A Deadly Grudge: The Horrific Halloween Night Murder of Doreen Erbert
On Halloween night 1984, 31-year-old Doreen Erbert and her unborn child were savagely murdered in her home. An investigation would eventually lead investigators to her estranged ex-husband
Background
For many, Halloween is a night for laughter, candy, and pretend scares. But on October 31st, 1984, the terror was all too real for 31-year-old Doreen Erbert. The expectant mother, eight months pregnant, heard a knock at her front door. When she answered, instead of an eager trick-or-treater, Doreen was met by a man wearing a wolf mask.
What happened next would become one of the most shocking and gruesome crimes in California’s history.
Doreen Erbert
Doreen Erbert was born Doreen Rae Hitchens in Santa Clara, California, in 1952. The Hitchens family was loving and close, and this shaped Doreen into the loving and caring woman she would grow up to become.
Doreen grew up and went to school to pursue work in the medical field, an expression of her innate desire to help others. After graduating, Doreen found work as a physical therapist in California’s Bay Area.
Also living in the Bay Area was a young man named William Michael Dennis, who worked in the local Lockheed factory. Dennis was not particularly confident, due in part to his stutter caused by significant hearing loss that occurred in his childhood.
This hearing loss also forced Dennis to use hearing aids that were nowhere near as sleek and compact as today’s models. According to later records, Dennis struggled with depression, and he formerly confided in a psychiatrist that he had issues with finding and maintaining relationships.
Relationship with William Michael Dennis
Shortly after Doreen started working, she met Dennis. Their relationship, though rocky at times early on, was a whirlwind romance. After dating for only a few months, Doreen and Dennis were married.
In 1976, Doreen gave birth to their son, Paul Dennis. Unfortunately, the stress of raising a child deepened already existing issues in Doreen and Dennis’s relationship, and the pair divorced in 1977. Doreen earned primary custody of Paul, but Dennis retained visitation rights.
After the split, Dennis held a grudge against Doreen for what he viewed as her breaking up their family. On the other hand, Doreen was content to move on with her life.
Marriage to Charles Erbert
After her divorce from William Dennis, Doreen fell in love with and married Charles Erbert. In 1979, Charles and Doreen welcomed a daughter, Deanna. For a while, life was great for Doreen. She was happily in love with her husband and had built a beautiful, blended family. Sadly, this happiness would be short-lived.
A Tragic Accident
In February 1980, tragedy struck the Erbert home.
Three-year-old Paul fell into the pool at the house after climbing through the fence the Erberts had put around the pool to keep the children safe. Although Doreen was at home, she did not expect Paul to be able to access the pool unsupervised, so she did not discover that he had fallen in until it was too late.
Paul was rescued from the pool and transported to the hospital, where he remained on life support for a week. Tragically, Paul was unable to recover from his injuries, and a few days after the respirator was removed, he passed away.
Dennis, who already held a grudge against Doreen, was infuriated. He blamed Doreen and Charles for Paul’s death, believing that Doreen should have been more responsible in looking after their son.
Stricken with grief and desperate to blame his ex-wife, Dennis filed a wrongful death suit against the Erberts. That suit went to trial in March of 1982, just over two years after Paul’s death. The jury sided with the Erberts, believing nobody was to blame for Paul’s death, which they agreed was a tragic accident.
Downward Spiral
After the trial concluded and with no shared custody agreement tying Doreen to her ex-husband, the Erberts cut off contact with Dennis. This kicked off a substantial downward spiral in Dennis’ life, one from which he would never recover.
Dennis lost his previous position at Lockheed Martin and was forced to accept a demotion or lose his job altogether. His mental health continued to worsen, with his grudge toward Doreen festering into a consuming hatred. He blamed Doreen for destroying his family, taking away the only stable romantic relationship he’d ever had, and, in his mind, murdering their son.
While Dennis sank into hostility, Doreen did her best to move on with life. A few years after Paul’s death, Doreen and Charles decided they were ready to start trying to have another baby. Tragedy continued to follow Doreen, and she suffered through two miscarriages. Finally, in 1984, Doreen and Charles learned they would be welcoming a healthy baby boy in November.
Halloween 1984
On October 31st, 1984, Doreen was 8 months pregnant with her son, who was due to arrive in a few weeks. Despite being heavily pregnant, Doreen wanted to give 5-year-old Deanna a fun and memorable Halloween, so she took her out trick-or-treating.
Charles stayed home, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. When Doreen and Deanna returned home, Charles told Doreen they were running out of candy and that he needed to get more. He left the house for a mere 15 minutes, picking up some candy and swinging by the liquor store.
In that short time, the Erbert family’s lives would be shattered in a horrific act of brutality.
Around 9 p.m., just after Charles had left, Doreen and Deanna heard a loud knock at their front door. This was not a playful knock of a child asking for candy. Deanna vividly recalls the sound of this knock being more aggressive than expected. Still, Doreen went to the door and opened it.