The story of the 1974 murder of SDSU freshman Tanya Gardini has been somewhat lost to time — but the legacy remains in Zura’s well-received security overhaul and the perpetrator’s recent parole denial.
51 years ago, Navy man Ellis Lee Handy Jr. sexually assaulted and murdered Gardini in her second-floor Zura dorm after she rejected his romantic advances. In 1975, he confessed and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, though his Nov. 6 hearing marked his 24th denial thus far.
Zura security: 1974 vs now…