Danny Lockin

      On August 21st, 1977, Danny and his mother went to a taping of The Gong Show, which Danny had entered with another of his mother's dance instructors, Billy Jo Conway.  Danny and Billy Jo did a great job, and ended up tying for first place.  After the show, he told his mother to go on home, as he was  getting a ride home with a friend.  He was later seen leaving a Garden Grove bar, with Charles Leslie Hopkins, 34, who was described as a slight, bearded, medical clerk.  It is not known if Hopkins was the friend Danny said he was going home with.  Hopkins called police to his nearby Westminster apartment later that night, claiming a man had tried to rob him.  When the police arrived, they found Danny's bloody body with almost one hundred stab wounds in it.  Police arrested Hopkins and charged him with Danny's murder. 

     The coroner's report said Danny had bled to death, and that only six of the wounds were fatal. He had apparently been stabbed multiple times, even after he had died.  At the same time police found Danny's body, they found a pornographic book with pictures of torture/sex orgies in it. They also removed several items from Hopkins' apartment which they felt Hopkins may have used to stab Danny.  

     The district attorneys office had hoped to use the book police found to show that it was a script for Danny's alleged  murder-by-torture.  According to one newspaper, if Hopkins was found guilty of torture, he would receive the death penalty.  However, Hopkins' trial was delayed 2 months because of a leg injury suffered by deputy Public Defender Walter Zech. The Judge,  Robert P. Kneeland, ruled that the book was inadmissible as evidence in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the seizure of evidence at a crime scene without a warrant.  Police had failed to obtain permission to search Hopkins' apartment and take items from it,  in the belief that they didn't need permission as they were already responding to a call to investigate a death. The inability to use the book as evidence affected the decision of whether the prosecution would focus on a charge of 1st degree murder or a lesser charge.

    In September 1978, Hopkins finally went to trial.  There was no jury, just Judge Kneeland.  Hopkins changed his original story and testified that Danny had been at his apartment, but had left,  and that later he woke to find Danny's bloody body,  and didn't know how it got there.  Hopkins was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced to 4 years in state prison.  Kneeland increased the sentence one year from the regular three year term after taking the sex/torture book into consideration , which prosecutors felt helped motivate Hopkins' attack on Danny.  Apparently, state law allows a judge to consider suppressed evidence when sentencing if the evidence shocks the conscience of the judge.  Hopkins received credit for the year he had already served in jail awaiting trial, and he could possibly have gotten out in as little as two years with good behavior!

    Danny was buried in Westminster Memorial Park cemetery, in Westminster, Orange county, California, under a simple stone which reads:                                                                                   

                                                                                    BELOVED SON

                                                                               DANIEL J. LOCKIN

                                                                                    1943-1977

    Danny was just 34 when he was murdered. He has been described as happy and looking forward to a great future, just a few days before he died.  Such a talented man , with such incredible energy and optimism, was capable of many more great things in his life.  He had wanted to do choreography, directing, acting, and of course, much more dancing.  His life was cut short for no apparent reason, and the man who allegedly did this, was not charged with first degree murder only because of  the U.S Supreme court ruling that happened during a delay in his trial!  Truly a travesty of justice!  For those who are in the area, and wish to visit Danny's grave and pay their respect,  his grave is in Block 29, section 219, grave 4.