How did "sleepy hippie" Santa Cruz go from a tranquil coastal town to three murders, a rape at UC-Santa Cruz, a murder downtown, an armed robbery and a UCSC student shot in the head during a robbery—all semingly unrelated but shocking acts of violence.
Patch asked a Buddhist, two moms and a businessman if the Feb. 26 fatal shooting of Santa Cruz Police Detectives Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker and Elizabeth Butler and their assailant was the tipping point for the mayhem and this is what they had to say.
