Fernando Cota

On the evening of October 14, 1984, Cota's white Chevrolet van was spotted by traffic police about fifteen miles north of San Jose, looping erratically on Highway 101 near San Carlos. After it stopped, the police officers, questioning the driver's sanity, demanded that Fernando show his papers and allow them to inspect the interior of the van. Cota ignored their demands, took out a .22 caliber revolver and started shouting "Kill me! Kill me! I'm very sick. If you don't kill me, I'll kill myself!", before shooting himself in the palate. He was driven to the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Redwood City, where he succumbed to his injuries. While inspecting the inside of his van, the officers found a wooden box which contained the corpse of a young woman, whose hands were tied with a chain and rope. The deceased was identified as 21-year-old Kim Marie Dunham, an employee at the Orchard Supply Hardware store in Milpitas who had gone missing the day before. Left with only her underwear and stockings, she had been beaten and raped before Cota evidently strangled her. In addition to her body, officers also found a plastic trash bag containing blood-splattered clothes, a purse, boots and a cloth belt.

Fernando Velazco Cota (June 20, 1946 – October 14, 1984) was an American rapist, kidnapper and suspected serial killer who was the prime suspect in the murders of six women in San Jose, California from September to October 1984. He committed suicide on October 14, 1984, after he was arrested for a botched kidnapping.

Little is known of Cota's background. He was born on June 20, 1946, and in the mid-1960s, he was drafted into the Army. After completing his training, he was sent to fight in the Vietnam War, where he saw active combat and was promoted to sergeant. After demobilization, Cota returned to the US, where he soon married a woman with whom he had several children. In the early 1970s, he began to exhibit an increased sex drive and began to sexually harass girls and women. While he lived in El Paso, Texas with his family, Cota attacked a nurse in 1975, binding, bathing and then raping her. A few days later, he sent the victim a note that said: "Sorry for the argument we had. Still loving you." While he was suspected of several other rapes in the area, he would later be convicted of this crime and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, as a result of which his wife divorced him. During his imprisonment, Cota went through several rehabilitation programs and earned a reputation as an exemplary inmate, thanks to which he was paroled on September 29, 1983. Shortly after, he left Texas and moved to La Paz, Mexico, where he met someone who informed him that there were many job opportunities in the Silicon Valley. Using this information, Cota moved to San Jose, California, found housing near the San Jose State University and a job as a computer programmer for Aydin Microwave Inc. While working there, he was described as acting in a strange and eccentric manner towards his female colleagues. He never registered as a sex offender, despite being legally required to do so.