[38] He was the first lawman on the scene of Mary Jeanne Larey's attack and the first and second double-murders. He said that he was following the bus because he was suspicious of an occupant who had entered from a private car. The body was taken by a Prewitt Funeral Home ambulance from the funeral home to Dallas.

[52], On Friday night, May 10, Texarkana City Police officers chased a car for three miles after it was spotted following a city bus. Jerry Atkins stated, "What happened was so tragic, and for many of us who lived through it, the frustration and sadness will always be there. "This man is extremely dangerous. [51] Gunshots that were heard turned out to be someone shooting at something they thought was a prowler (usually a shadow), accidental discharges from people loading their guns, and even backfires from vehicles. The drunkard replied, "Well, hell, I got a fifth of whiskey out of it. [13] Law enforcement repeatedly challenged Larey's account, and believed that she and Hollis knew the identity of their attacker and were covering for him. ", Elliott asked Sammie if he killed Betty Jo Booker; the man replied "no". [38] The other went in just below her lip, breaking her jaw and splintering out several teeth before lodging under her tongue.

The flashlight was sent to Washington, D.C. for further inspection by the FBI. Daniels was alleged to have raped two women and penetrated another one with the barrel of his gun, similarly to the Phantom. Although no saxophone was found in his possession, the police found a bag of bloody clothing in his hotel room. Mrs. Bessie Brown, Booker's mother, visited Tennison's mother to offer sympathy, and told her that she felt Tennison had nothing to do with her daughter's death. Though he was an average student and was not interested in schoolwork, he graduated in June 1948. Griffin was found between the front seats on his knees with his head resting on his crossed hands and his pockets turned inside out; Moore was found sprawled face-down in the back seat. Law enforcement was unable to locate Booker's saxophone at the crime scene;[32] the saxophone was eventually discovered around six months later, on October 24, still in its black imitation leather[33] case, in underbrush near where Booker's body had been found. He was a member of the Arkansas State Police from 1941 to 1948, having served as a trooper, then as a special investigator during that period. Put them out of the reach of children. Tackett replied, "I'm not going to shoot you for stealing cars." Sheriffs Presley and Davis suggested raising a reward fund of $2,500 for information that would help catch the killer of Virgil Starks. Mixed lust/power [54] Hundreds of young people attended the separate funerals. When he went under, he was counting by threes backward. Atkinson later heard the story about Thomas and decided to notify the police of his experience. The "blood"-stained clothing was speculated as being hidden by the Phantom; a rumor which still persists as of mid-2013. " Fact is, Chief, the only thing we really do know is that we've got a very strange person on our hands. ", When a lawyer told Peggy that her husband was being held for murder, she exclaimed, "How did they find it out?". The concern lasted throughout the summer and eventually subsided after three months had passed. She had many boyfriends, but none that were serious. [12] Meanwhile, Hollis had regained consciousness and managed to flag down a passerby on Richmond Road. The weapon used was the same of the first double murder, a .32 automatic Colt pistol.

Poison was found on the cap. Ranger Gonzaullas also tried baiting the Phantom by recruiting teenagers, some of whom were sons and daughters of Texas Rangers, to sit as decoys in parked cars while officers waited nearby. He said that the killer was apparently motivated by a strong sex drive and that he was a sadist. The wounds which we believed the man received when his body was struck by the train were full of dirt and were jagged."[42]. His funeral, which his recovering wife could not attend, was held the following Monday at his church at 2:30 p.m. More than 500 people attended his funeral, more than 60 of whom were his and his wife's relatives. He said, "I am Tillman Johnson with the Miller County Sheriff's Department. Three clues were found at the scene. In May 1946, at least six people were briefly considered suspects in the Phantom case: Earl MacSpadden, the man found on the Kansas City Southern Railway tracks north of Texarkana, near Ogden, Arkansas.

