The Murder by The Masked Wolf

Murder by nature

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Halloween is the only day in a year when people around the world dress up, knock on doors in their neighborhood for candy, and decorate their homes like crime scenes. It's the day that the communities come together to celebrate.

Halloween night in 1984 turned out to be a genuinely nightmarish one for the Erbert family in San Jose, California, as a family was celebrating a holiday filled with fun and spooky events. One family would soon see why opening the door for trick-or-treaters is not always the best idea.

Doreen Rae Hitchens was born in Santa Clara, California, in 1952. She grew up in a very loving family. She had a job as a physical therapist, and that’s how she met her first husband, Michael Dennis, also known as Mike. Michael Dennis worked at the Lockheed factory as a sprayer next door to Doreen’s job. Mike had suffered from hearing loss, which often caused him to stutter. His friend, Jim Patriott told Snapped on Oxygen that Mike was depressed and he didn’t socialize a lot. He didn’t often have girlfriends, so when he met Doreen, he said he had found the one.

After only a few months of dating, the couple got married, and Doreen soon gave birth to a baby boy, Paul Dennis. While Mike relished his role as a father, the stress of being new parents was too much for the young couple to withstand. They divorced in 1977, and Doreen retained primary custody of their son, who visited Mike on weekends. Mike cherished the time with his son, but he remained bitter about the divorce. On the other hand, Doreen quickly bounced back and married local carpet store owner Charles Erbert. The two had a daughter, Deanna Erbert, in 1979, raising her and Paul together. The couple was quickly starting to become a family and moved into a beautiful home within the community.

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