Theodore Landon "Ted" Streleski (b. 1936) is an American former
graduate student
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
in
mathematics at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
who murdered his former faculty advisor, Professor
Karel de Leeuw, with a
ball-peen hammer
A ball-peen or ball pein hammer, also known as a machinist's hammer, is a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It has two heads, one flat and the other, called the peen, rounded. It is distinguished from a cross-peen hammer, diagonal-pee ...
on August 18, 1978. Shortly after the murder, Streleski turned himself in to the authorities, claiming he felt the murder was justifiable homicide because de Leeuw had withheld departmental awards from him, demeaned Streleski in front of his peers, and refused his requests for financial support.
[Schmidt, Jeff. ''Disciplined Minds''. Rowman and Littlefield, 2000. Pages 259–260.] Streleski was in his 19th year pursuing his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in the mathematics department,
alternating with low-paying jobs to support himself.
During his trial Streleski told the court he felt the murder was "logically and morally correct" and "a political statement" about the department's treatment of its graduate students, and he forced his court-appointed lawyer to enter a plea of "not guilty" rather than "not guilty by reason of insanity" as the lawyer had urged.
Streleski was convicted of
second degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
with a sentence of eight years.
He served seven years in prison at
California Medical Facility
California Medical Facility (CMF) is a male-only state prison medical facility located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County, California. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville.
Facilities
C ...
.
Streleski was eligible for parole on three occasions, but turned it down as the conditions of his parole required him to get psychiatric treatment.
Upon his release in 1985, he said, "I have no intention of killing again. On the other hand, I cannot predict the future."
In 1993 Streleski was turned down for a
fare box repair position with the
San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cable ...
after his crime came to light.
[Staff report (May 4, 1993). Murderer turned down for railway job. '']San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
''
References
External links
A commemorative article by Stanford's alumni association
1936 births
American people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by California
Place of birth missing (living people)
Stanford University alumni
Living people
Criminals of the San Francisco Bay Area
Violence at universities and colleges
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