A Peculiar Bit of Reporting

If you read Rick DelVecchio's reporting in The San Francisco Chronicle ("'Deadheads' Had Been Lovers- Hunt for Clues in Berkeley Killings," August 20, 1985), you'll come across a paragraph in which he relays the following information, "The pair was last seen alive at 1:30 a.m. as they sat together along an inlet of the bay, several hundred yards from the village entrance, police said.  About an hour later, a resident of the village heard two sounds that could have been gunshots."  Seen by whom?

When you try to put this on a timeline based on details found in the court documents, you'll find that it conflicts with the testimonies given by Jim Prew and Vivian Cercy.  Cercy testified that she saw an exchange among three people (two of whom looked like Greg and Mary) around 0130.  Prew testified that he and four others (including Mary) didn't return from a beer and burrito run until some time around 0200.  So from this we can infer that Mary and Greg were not last seen at 0130.  So what's going on here?

DelVecchio obtained his information from the police.  From whom did the police get their information?  I believe Vincent Johnson gave them this information.  In The Berkeley Marina Murders, Patricia Gioia gives fairly detailed accounts of the testimonies given during the trial.  Fred Eihl's testimony supports my belief that Vincent Johnson gave them the information:  "[Eihl] said Vincent Johnson came to the Police Department voluntarily as he had rethought the time he was with the woman, Betty Jo.  It was not 1am, more likely 2am." (Berkeley Marina Murders, p. 138)  So Johnson initially reported an earlier time, but then after some reflection, corrected his story.

Now, Johnson's story to the police gives me a clearer understanding of what he saw as he walked back to his bus from University Avenue, and it helps me understand something I've found puzzling about Patricia's Gioia's location of the murders.  In her book she relates how she visited Rainbow Village on several occasions.  About one visit she made with her son Gerry during the preliminary hearing in October '85,  she writes, "Having heard yesterday's testimony, we made our way to the spot where we believed Mary and Greg were beaten and shot.  As we stood at the rocky slope leading down to the narrow inlet, I envisioned Mary and Greg sitting there looking over at the hills and lights of Berkeley." (Berkeley Marina Murders, p. 117)  

Ms. Gioia also tells of when she and her daughter, Joan, visited the Village after it had been closed in May '86.  Joan asks her mother, "Do you think this is where Mary and Greg were sitting when International came upon them?"  I'd been puzzled by how they knew that Greg and Mary had been sitting and looking at Berkeley across the inlet, but Patricia Gioia's book seems to relieve me of my puzzlement.  She tells Joan, "I don't know but it looks like the spot where Vincent Johnson saw them.  They must have been looking over at the hills of Berkeley and the lights from the houses there.  It's hard to imagine what they thought  when International came upon them." (Berkeley Marina Murders, p. 132)

The story in the Chronicle plus these excerpts from The Berkeley Marina Murders drew my attention to a detail I'd found puzzling, and they help me find an answer to the question:  How did Patricia Gioia know that her daughter had been sitting with Greg near the inlet?  Vincent Johnson's testimony gave her this detail.  I'd assumed that he'd seen all three standing near the gate to the dump.  It seems that only Thomas was standing when Johnson walked by them around 0230.