California authorities solve 1978 cold case murder of a teacher

SAN JOSE, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A cold case murder in San Jose has been solved after nearly 50 years.

"Just because a suspect is dead doesn't mean we give up bc even tho that person can't be charged and cant be brought to court, its important to the family and loved ones of the victim," said Rob Baker, Deputy District Attorney for Santa Clara County.

Some sense of closure in a decades-old cold case, Diane Peterson was a teacher at Branham High School in San Jose when she was stabbed to death in the hallway outside her classroom, the day after school got out for the summer in 1978.

The Santa Clara County D.A.'s Office believes then 16-year-old Harry "Nicky" Nickerson is responsible for her death. A family member of Nickerson recently told detectives he had confessed to the crime.

"This person has been keeping this secret for decades. This person was a close person to Mr. Nickerson, a relative to Mr. Nickerson and finally came forward when the detectives talked to this person," Baker shared.

Nickerson had been a suspect in the killing. A 1978 booking photo of him four days after the killing bore a strong similarity to a sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the attack.

In 1983, the family of a Branham student alerted police that their son claimed to have seen the killing and identified Nickerson as the one responsible, but the student later denied saying that.

"We had a suspicion, but there just wasn't enough to file charges in that case," Baker remarked.

In the years following the killing, Nickerson was arrested and convicted of charges including armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping. He died in 1993.

Law enforcement consultant Michael Leininger tells us he remembers this case as a teenager and would think about it when he joined San Jose PD.

"I had friends who attended that school and I remember we all talked about it and over the years...I always felt it was such a shame that the family never received peace and that the murderer was still possibly at large and had seemingly gotten away with it," Leininger said.

He says he thinks this also sends a message to the community.

"Law enforcement has not given up, doesn't give up, and they'll keep going until they get a resolution," Leininger expressed.

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