieutenant in the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department. "It was so hard for all of us. The family kind of pulled away. We've never really recovered. It took years for us to even talk about this."

Radetich's mother became depressed and died two years later from an accidental overdose of medication, his family said. His father, Joseph, struggled for years with alcoholism before he died in 1985.

His widow, Nancy, died in 1974 from cancer. Their daughter, Janine, was raised by an uncle in Marin County. She married a police officer in a small Central Coast town where they live with their three children.

"There wasn't just one victim when my brother was killed," Jo-Ellen Radetich said. "This killer hurt an entire family. We are still hurting. I have lost a brother and close friend. His daughter lost both parents. His grandchildren will never get to know him.

"The tragedy gets worse as the years go on. It's a wound that never heals."
4 bloody years

The late 1960s and early 1970s were the bloodiest years ever for police in the United States. Eleven San Francisco police officers were killed in that time.

Nov. 13, 1967: Officer Herman George is sitting in the Hunters Point Project Station when three attackers open fire on him and two other officers. George later dies of his wounds. The case is unsolved. Police have long suspected that George, a well-known African American officer, had been singled out by black radicals.

June 19, 1968: Newlywed Officer Peter McElligott is fatally shot in a shootout with two robbery suspects in Golden Gate Park. His partner is injured. The two attackers later are convicted of murder.

April 15, 1969: Officer Rene Lacau has a fatal heart attack during a struggle with a person suspected of stealing a car.

May 1, 1969: Joseph Brodnick, a plainclothes officer, is fatally shot after he and a partner stop some youths suspected of burglary. One grabs Brodnick's gun and shoots both officers. The partner survives. Six people are acquitted at trial, although one of them is later killed in prison while serving time for an unrelated armed robbery.

Jan. 1, 1970: Officer Eric Zelms is fatally shot when two burglars surprise him and gain control of his gun. Two other officers catch the fleeing burglars, who are later convicted of murder and receive sentences of eight to 10 years.

Feb. 18, 1970: Sgt. Brian McDonnell is fatally injured after a bomb explodes at Park Station on Waller Street. Eight other officers are injured. McDonnell dies two days after the bombing, which authorities suspect was carried out by the Black Liberation Army. The case is unsolved.

June 19, 1970: Richard Radetich is shot while writing a ticket in his parked patrol car. The attacker fires at close range through the closed driver-side window. A suspect is later arrested but never charged with the slaying. The case remains unsolved.

Oct. 19, 1970: Officer Harold Hamilton is killed after responding to a bank robbery at the Wells Fargo Bank at Seventh Avenue and Clement Street. His killer is wounded and captured by other officers. Investigators believe that members of the Black Liberation Army planted a bomb outside Hamilton's funeral at St. Brendan Church. Several officers were injured but none killed in the explosion.

Feb. 11, 1971: Officer Charles Logasa is killed in an accidental helicopter crash at Lake Merced.

July 30, 1971: Officer Arthur O'Guinn is fatally shot while making a traffic stop. Two people are caught and convicted of second-degree murder and are paroled in the late '70s.

Aug. 29, 1971: Sgt. John Young is killed when suspected Black Liberation Army members storm Ingleside Station and fire a shotgun through a small opening in a bulletproof window. The Black Liberation Army takes responsibility for the attack in a letter to The Chronicle. This week, the state attorney general's office charges eight men of murder in Young's slaying.

Source: San Francisco Police Department and Chronicle archives