SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Nearly 50 years ago a young teacher was found stabbed to death inside a California high school on the first day of summer break. On Monday, cold case investigators identified her killer publicly for the first time.
Diane Peterson, a teacher at Branham High School in San Jose, was stabbed to death by 16-year-old Harry “Nicky” Nickerson on June 16, 1978, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said.
She was killed one day after the 1977-1978 school year ended, while teachers were cleaning their classrooms for summer. A student found Peterson lying on the floor near her classroom with a stab wound in her chest.
Investigators cracked the cold case after meeting with Nickerson’s family member this year, according to the DA’s office. Minutes after the killing, Nickerson went to their home and confessed to stabbing the teacher, a family member admitted to police…