Book Chronicling 1984 Murder of Pleasanton Teen Divulges Details of Tragic Case

More than three decades after one of Pleasanton’s most notorious murders, a book detailing the harrowing story of the 14-year-old girl brutally stabbed 44 times while walking home from school will soon be released.

Pleasanton native Josh Suchon tells the story of Tina Faelz’ grisly murder in 1984 and how DNA evidence eventually lead to Steven Carlson’s arrest in 2011 and conviction in 2014.

“This was a tragedy that affected all of us in Pleasanton, whether you knew Tina or not, and the unanswered questions haunted the community for decades,” Suchon told Patch. “Writing this book was more challenging than I could have predicted, but it was a story that needed to be told. The book contains details the public has never previously heard, and I hope this book helps them understand the full scope of this tragic story.”

On April 5, 1984, Tina Faelz, a 14-year-old freshman at Foothill High School, was stabbed to death in a culvert that once crossed beneath Interstate 680, while she was walking home from school. The path was a popular shortcut that passed east of the school underneath the freeway to the Valley Trails neighborhood.

Fellow students discovered her body around 3 p.m. near the creekbed. Faelz had been stabbed 44 times.

Steven J. Carlson, 45, was arrested in August of 2011, charged with the killing of Faelz after new DNA technology helped law enforcement identify blood on a purse found hanging from a tree at the homicide scene as being from Carlson.

Pleasanton Police said Carlson, a student at Foothill High in 1984, lived on Lemonwood Way near the trail where Faelz’ body was found. Carlson was 16-years-old at the time.

Carlson, a registered sex offender with a criminal history involving drugs and battery, was arrested after police were tipped off by an FBI analysis from the Quantico, Va. lab of the evidence collected at the crime scene in 1984.

Faelz’ mother, Shirley Faelz Orosco, died unexpectedly on Feb. 13, 2014— the same day the murder trial was scheduled to begin. Her family believes she died of a broken heart.

Carlson was convicted in 2014.

Previous:

• Tina Faelz’ Family Reflects, Says Sadness Killed Mom Some 30 Years Later
• Mother of Murder Victim Dies Same Day as Murder Trial Was to Begin
• Steven Carlson Ordered to Stand Trial for the Murder of Tina Faelz
• Suspect in Tina Faelz Slaying Will be Tried as Adult
• Friends, Relatives Leave Heartfelt Messages For Murder Victim Tina Faelz on Facebook

Suchon will appear on the Discovery Channel in September. “Murder in Pleasanton: Tina Faelz and the Search for Justice” will be available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Photo of Shirley Faelz Orosco/ Tina Faelz courtesy of Faelz family.