The State - News from Jan. 2, 1987

The executive chef at the popular Spenger’s Fish Grotto in Berkeley was found stabbed to death near a boiler behind the business, police said. Inspector Hank Borders said Clois E. O’Connor, 56, was found dead by an officer who had responded “to a call of screaming in the area.” O’Connor, of Albany, normally arrived at the restaurant early to light the boiler, which provides steam for the kitchen operation, said John Van Olden, assistant manager. “I never go out there (to the boiler area) alone,” he said. “But by doing it every day like he did, you build up a sense of security. We’ve had minor problems like everybody else in this day and age, but never anything of this magnitude.”