Originally published in print in September 2025. View print issues here.

A family member described Diane Peterson as a “beautiful and wonderful person who is missed dearly” in a news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. 26 years old at the time of her murder, the first-year teacher at Branham is still remembered by former students.

“There are some teachers that just make an impact on you. It was my first year of high school, which was a little unnerving trying to adjust to this new chapter. She made an impact on me,” Morrone said. “She was kind and patient, knowledgeable and friendly. There are some teachers that [make] you feel intimidated, or they don’t seem like they have a lot of patience, but she was the complete opposite, and I learned a lot from her. She seemed like an all around great person and a great teacher.”

Peterson’s positive presence left a lasting impression on Morrone.

“I can close my eyes and remember sitting in her class one day. I don’t remember what she said; I just remember sitting in her class and feeling really good, feeling comfortable,” Morrone said. “Why that sticks in my mind, I don’t really remember, but it was just a really great feeling.”

Morrone talked to her close friends when she found out that Peterson had been killed after school had gotten out for the summer. 

“I do remember  feeling extremely shocked, sad, [in] disbelief and fearful. It was scary,” Morrone said. “We didn’t know who it was or why it happened. I remember images going through my mind of her being in that classroom and packing up her stuff, and some horrible person just walking into her classroom and hurting her.”

During the 1970s — before mobile phones and social media — information moved slowly.

“Unless you called someone at the telephone, you really couldn’t follow up and see what happened. The way information moved around was a lot more stifling back then compared with today,” McCoy said. “It was really frustrating that they never found out who did it. People thought maybe a student did it, but nobody knew anything. There was no concrete information, and then it faded over time.”

San Jose Mercury News first reported on the homicide in the June 17, 1978 issue, the very next day. Their last article on the topic was published on July 1 that year.

McCoy thought it was “really strange” that a violent killing had occurred in the Branham area.

“People were freaked out, devastated and frightened. Branham — it’s a safe campus. It’s not on the east side, or anything like that,” McCoy said.

For Morrone, who was born and raised in the Branham area, Peterson’s killing raised safety concerns.

“It was the questions: ‘Why would someone do this to such a sweet lady? If somebody could go on our campus and do that, who’s to say it’s not going to happen again?’ I think that was going through my mind,” Morrone said. “There was never any worries about something so violent as that happening, so when it did happen, it definitely shook me.” 

Concerns about safety extended outside of Branham as well, reaching people like McCoy’s sibling who attended middle school at the time.

“I remember talking to my younger sister about it, who was not even at Branham,” McCoy said. “Talking about how they finally got the [killer], she said she was affected and freaked out, and her friends were very scared.”

The following year, Branham implemented more safety measures, adding a wire fence along Dent Avenue and transitioning from an informally open campus, where leaving campus during school hours was left largely ignored, to a closed campus.

“We were sort of a semi-open campus, and they locked it down a little bit better as the years went on because they ended up putting fences,” Godar said. “It was considered a closed campus, but kids would take off and go down to 7-Eleven.”

The homicide was initially investigated, but a lack of evidence at the time made solving the case close to impossible. As updates trickled to a stop, Godar stopped thinking about the killing.

“[I found out] on the news. [I was] a little obviously upset [and] a little freaked out because it was one of the teachers that I was taught by,” Godar said. “After a while, you just unfortunately forget about it until it pops back up again.”

Morrone felt differently. She struggled to come to terms with the violent killing of someone she knew, especially as a 15-year-old at the time.

“Having been her student and having seen her the day before [and] having a final in her class, it was hard for me,” Morrone said.

Peterson’s killing impacted Morrone during the rest of her time in high school.

“For a long time, it was hard to walk to that end of the campus, especially the row that her classroom was on,” Morrone said. “Every time I was near there, I felt sad, and I would think about her.”

After 47 years, Morrone believes that solving the cold case will bring closure to Peterson’s family.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Morrone said. “It definitely helps the family finally have some closure. It’s sad, but at least now they have closure, and that’s important, and that makes me feel better.”

Next: Read about how investigators solved the murder in “Cracking the Case.”

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