Michael Bear Carson and Suzan Carson

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James Clifford Carson (aka Michael Bear Carson) and Susan Barnes Carson were serial killers active in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980's.

Involved in the counter-culture movement, their crimes emerged from a shared missionary philosophy to exterminate individuals they believed to be "witches". The pair reportedly kept a list of targeted individuals including celebrities and political figures such as Johnny Carson and then-president Ronald Reagan.

After their arrest in 1983, they held a news conference confessing to murders including those of Karen Barnes, stabbed to death in her home in Haight-Ashbury, Clark Stephens, murdered and mutilated in Humboldt County and John Hillyar, murdered while hitchhiking in the Napa Valley.

Suspected in several killings, the Carsons were eventually convicted of three murders and sentenced to serve 25 years to life for each.

Sources:

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California Babylon by Kristan Lawson and Anneli Rufus , St. Martin's Griffin; Revised Edition edition (October 2000)

The Cry for War: The Story of Suzan and Michael Carson, Squibob Pr; 1st ed edition (January 1988)

Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (Paperback)by Brian Lane, Berkley (July 1, 1995)