MARTINEZ — An Oregon resident recently charged with murdering 6-year-old Jeremy Stoner in 1987 is now a prime suspect in the equally brutal killing of 9-year-old Eric Coy, multiple law enforcement sources have confirmed.
Fred Marion Cain III, 69, was charged last week with murder during kidnapping and sexual assault in the February 1987 killing of Jeremy, who was abducted after leaving a relative’s home in Vallejo, and whose body was found days later on Sherman Island. Cain was linked to the crime through DNA, authorities said.
But now, authorities say they’re also looking at Cain as a suspect in Eric’s killing, an investigation that has drawn community shock, sympathy, and hundreds of tips to police over the past 35 years, yet remains unsolved. Eric was found dead in a creek near Martinez Junior High School on Jan. 25, 1987. He was riding his bike a few short blocks away from his home when an unknown assailant stabbed him 11 times.
There are obvious similarities between both slayings. They occurred within one month of each other. Jeremy was kidnapped from Vallejo, Eric from Martinez. Both were stabbed.
In fact, the last time a suspect was arrested in Jeremy’s death, in 1987, police also looked at his possible involvement in Eric’s killing. That man, a mentally ill Benicia resident named Shawn Martin, bragged in an autobiography about molesting and raping children, but jurors failed to reach a verdict on a murder charge against him. He was later cleared by DNA, after his death, authorities said.
Cain lived in Martinez in 1987, a short distance from where Eric’s body was found, authorities said. Despite the DNA evidence in Jeremy’s killing, police say he has denied involvement.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s cold case unit and Martinez police are handling the investigation.
A composite sketch of a possible suspect in the case was released by police a few days after the slaying. Police described the suspect as a Latino or Italian man with a light complexion, scars on his cheeks, black combed-back medium-length hair and “very piercing” dark eyes. He was about 18 to 21 years old, 5-foot-8 and about 165 pounds during the time of the killing.
Anyone with information on the killing or surrounding circumstances can leave an anonymous tip with police by calling 925-372-3457.
Source: www.mercurynews.com