Two murders involving San Pedro are the subject of three film productions, two on Netflix and one on Peacock.
One is The Serpent, a miniseries on Netflix from 2021 dramatizing the notorious 1970s serial killer with that nickname. The Serpent is also the subject of Peacock’s World’s Most Notorious Killers series, which first aired in September. The third program is a one-hour documentary, part of the Homicide: Los Angeles series, titled “Murder at the Beach” that debuted in July.
The death of Wilmington resident Teresa Broudreaux, 20, was big news locally when her body was found on Malaga Cove Beach in Palos Verdes Estates on March 4, 1980. A pregnant newlywed, she had died from a blow to the head. A rape kit was not conducted, and with no leads, the murder sat in the cold case files for 33 years. It was not until 2013, when the case was reopened, that DNA testing finally led to the arrest of San Pedran Robert Allan Yniguez.
The program details efforts to find and arrest Yniguez, which finally happened in 2017, along with the haunting ordeal of Ronnie Fematt, Broudreaux’s husband of five months, and Broudreaux’s four-year-old daughter. Yniguez eventually confessed to the murder in 2018, and in 2019, at age 67, was sentenced to 15 years to life.
San Pedrans are probably less familiar with the Serpent story only because his first victim, Teresa Ann Knowlton, had been living in Seattle before her death in Thailand. But Knowlton was born and raised in San Pedro and attended San Pedro High before moving north.
In October 1975, at age 21, she was in Thailand on her way to Kathmandu, Nepal, to study Tibetan Buddhism and become a nun. It was in Bangkok where she met Frenchman Charles Sobhraj, and on October 18, her body was found floating in the Gulf of Thailand.
Her death was initially determined to be an accidental drowning, but seven months later, forensic results determined the drowning was a murder.
Besides being featured in the miniseries, Knowlton is featured in two of Sobhraj’s biographies, Serpentine (1979) by Thomas Thompson and The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj (1980; reissued as On the Trail of the Serpent) by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke.
Sobhraj is believed to have killed at least 20 people in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran, and Hong Kong, making friends of mostly young Western backpackers along the “hippie trail” in Asia before drugging, robbing, and murdering them.
Sentenced to life in prison in 2004 in Nepal, he was released in December 2022 because of poor health.
I’ve seen the miniseries and Homicide episode on Netflix, and both are riveting. As for the Peacock show, I personally have no interest in listening to a convicted killer tell his side of the story.
Knowlton is buried at Green Hills Memorial Park. Fematt has recently retired after a long career as a longshoreman.
Around the Horn
A trio of San Pedro High Hall of Fame athletes made the news over the summer—or would have if we had a local newspaper.
Victoria (Brucker) Ruelas (1994) was feted in Williamsport, Pa., as the first female to play in the Little League World Series when San Pedro’s Eastview team competed there in 1989. She became a star for the Pirates in softball, soccer, and swimming. Today, she is a teacher and swim coach at Kalani High in Honolulu.
Steve Taylor (2004) was named head baseball coach at his alma mater. Taylor was a standout in baseball and football at San Pedro High, entering the HOF with his volleyball-playing sister, Samantha, in 2019. He is currently a member of Northrop Grumman’s space flight production team.
Ashley Esparza (2004) will become the 10th Pirate inducted into the LAUSD Hall of Fame at the April 2025 ceremony in Granada Hills. Esparza, inaugurated into the SPHS Hall of Fame in 2015 after an illustrious softball career, joins alumni Willie Naulls, Louise Figlewicz-Quick, Cardte Hicks, Frank Endo, Tony Dobra, Garry Maddox, Ben Agajanian, Lillian Faralla, and Bruce Thomson. Esparza works for APM Terminals on Terminal Island.
By the way, tickets remain for this year’s SPHS Athletic HOF event on November 2 at the Dalmatian-American Club. Email sppirateboostersclub@gmail.com or call (310) 701-9357. spt