Sheriff Davis stated that although this murder could not be directly linked to the Phantom because the caliber was a .22, "it is possible that the killer is one and the same man. It was later discovered that a messenger was delivering a special letter. He was a 37-year-old who lived in a modest, ranch-style home on a 500-acre farm for five years, which was located about ten miles northeast of Texarkana, on Highway 67 East. "[55] After the murder of Virgil Starks, the majority of the 47 officers on the case unofficially believed that the killer's motives were that of "sex mania". The killer, described by witnesses as wearing a white mask or sack with holes cut for eyes, was dubbed the Phantom Killer or Phantom Slayer—a name that, like so much about the case, seemed ready-made for drive-in theaters. The last clue was bloody prints around the house: shoe-prints on the kitchen floor and smudged fingerprints in other places. "We were all extremely frightened and extremely upset. "[91], Louis "Swampy" Graves, a Texarkana Gazette reporter in 1946, described Gonzaullas as a handsome man with a lot of personalities. The Phantom may have also reasoned, in past crimes, that the only way to remain unidentified is to kill all persons at the scene. Earl was said by his brother to be a transient oil storage tank builder. Another clerk from the Miller County draft board stated that no request for examination of her files had been made. She was beaten and sexually assaulted with the perpetrator's pistol. Although most of the town was in fear of the Phantom, some kids continued parking on deserted roads. Set in the rowdy, often lawless town of Texarkana shortly after World War II, The Phantom Killer is the history of the most puzzling unsolved murders in the United States, along with new insights and revelations on the old slayings. He was buried in Rondo Memorial Park. Taylor, along with Mr. and Mrs. Prater and their baby, rode with Mrs. Starks to Michael Meagher Hospital (now Miller County Health Unit) at 503 Walnut Street. Gonzaullas retired from the Rangers in 1951 and moved to Hollywood to become a technical consultant for radio, television, and motion pictures (most notably, the long-running 1950s radio and TV show, "Tales of the Texas Rangers"). If I had done what they told me to do this would have never happened.

She was killed early Sunday morning, and her body was removed by an East Funeral Home ambulance. One bullet entered her right cheek and exited behind her left ear, and the other went in just below her lip, breaking her jaw and splintering out several teeth before lodging under her tongue. Tackett chased after him and caught him on the fire escape. At the time of the interview, officers had not publicly linked Larey's attack with the more recent murders. He retired in 1953 and became a farmer.[88]. Tillman Johnson was born on May 24, 1911 in Stamps, Arkansas. Four days later, Sheriff Davis talked with Mrs. Starks again at the hospital.

An escaped German prisoner of war, although never recaptured. He then hitchhiked to Los Angeles, feeling like he was running from murder.

She was a 15-year-old junior at Texas High School at the time of her death. The modus operandi established for the killer was that he attacked young couples in empty or private areas just outside city limits using a .32 caliber gun. Itens que você visualizou recentemente e recomendações baseadas em seu histórico: Selecione o departamento que deseja pesquisar no. She was found by members of the Boyd family, along with their friend Ted Schoeppey, who had joined the search party. Robertson said, "It's still shown only on VHS tape and those aren't even available anymore. You keep yourself two or three pertinent facts to protect yourself from crackpots. Tennison's brothers stated he didn't know how to use weapons and learned to drive a car only in 1947. "[38] There were only two bullet holes in the window, leading Sheriff Davis to believe an automatic rifle was used. Peggy's confession was the most critical part of the case. On Friday, May 3, around 8:50 p.m., Virgil was relaxing in his chair in the sitting room, just off of the kitchen and bedroom, with a heating pad on his back. "[42], Because citizens were considerably jittery and armed with guns, Texarkana became a very dangerous place. Sheriff Davis called in officers from the entire area to help in the investigation, including two agents from the FBI, Captain Gonzaullas and other Texas Rangers, Sheriff Presley and his deputies, Sheriff Jim Sanderson from Little River County, Arkansas State Police, local police, and many others. After the second double-murder, a Texas Ranger went to Frederick to question Mary again. Forty-seven officers were working around the clock to solve the mysteries. Mrs. Starks survived the attack and, while in the operating room of the hospital, she was questioned on the event by Miller County Sheriff W. E. Davis. "Somebody in Texarkana or in Bowie or Miller Counties knows that somebody else was 'out of pocket' on the nights of Feb 22-23, March 23–24, April 13–14, and May 3, and Sheriff W. H. Presley and Chief of Police Jack Runnels want persons having such knowledge to report to them immediately," said the newspaper. A remake of the latter was released in 2014. A suspect was arrested in the case, although it was later deemed impossible, by the authorities, that he was the Phantom.

On Magnolia Street, a report of a prowler bumping up against a house turned out to be a hedge being blown against it. Meanwhile, late at night on Tuesday, May 7, a 45-year-old black man named Herbert Thomas was flagged down by a hitchhiker in Kilgore. While he was taking his girlfriend home, they stopped on a lateral street off of Richmond Road, where the attack occurred. The Texarkana killings could have been the work of a mental case, and so far as we know, this man could have done it. He was hunted as "a matter of routine. The coroner's jury's verdict stated, "death at the hands of persons unknown", and that "he was dead before being placed on the railroad tracks. The newspapers are kept posted on developments in the investigation and they will announce all news immediately. He pointed out that his statements were surmised theories that were based on a large number of people who have committed similar crimes. Officers, including Bowie County Sheriff Presley, Miller County Sheriff Davis, Texas City Chief of Police Runnels, their officers and both State Police departments worked day and night for six months trying to validate Peggy Swinney's story of their whereabouts. The head removes, the tail will turn, and inside is the sheet you yearn. Several classmates and her band leader, Jerry Atkins, attended her funeral two days later at her church, Beech Street Baptist.