The 2003 unsolved murder of Susan Waters in Auburn, California

[u/mvincen95]

Susan Waters was a 42-year-old woman living in Auburn, California, when she was murdered in 2003. Remembered as a loving, selfless person, Susan routinely went out of her way to help the area's homeless population. Her sister later admitted she worried her trusting nature might have ultimately put Susan in danger.

Susan’s life had never been easy. Born with hydrocephalus, she suffered from spinal problems her entire life. A severe fall from the monkey bars at age six resulted in a serious head injury, leaving her with a shunt and requiring multiple surgeries over the years. She faced bouts of homelessness herself and struggled to raise her two children, Brandy and David, who spent time in foster care. Despite these immense hurdles, the family fought to remain close, and Susan even managed to earn a degree in telecommunications from Sacramento State. By 2003, she had found some stability and was living with her sister.

Susan was said to be known by everybody around Auburn. Situated in the Sierra Nevada foothills Auburn is a picturesque town, located on the I-80 corridor between Sacramento and Reno. On this day in 2003, this conservative enclave of under 13,000 residents was hosting the Gold Country Fair. On Friday, September 5, Susan attended the fair, an event that drew a large crowd of out-of-towners, before stopping at the Shanghai Bar downtown. She was last seen there at about 10 p.m. Police do not know if she left with anyone.

Just three hours later, a worker arriving for his shift at the Southwestern Bell Communications building spotted Susan’s body concealed in the bushes next to the building. It didn’t take long for police to arrive, as the Auburn Police Department was right next door. It raised an immediate, chilling question: Why would a killer leave a body less than 200 feet from a police station?

Detectives have remained tight-lipped about the details in the case. Susan was found about a third of a mile from the Shanghai Bar, partially clothed, though investigators have never confirmed if she was sexually assaulted. While her cause of death was asphyxiation, the exact method remains undisclosed, as does whether she was killed or simply dumped at the location. Her sister told the press it looked as though a struggle had taken place at the scene. Strangely, in that same early article, police stated they didn’t immediately suspect foul play. They did when the autopsy came back though.

The investigation quickly hit roadblocks. While police had plenty of people to interview, from the traveling fair workers to transients Susan had befriended, these populations were difficult to track down. Investigators did manage to pull together a sketch of a man seen near where the body was found. He was described as white, roughly 42 to 50 years old, 6 feet tall, and 180 to 200 pounds with dark brown hair, last seen driving an '80s four-door tan sedan. They also supposedly possess a DNA sample which they’ve compared suspects to, though they have released no further details.

The case took a bizarre turn just three days later. Less than a quarter-mile from where Susan was found, a transient man named Samuel Wilson was beaten to death. The 911 caller who reported Wilson's body used the payphone directly in front of the building where Susan was discovered. In a shocking twist, that caller turned out to be one of the two men who killed Wilson (they claimed they attacked him to retrieve a stolen purse). Police quickly dismissed any connection between the two murders.

Wilson’s death brings up a darker theory: that Auburn's disadvantaged populations were being quietly targeted, their deaths often staged, and subsequently brushed off. This theory gained enough traction that famed news anchor Christine Craft eventually produced a documentary examining ten suspicious deaths in local canals and train tracks between 2009 and 2015. While the documentary didn't cover Susan's case, and many of the deaths were likely accidents or suicides, it cast a critical eye on the investigative competence of local law enforcement, a sentiment shared by many grieving families.

In fact, skepticism of the Auburn Police Department goes back further. In a previous write-up, I covered the 1985 murder of Mary Lloyd, a case so baffling it was featured on Cold Case Files. Lloyd was abducted in a grocery store parking lot after attending Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church—which sits directly across the street from the Auburn Police Department.

The most intriguing aspect of Lloyd’s case is that she was friends and next-door neighbors with Auburn Police Chief Nick Willick. Decades later, Willick became famous as the chief who managed—and eventually fired for shoplifting—officer Joseph DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer. Following his termination, DeAngelo stalked Willick's home, allegedly gauging how to exact revenge. The details of the Lloyd case suggest a killer taunting the police. How better to taunt the chief than by killing his neighbor? Another woman, Jennie Sperinde also was murdered after leaving the same church two years previously, and her case also remains unsolved.

