The Murder of Lynn Marie Mueller, May 1975

Lynn Mueller, 21, was found dead in her bedroom by her husband Mike, 27, at their house at 880 E Main St in Ventura, Ventura County, CA on Friday, May 30, 1975.

That day Mike had taken Lynn to the dentist because she had a toothache. Once they got back to their home, Mike made Lynn some soup, then left for his job on the night shift at an oil refinery "off the Rincon."

Photo from the City of Ventura Cold Case Investigations page.

Lynn, who was devoutly religious, went next door to a service at a Pentecostal church on Kalorama and Main St that evening. Other churchgoers stated that they last saw her at church at 9:30pm.

After returning home, Lynn called Mike at work and chatted with him for about 15min. A neighbor then reported seeing Lynn speaking with a man on her porch at approximately 10:00pm. The man was described as light haired and wearing a short jacket, perhaps a uniform jacket. The witness description matched that of a man who had argued with Lynn regarding religious views.

At 12:14am on May 31st, Mike returned home from work. Failing to find Lynn waiting for him on the couch, as was her habit, he then looked for her in their bedroom. He found Lynn lying on the floor in their bedroom, nude, and dead from multiple stab wounds. She was stabbed over forty times. She was almost decapitated, her throat having been so severely slit that her head was nearly severed from her body. Mike called police, then went outside "to escape the horror in the house"; the police responded immediately.

The main suspect in the case is the man that was seen speaking with Lynn on her porch at approximately 10:00pm. This suspect is Larry Jay — 27 years old at the time of the murder — of Oakview. He matched the description of the man seen speaking with Lynn. His mother was a member of the same church as Lynn, and he was known to disagree with their religious views. However, Jay's wife vouched for him, saying he was home at the night of the murder.

He was never arrested for the crime, as the police were never able to gather enough evidence against him for prosecution. Jay was later convicted of another murder, that of a neighbor who owed him money, about a year after Lynn's death. Jay was sentenced to life imprisonment for that crime. The fact that he's the main suspect in Lynn's death has been brought up during his parole hearings.

Despite all this, Lynn's case is still considered officially unsolved due to the lack of an arrest and/or conviction. She is listed on the City of Ventura's cold case page, which is where I found out about her case while doing my own research.

Lynn's murder, which is/was investigated by the City of Ventura Police Department, is case #75-03462. 

Note: Lynn died four days after Memorial Day. See the Holiday & Events Reference Page for an explanation as to why this is being mentioned. 

Sources 

City of Ventura Cold Cases

Larry Jay parole review, pg 41 of pdf

1990 LA Times article on Ventura County unsolved murders 

San Buenaventura Post write-up on Facebook 

FindAGrave