1973 Stanford Murder Suspect Pleads Guilty

STANFORD, CA — A convicted serial killer has pleaded guilty in connection with the 1973 murder of a Stanford Law librarian, authorities said.

John Getreu, 78, on Tuesday admitted to the killing of Leslie Perlov, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Getreu was charged in 2018 after Santa Clara County DA criminalists linked DNA found under the Perlov’s fingernails of to Getreu.

Getreu, who used to live near Stanford and once worked there, is believed to have committed a string of sexual assaults and at least three slayings, of which two were part of a pattern in the 1970s commonly known as “The Stanford murders.”

He was found guilty in San Mateo of the March 1974 murder of 21-year-old Janet Taylor, the daughter of Chuck Taylor, Stanford’s former football coach and athletic director.

Getreu is scheduled to be sentenced April 26 and will spend the rest of his life in prison, The DA’s Office said.

Perlov’s body was discovered in the hills that overlook the Stanford campus on February 16, 1973.

A floral scarf was found tightly knotted around her neck and had been used as a ligature to strangle her to death.

“Justice for Leslie Perlov and her loved ones took a very long time, but it is has arrived,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

“This serial rapist and murderer will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

The county’s DA’s Cold Case Unit in the last year has helped solve five cold case murders and seven sexual assaults.

San Mateo County DA’s Office successfully convicted Getreu in 2021 for the murder of Taylor.