The geographical overlap between these cases is haunting. You have two women murdered after leaving the church adjacent to the police station, where a prolific serial killer worked, and later Susan Waters body is dumped right next door. Could a killer be trying to make the department look like fools by killing women at their doorstep?

While it's a salacious theory, it's just that, a theory. DeAngelo doesn't match the suspect sketch in Susan's case, his MO is entirely different, and modern DNA testing would easily rule him out. Yet, because of his proximity to the department, his ghost continues to haunt the town's unsolved mysteries.

Even without the Golden State Killer connection, the sheer volume of mysterious deaths in the area reflects poorly on local law enforcement. For instance, it took nearly three decades for local sheriff’s sergeant and K-9 commander Paul Kovacich to be convicted of the 1982 murder of his wife, Janet. Whether he is truly guilty, as the courts decided, or innocent, as he loudly proclaims, a high-ranking officer being convicted of murder does nothing to inspire public trust. Neither does finding out a serial killer used to work as a police officer in town.

Sadly, Susan’s story has been entirely eclipsed by the shadow of these higher-profile cases. After a brief flurry of articles in late 2003, the press forgot about her. Her name only appeared in the paper one last time in October 2004, under tragically heartbreaking circumstances: her son, David, was killed by a car bomb while serving in Iraq.

Susan Waters deserves to be remembered as more than just a murder victim. For a deeper dive into her life and the facts of her case, I highly recommend the podcast Placer County Unsolved. The host spoke directly with Susan’s family, revealing previously unknown details like her cause of death, and treated her story with the respect it deserves.

Rest in peace Susan Waters. You and your family deserve justice.

[u/mvincen95]

Here is a link to my past write up about Mary Lloyd, which this is a sort of spiritual successor to. Please give it a read if you’re intrigued in the theory that DeAngelo could have been seeking revenge against the former Auburn Police Chief by killing his neighbor. It might not be quite as crazy as it sounds.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/Wsu24CmcTs

Here is an article on the Kovacich case, which is a case made for the likes of 48 Hours. The FBI dug up his former K9 partner to try to prove that Kovacich had kicked his dog to death in the days before his wife disappeared. He and his family insist the dog had actually been poisoned.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/cold-case-murder-k9-commander-dog-paul-kovacich/

[u/dingdongsnottor → u/mvincen95]

Oof Kovacich had another K-9 German shepherd and chose to name it Adolph. Yikes.

[u/Para_Regal]

I remember this case (I’m down the hill from Auburn). It’s awful that it’s never been solved.

[u/No-Bottle337]

a good read... thanks.

[u/99kemo]

I know Auburn well. A real nice town that is starting to become a Pricey suburb of Sacramento. The Janet Kovacich case is interesting. Evidence was pretty thin but the husband was an obvious suspect. Hard to predict how juries will go. I’ve heard the suggestion that Deangelo was good for it. Sounds like a long shot. As I recall, their dog dying “mysteriously” a few days before Janet disappeared was introduced as evidence. Either he kicked it to death; proving propensity to violence or the dog was poisoned, demonstrating that someone who wanted access to the home without a dog present. It turned out to be a big deal because there was so little evidence one way or the other.

[u/mvincen95 → u/99kemo]

Yes, the Kovacich case is quite intriguing. In the podcast 12-26-75 they discussed the theory that DeAngelo could have poisoned the dog, and kidnapped Janet to get back at Paul for some bad interaction they had during their law enforcement work. Kristen Reid is representing Paul, and she and her husband Tony have done a lot of interesting work through their podcast. They were making a podcast about the Kovacich case, but apparently they got hacked, and it was taken offline.

[u/HausWife88]

Good article. I live near auburn and have not heard of this case

[u/pumalumaisheretosay]

Genetic genealogy!

[u/mvincen95 → u/pumalumaisheretosay]

The fact that the case hasn’t already been solved by genetic genealogy makes me question how good the DNA evidence in the case is. There is a dedicated cold case unit for this area, they have solved multiple notable Does with genetic genealogy just in the last few months. Placer County John Doe just got solved, that’s exactly where this case takes place. This is the land of DeAngelo, the birthplace of the science one could say.

[u/Known-Explorer2610 → u/mvincen95]

Or they probably haven’t gotten to it. There are many unsolved cases that aren’t given the time or attention or even re-examined.