Orange County Confidential

The double murder on a desolate California road appeared unsolvable. Then the cops got a break

The road was too dark, the traffic too light, and they were going in the wrong direction. Ken Stahl had promised his wife Carolyn Oppy "a big surprise" for her birthday, but when he pulled over on a deserted turnout 30 miles from their home in Huntington Beach, Calif., she must have been worried. No streetlights, no houses in sight, no reason to be there at all. The engine was still running when the killer approached, a gun in his hand. It was all according to plan: $30,000 up front, paid by the husband for a hit on his wife.

But...

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