A Bay Area high school teacher was stabbed in her classroom in 1978. Police just identified her killer
Diane Peterson, a 26-year-old English teacher at Branham High School in San Jose, had just been told she would be laid off because of dwindling enrollment in the school, newspapers reported in 1978.
But she was stabbed in the chest before the day's end. Bleeding profusely from the wound, she ran screaming across the campus for 70 yards before collapsing on the floor. Her colleagues tried to stop the flow of blood, but she died at a local hospital.
In the immediate aftermath, police said they were mystified as to a motive and had no suspects. No weapons were found; the only clues were some fingerprints on the doorknob.
But on Monday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced they had solved the cold case and identified her killer: Harry 'Nicky' Nickerson, a student at the school who was 16 years old at the time. Nickerson was not her student.
Nickerson emerged as a suspect in the killing, but for years, police were unable to corroborate witness accounts or develop any usable forensic evidence, district attorney's spokespersons said.
A booking photo of the teenager four days after the killing 'bore a strong similarity' to the sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the attack, spokespersons said. Five years later, the family of a Branham student told police that their son claimed to have seen the murder and had identified Nickerson as the murderer — but the student later denied making that statement.
The following year, in 1984, a witness told police that Nickerson had 'implicated himself' in the murder, allegedly admitting he killed Peterson after she discovered him in the act of a drug deal. Nickerson allegedly was carrying a knife that had 'Teacher Dear' written on it, a witness said.
But with no murder weapon or clear DNA linking him to the crime, police were unable to arrest Nickerson, who in the years following the murder was arrested and convicted of other charges, including armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping, spokespersons said.
In 1984, the same year a witness claimed Nickerson had implicated himself in the shooting, Nickerson was shot and critically injured while attempting to commit a drug robbery. No charges were filed 'given the circumstances,' spokespersons said.
In 1993, Nickerson shot and killed himself.
Investigators finally broke the case in 2025, after meeting with one of Nickerson's family members who admitted that the teenager had come to their home 'minutes after the killing' and confessed to the stabbing.
District Attorney's spokespersons said because the relative was not involved in the killing or an accessory after the fact, no crime was committed and thus the witness would not be subject to arrest, even if '(we) think they should have come forward earlier.'
Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that he was pleased by the work the office's cold case unit had done to solve the case, even if the murderer was not alive to face justice.
'This marks the end of a terrible and tragic mystery,' said Rosen.
San Jose police chief Paul Joseph said he hoped the resolution would bring a measure of peace to Peterson's loved ones — and to a 'community that has carried this loss for too long.'
Since being established in 2011, the DA's cold case unit has solved over 30 cold case murders from as early as 1969, officials said. Peterson's case is the fourth to be solved by the office in 2025.
In a statement, Peterson's family member — who wished to stay anonymous — thanked investigators for 'not giving up for 47 years.'
'Diane was a beautiful and wonderful person who is missed dearly,' the relative said.
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About two weeks after the video became public, Palm Beach County Assistant State Attorney Pamela Ford decided not to prosecute the misdemeanor charge against Laynez Ambrocio. 'Upon review of the evidence and contact with the Arresting Officer, the State declines to prosecute. There is insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge,' Ford wrote on Jul. 29. The decision angered the FHP director, who said dismissing the case was a 'miscarriage of justice.' 'I do not think it is going to end up well for that prosecutor,' Kerner said. When asked about Kerner's comments and the prosecutor's decision, a Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office spokesperson said that the office had not dismissed the charges, it had declined to prosecute, and referred the Herald to the court filing. To date, the reason for the traffic stop remains murky. State officials say the stop was to conduct a 'commercial vehicle inspection.' A federal record reviewed by the Herald/Times says troopers stopped the truck for a 'traffic violation.' In an interview, Laynez Ambrocio said the trooper did not give them a reason for pulling them over. The dash camera footage starts with FHP trooper Steve Julien turning around and positioning himself in the middle of the highway, where he waits as the truck approaches and stops in front of him. From the moment the traffic stop started, Laynez Ambrocio said felt targeted for the color of his skin. 'They're abusing their power, and racially profiling every Hispanic they see. They're not going after criminals, they're going after landscapers and roofers,' Laynez Ambrocio told the Herald. The officers' conduct may have violated the agencies' own use of force policies. Both FHP and Customs have policies banning chokeholds or vascular neck restraints unless 'deadly force' is warranted. In the footage, a Border Patrol agent is shown holding one man with his forearm across a man's neck – and later, an FHP officer restrains the man who is tased, grabbing him around the neck area while the man is doubled down. Neither CBP nor FHP commented on the officers' use of neck restraints. According to the Customs policy manual, an agent may use a taser on a person actively resisting who could injure themselves or someone else – but not on people adjacent to traffic. The tasing took place in the middle of a three-lane highway. 'Law enforcement is facing a surge in assaults while doing their jobs—enforcing the law,' the Customs spokesperson said in a statement. 'Make no mistake, if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' The video does not appear to show an assault on an officer. Customs did not respond when asked to provide more information about the alleged assault on an agent. FHP declined to comment on the troopers' conduct on the video, or if it was under review. In Laynez Ambrocio's case, FHP maintained that the arrest was part of a 'lawful federal and state investigation.' As he gets ready for his senior year to start, Laynez Ambrocio said he is traumatized after the arrest. He cannot bring himself to return to his landscaping job, leaving his mother and younger brothers without his income to help. When he considers going back to work, he thinks of the patrol cars. 'They're still out there,' he said. 'Waiting.'
