When I was in college, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed was my favorite. I absolutely loved his “Bloom County” comic strip. Opus – the lovable penguin, Bill the Cat – too ugly to die, Milo Bloom – the brainy ten year old, and Steve Dallas – the former frat boy were among the great characters in that comic strip. It ran from 1980 until 1989. Now, the Pulitzer Prize winning Breathed is trying to help authorities track down a killer from almost 30 years ago.
Breathed was a student at the University of Texas, Austin when Michael Cahill was slain in 1979. He was working as a cook, but was pursing a career in music. Cahill confronted a burglar leaving his apartment with his guitar on April 13, 1979. Cahill jumped in a car to chase the burglar, but the burglar shot him dead in his driveway. The killer was never identified, despite many clues and leads in the case.
How were Cahill and Breathed linked? It seems that Cahill’s killer was also a suspect of several break-ins. Officials believe he broke into the homes of Breathed and other student photographers who contributed to a calendar called “Book of Days.” For that reason, the slaying has been known as the “Book of Days” murder. Breathed arrived at his apartment one night to find a stack of albums by his front door and his apartment ransacked, leading him to believe that he had surprised the intruder.
Breathed said he had forgotten about the murder, but when “America’s Most Wanted” called him for help, it brought it all back. “I got angry about it all over again,” said Breathed. He volunteered to draw the burglary scene that will air on Saturday night’s episode of the crime fighting show. The Austin police are hoping that the episode will jog the memory of someone who may have heard something or seen the guitar and help solve the “Book of Days” murder.