In September 1969, 20 year old Bryan Calvin Hartnell and his friend, 22 year old Cecelia Shepard, were spending a quiet afternoon near the shoreline of Lake Berryessa in Napa, California. They were lying on a blanket when they noticed an armed stranger approaching them. He was wearing a strange hooded costume and appeared tall with a heavy build.
It was around 6 p.m., and the couple was alone when the mysterious man approached them. He claimed to be a prisoner who had escaped, but something about the situation was clearly unusual. The stranger refused to take Hartnell’s money and car keys, leaving the couple with no idea what he actually wanted.
The man eventually tied Bryan and Cecelia up before beginning his attack. He stabbed Hartnell five times in the back. He then turned his attention to Cecelia, stabbing her five times in the back and another five times in the front.
After the attack, the stranger calmly returned to his vehicle and left the area. Bryan and Cecelia were left critically injured and fighting for their lives. Minutes later, a fisherman heard their screams and discovered them.
Despite their severe injuries, Bryan and Cecelia had managed to untie themselves. An ambulance arrived nearly an hour later and rushed them to the hospital. Cecelia’s injuries proved fatal, and she passed away at the hospital. Bryan survived the attack.
The mysterious attacker also left a message on the victim’s car door. The message claimed responsibility for the Lake Berryessa attack as well as two other attacks.
The attacker was the Zodiac Killer, a name that became associated with a series of unsolved murders and attacks in California. The Lake Berryessa attack remains one of the most disturbing incidents connected to the case because of the unusual costume, the claim about being a prisoner, and the message left behind.
Bryan Hartnell went on to survive what could have been a fatal encounter. He later married and had two sons, continuing his life decades after the attack.
When Hartnell was interviewed by a news station, he explained that setting goals helped him survive. His first goal was simply to live. After that, he focused on freeing himself, getting help, and making it to the hospital.
More than five decades later, Hartnell’s survival remains one of the most remarkable parts of the Lake Berryessa attack. He endured 10 stab wounds and lived to tell the story of the night the Zodiac Killer attacked him.
