INVESTIGATIVE CASE DOSSIER: SUSAN NASON MURDER: THE 1969 FOSTER CITY COLD CASE & THE LANDMARK REPRESSED MEMORY TRIAL
- Victim: Susan Kay Nason (8 years old)
- Date of Disappearance: September 22, 1969
- Date Remains Discovered: December 2, 1969 (Near Crystal Springs Reservoir, San Mateo County, CA)
- Location: Foster City & San Mateo County, California
- Accused: George Thomas Franklin Sr. (Convicted in 1990; Conviction overturned in 1995)
- Investigating Agency: San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office & Foster City Police Department
- Legal Significance: First US criminal prosecution and murder conviction based primarily on ‘repressed memory’ testimony
- Forensic Outcome: Overturned on federal habeas corpus; modern STR DNA testing excluded Franklin in subsequent cold case reviews
On the afternoon of September 22, 1969, eight-year-old Susan Kay Nason walked out of her suburban home in Foster City, California, to visit a nearby grocery store and never returned. Ten weeks later, her body was found beneath an abandoned mattress in the rugged foothills near Crystal Springs Reservoir along Highway 92. She had been bludgeoned to death. For twenty years, the case remained cold until 1989, when her childhood friend, Eileen Franklin-Lipsker, told detectives that looking at her own daughter suddenly triggered a vivid ‘repressed memory’ of witnessing her father, George Franklin Sr., sexually assault and murder Susan in the back of his Volkswagen van. The Susan Nason murder trial became a global legal sensation—the first murder conviction in United States history based entirely on recovered memory testimony, sparking decades of psychiatric debate, judicial reform, and modern forensic re-evaluation.
The 1969 Disappearance & The Crystal Springs Crime Scene
On Monday, September 22, 1969, eight-year-old Susan Nason left her house on Shell Boulevard in the newly developed master-planned community of Foster City, California. She was walking to a shopping center only a few blocks away. When she failed to return by dinner, the Foster City Police Department and San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office launched extensive canine searches of the surrounding waterways, drainage canals, and construction sites.
On December 2, 1969, utility workers inspecting power lines in the coastal foothills near Highway 92 and Skyline Boulevard near Crystal Springs Reservoir discovered a decomposed body concealed under a rusted spring mattress and brush. The victim had suffered severe blunt force trauma to the skull, and a distinctive silver ring with a turquoise stone was found beside the body. Due to the limits of 1969 forensics, no suspect DNA profile could be developed, and the case grew cold.
The 1989 Repressed Memory Accusation & Arrest of George Franklin
Twenty years later, in November 1989, 29-year-old Eileen Franklin-Lipsker contacted the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office with an extraordinary claim. She stated that while looking into the eyes of her young daughter, an involuntary flashback unsealed a long-buried memory: on September 22, 1969, her father, George Thomas Franklin Sr., had picked up Susan Nason, driven to the reservoir hills, sexually assaulted her in the back of his van, and bludgeoned her with a rock while Eileen watched in terror from the front passenger seat.
San Mateo County prosecutors charged 51-year-old retired firefighter George Franklin Sr. with first-degree murder. In late 1990, the trial commenced in Redwood City, featuring testimony from prominent memory researchers and psychiatrists, debating the scientific validity of recovered trauma memories versus potential confabulation and suggestive memory implantation.
The Landmark Verdict & The Federal Habeas Corpus Reversal
In November 1990, a San Mateo County jury convicted George Franklin Sr. of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict established a seismic legal precedent that triggered hundreds of repressed memory lawsuits across the United States throughout the early 1990s.
However, in April 1995, U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen overturned Franklin’s conviction on a writ of habeas corpus. The federal court ruled that the trial judge committed constitutional errors by excluding evidence showing that details of the crime had been widely published in 1969 newspapers, and that the prosecution improperly used Franklin’s post-arrest silence against him. Furthermore, subsequent hypnosis sessions and conflicting memory claims undermined the reliability of the eyewitness testimony. In 1996, San Mateo prosecutors declined to retry the case.
Modern Forensic DNA Analysis & Enduring Legal Legacy
In the 2000s and 2010s, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit submitted physical evidence preserved from Susan Nason’s clothing for advanced Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA extraction. Modern forensic testing yielded male DNA profiles that did not match George Franklin Sr., formally clearing him of biological connection to the physical evidence.
The Susan Nason case remains a cornerstone of legal and forensic psychology curricula worldwide, fundamentally reshaping judicial standards regarding the admissibility of uncorroborated recovered memory testimony and underscoring the absolute necessity of rigorous physical and biological forensic corroboration.
