The Murder of Claire Penelope Hough, August 1984
Despite growing up in Rhode Island, throughout her life 14-year-old Claire Hough would often travel to California to visit her grandparents, who lived just a few blocks from Torrey Pines Beach. This was just the case in the summer of 1984, when Claire, her brother, and Claire's best friend Kim Jamer went to visit Claire's grandparents in California.
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| Claire Hough. Photo from FindAGrave. |
On August 21 or 22, the night before Kim was set to head home to Rhode Island, Claire convinced her to sneak out of her grandparents' house and go to the beach after dark. However, once they got there and settled near their favorite spot by the bridge, Kim had a panic attack, so they went back home. Kim made Claire promise not to sneak out by herself again. The next day, Kim went home to Rhode Island while Claire and her brother stayed in California with her grandparents, as planned.
On Friday, August 24, 1984, Claire's body was found by a beachcomber named Wallace Wheeler near the bridge at Torrey Pines State Beach. She was found near Lifeguard Tower 5. She had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted. Her jeans were torn, and there was blood from a then-unknown male on them. At autopsy, it was determined that Claire had sand packed in her mouth and larynx area. Her left breast had been completely cut off with a knife and was never found.
The man who found Claire's body, Wallace Wheeler, was generally described as odd, and would send (non-anonymous) letters to Claire's parents. Police had her parents respond to Wheeler's letters to see if he would confess anything. However, he never confessed to anything, and he was later ruled out as a suspect using DNA.
Claire's case was reopened in 2012, and by 2014 two suspects were identified through DNA. One of these men was convicted sex offender Ronald Tatro, whose blood was found in several spots on Claire's jeans as well as in her pubic hair. However, he was never charged for this crime, as he was already deceased by the time the DNA results came back: Tatro drowned in what was ruled to be a boating accident, though there is apparent suspicion that it was suicide. He died on August 24, 2011, 37 years to do the day after Claire's body was found, and one year before her case was reopened.
Another man, retired police criminologist Kevin Brown, was also implicated for Claire's murder, as a microscopic piece of his DNA was found on one (1) swab collected from Claire's body. However, this DNA was present as a result of cross-contamination: at the time, lab technicians provided their own DNA as controls to check that their tests were working, which is likely how Brown's DNA ended up on that swab. Furthermore, investigators could find no connection between Kevin Brown and Ronald Tatro.
On October 20, 2014, Brown committed suicide after being implicated and hounded by investigators and press. His widow, Rebecca Brown, brought a suit against two police officers for misconduct and wrongful death. In 2020, a federal jury awarded Rebecca Brown more than $6 million in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Similar cases
In 1978, the body of Barbara Nantais, 15, was found in very similar circumstances to Claire on the same beach near Lifeguard Tower 7: she had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted. Furthermore, her breast had been mutilated and sand had been packed in her mouth and larynx.
Despite the similarities in the cases, Tatro is not a suspect in Barbara's murder, as he had an alibi: he was in custody in Arkansas at the time. Furthermore, there have been no matches to the DNA found at the scene of Barbara's murder.
Less than one year after
Barbara's death, in May 1979, a 15-year-old boy named Adam Ashley was
found murdered on Torrey Pines State Beach: someone had struck him in
the head multiple times with rocks. He was discovered near Lifeguard
Tower 4. His murder is still unsolved.
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| From north to south, the locations of the bodies of: Barbara Nantais (dark blue), Claire Hough (purple), and Adam Ashley (dark green) near Lifeguard Towers 7, 5, and 4, respectively, on Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego. Created by me using Google Maps. |
When I first wrote about these cases on Reddit in October 2024, I stated that the murder of Adam Ashley had never been mentioned alongside, let alone thought to be connected to, those of Barbara or Claire. A user claiming to be Adam's niece or nephew commented on that post, stating, "We have followed both cases for years but as far as I know, no one else has explored a possible connection between Adam's murder and the Hough and Nantais cases. You're right that his case is never mentioned alongside theirs. We've also asked the police about it but they seem not to think there's anything there because the girls were sexually assaulted, and Adam wasn't."
However, I have since found a Project Cold Case Facebook post about Adam from June 2022, on which a user commented, "[Barbara Nantais's] case has been linked to another young lady [Claire Hough] that died under similar circumstances [...] No killer has been caught. I'm wondering whether these cases may be connected and that there was a violent serial attacker that set upon the youth at this time, resulting in deaths, and trauma for survivors?"
This case has also been mentioned in a 2020 post from another amateur sleuth-run site that I use to find related cases: the Murder Incorp. blog, which compiles sources about crimes in CA from the 1960s and 70s that either have been recently confirmed to still be, or the blogger suspects to be, unsolved. Special focus is put on cases that bear resemblance and/or occurred somewhat in proximity to confirmed and possible EARONS and Zodiac crimes.
On May 27, 2025, Barbara's case was mentioned in a CBS News article about Adam's murder. Furthermore, according to an NBC 7 San Diego article from the week prior, Adam's sister Terri, "recalled two high-profile murders of young women along the same stretch of beach within a few years of Adam’s murder. Adam’s case, she said, did not get the same kind of attention."
When I posted about the three cases on Reddit, one user proposed that if Adam's murder is related to the other two, then it's possible that, viewing him from behind in the dark, the killer may have mistaken Adam for a teenaged girl, but didn't commit sexual acts on him like with Barbara or Claire upon realizing he was a boy: Adam was a skinny kid with long, shoulder-length hair that would have looked even longer when wet.
Sources
2014 CBS News 8 article on Ronald Tatro's death
2024 CBS News article about Claire Hough & Barbara Nantais
National Police Accountability Project
2024 Reddit comments about Adam Ashley from his niece/nephew
May 20, 2025 NBC 7 San Diego article on Adam Ashley
May 27, 2025 CBS News article on Adam Ashley
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