The 1969 Foster City Abduction & Reservoir Scene Reconstruction
The abduction and murder of eight-year-old Susan Nason in Foster City, California, in September 1969 presented formidable challenges to San Mateo County criminalists. When her body was located under a discarded spring mattress near Crystal Springs Reservoir along Highway 92, detectives documented severe blunt force trauma to the skull.
Investigators recovered physical items from the scene, including clothing and jewelry, carefully packaging and preserving them in county evidence archives. For twenty years, detectives interviewed local residents and searched construction sites across the San Francisco Peninsula without identifying a prime suspect.
The 1990 Repressed Memory Criminal Prosecution
When Eileen Franklin-Lipsker reported her recovered childhood memory in 1989, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office embarked on an unprecedented legal strategy: prosecuting George Franklin Sr. based on recovered memory testimony. During the 1990 trial in Redwood City, defense counsel argued that the recovered memories were confabulations influenced by media coverage and therapeutic suggestion.
The subsequent 1995 federal habeas corpus reversal by U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen underscored the critical necessity of corroborating psychological testimony with physical and scientific evidence, establishing enduring legal standards for memory-based prosecutions across federal jurisdictions.
Modern STR DNA Analysis & Permanent Cold Case Clearance
In subsequent cold case evaluations, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office submitted physical evidence preserved from Susan Nason’s clothing for Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA extraction. The resulting male DNA profiles definitively excluded George Franklin Sr., reinforcing the judicial determination that biological evidence remains the definitive standard in capital jurisprudence.
Psychological Evidence Admissibility & Modern Judicial Standards
The Susan Nason murder trial and its subsequent federal habeas corpus reversal fundamentally transformed the admissibility of psychiatric and memory-based testimony in American jurisprudence. Federal and state courts established rigorous evidentiary gatekeeping standards under the Daubert and Kelly-Frye frameworks, requiring scientific consensus before novel psychological theories can be presented to juries.
The case remains a foundational study in legal psychology, emphasizing that justice requires objective physical and biological corroboration to prevent wrongful convictions.
San Mateo County Cold Case Physical Evidence Re-Evaluation
Following the dismissal of charges against George Franklin Sr., the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office preserved all original crime scene exhibits in temperature-controlled archives. Modern STR testing conducted in the 2000s confirmed the presence of non-matching male DNA, ensuring that the physical evidence remains available for future investigative genetic genealogy testing to identify Susan Nason’s true killer.
Case Timeline & Forensic Milestones
| Date / Period | Investigative Milestone | Forensic Details & Key Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| September 22, 1969 | Disappearance in Foster City | 8-year-old Susan Nason disappears while walking to a local store |
| December 2, 1969 | Remains Located at Reservoir | Body discovered under mattress near Highway 92 and Crystal Springs |
| November 1989 | Repressed Memory Claim | Eileen Franklin reports recovered memory implicating her father |
| November 1990 | Historic Murder Conviction | George Franklin Sr. convicted of first-degree murder in landmark trial |
| April 1995 | Conviction Overturned | Federal District Court overturns conviction due to constitutional errors |
| Present | Active Cold Case Review | San Mateo County Sheriff maintains active file with modern DNA testing |
Related Landmark Cold Cases & Forensic Breakthroughs
Explore related historical criminal investigations, forensic breakthroughs, and genetic genealogy cold case clearances:
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- Pamela Maurer Murder: How Parabon Snapshot & Genetic Genealogy Solved the 1978 Cold Case: An in-depth analysis of evidence recovery, forensic pathology, and cold case resolution.
- Jennifer Watkins Murder: How Othram DNA Solved the 1999 Colorado Springs Hospital Cold Case: An in-depth analysis of evidence recovery, forensic pathology, and cold case resolution.
- Barbara Blount Disappearance: The Unsolved 2008 Louisiana Rural Cold Case Dossier: An in-depth analysis of evidence recovery, forensic pathology, and cold case resolution.
- Gannon & Snyder Murders: How Othram DNA Solved the 1973 Boston Double Homicide: An in-depth analysis of evidence recovery, forensic pathology, and cold case resolution.
Frequently Asked Questions About This Case
What was the legal significance of the Susan Nason murder trial?
It was the first criminal case in United States history where a defendant was prosecuted and convicted of murder based primarily on recovered ‘repressed memory’ testimony without contemporary physical evidence.
Why was George Franklin Sr.’s conviction overturned?
In 1995, a federal judge overturned the conviction because the trial court improperly excluded evidence that crime details were accessible via 1969 newspaper reports and allowed improper commentary on the defendant’s right to remain silent.
Did modern DNA testing link George Franklin to Susan Nason?
No. Modern STR DNA testing performed on preserved physical evidence from the crime scene in the 2000s excluded George Franklin Sr. as the source of biological material.
