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Self-Defense in Knightdale, North Carolina 

November 27, 2017, 9:18 pm
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Woman "reasonably believed her life to bein danger" 
by Robert A. Waters 

When violent felon DeondreaAllen Branch broke into the office of accountant Connie Wells, she shot him.  A clear case of self-defense, it seems.   

Branchwas on probation when he was shot, had just shoplifted 10 bras from Walmart, and was running from police.  Some of his previous arrests included drug charges, assault on a female, injury to personal property, resisting a public officer, obtaining property under false pretenses, failure to appear, and DWI.  Public records indicate that Branch started his criminal activity in his mid-teenage years. 

His father, WillieMitchener, Jr., took issue with the shooting.  Mitchener told reporters thatBranch "isstill over here (in the hospital) with no options. [I'm] not really understanding where...he was a threat to someone in order for him to get shot." 

"A crime is a crime, but there are levels to everything.  Shoplifting is not right by no means, but that is in no fashion in comparison to your life." 

"He was a great kid. In life you make bad choices." 

"The more I learned about the whole situation, the madder I got," Mitchener said. "You're holding a firearm, so where is the danger at when, you know, you don't see a weapon on him, so you feel like you would have the upper hand anyway. But more or less, you didn't give him a chance to respond anyway. This is a scared kid looking to hide somewhere." 

Damon Cheston, attorney for Connie Wells, replied in a public letter, quoted here in full: 

"It is a tragedy any time a person is seriously injured. 

"While Connie Wells and her family understand the Branch family’s concern, the events of September 18, 2017 in Knightdale are entirely a consequence of Deondrea Branch’s own actions that day. 
  
"North Carolina recognizes a right of self-defense, enshrined in part in common law that dates back hundreds of years and in the Castle Doctrine which allows a person to defend themselves from attack in a person’s home or business. 
    
"54-year-old Connie Wells, 5 feet 2 inches tall, alone and cowering in her closed, locked, and secured office, was in fear for her life as Branch broke into the office.  Branch repeatedly slammed against a 150-lb solid core door, bent the deadbolt securing it, and stormed into Ms. Wells’ office suite. 
   
"He rushed at her as she was trapped in her personal office within the office suite. Branch ignored Ms. Wells when she screamed at him to 'STOP!' 
  
"Ms. Wells had no idea at the time of the incident that Branch had allegedly stolen items from a nearby Wal-Mart or that he was fleeing from police. Nor did she know that Branch has a criminal record, an extensive arrest record, and is on probation for a prior drug conviction. 
  
"Surveillance footage is clear. The incident referred to in press reports occurred just 11 feet from Ms. Wells. She lawfully exercised her right to self-defense with her legally-possessed firearm.  Ms. Wells fired a single shot because she feared Branch would assault, kill, or do her other harm. Another step and Branch would have been on top of her. 
  
"From the start, Ms. Wells has cooperated fully with authorities.  She and her family appreciate the quick response from the Knightdale Police Department and understand, as is true any time a person exercises the right of self-defense, that responsible authorities must conduct a thorough investigation." 

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Wells will not be charged.  "It has been determined," she wrote, "that Mr. Branch was engaging in the offense of breaking and entering, and that Mrs. Wells reasonably believed her life to be in danger and therefore was justified in using force in self-defense." 

The father of Deondrea Branch indicated that his sonwas shot in the neck,is partially paralyzed, and will have to learn to walk again. 

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Who Murdered the California Schoolgirls?

December 13, 2017, 12:38 pm
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Karen Lynn Tomkins

More than 50 years later, the cases are unsolved…
by Robert A. Waters

On July 3, 1962, eleven-year-old Dorothy Gale Brown (called Gale) was reported missing from Torrance, California. Her bicycle lay on the sidewalk a block from her home, but the girl was nowhere to be found.

Police immediately suspected she’d been kidnapped because of a previous abduction. Karen Lynn Tompkins, also 11, had disappeared from almost the exact same spot a year before. Karen’s case was still unsolved.

A massive search for Gale turned up nothing until July 6 when the Torrance Heraldreported that “the nude body of the girl was discovered by skin divers near Corona del Mar about noon Wednesday. It was floating in a kelp bed about 150 yards off shore.”

The article continued, “About an hour and a half before the body was discovered, the 12-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shanklin, Long Beach, found the girl’s white dress stuffed in a beer can in the water at Tin Can Beach. The dress was taken home and laundered by Mrs. Shanklin, who said she knew nothing about Gale’s disappearance at the time. After reading about the disappearance in the newspapers, Mrs. Shanklin turned the dress over to police. Mr. and Mrs. Brown identified it here Friday morning. A pink plastic hair band was discovered later. It was also in a beer can near Tin Can Beach. Police have questioned several known sex offend- ers in the area…”

The coroner stated that Gale had been in the water for six to eight hours, and that she’d drowned.

Gale’s parents, William and Charlene Brown, were so distraught that they offered to give their daughter’s clothes to a needy child. Gale was buried, but not before the pastor prayed for her killer to be caught and “punished as he ought to be.”

In the first two years after Gale’s murder, the Torrance Police Department interviewed thousands of people. All known sex offenders in the area were grilled—several were given lie detector tests and “truth serum.” All were eliminated as suspects.

Karen Lynn Tomkins was never found, and is still missing today. Dorothy Gale Brown’s murder remains unsolved.

A child-rapist and serial killer named Mack Ray Edwards roamed California in the 1950s and 1960s raping and murdering children. He confessed to killing six children and was convicted of the murders of Stella Darlene Nolan, 8, Gary Rochet, 16, and Donald Allen Todd, 13.

Edwards also confessed to killing Donald Lee Baker, 15, and Brenda Jo Howell, 12, who were kidnapped from Azusa in 1956. He was not charged because their bodies were never found. He claimed to have killed one other victim, fifteen-year-old Roger Dale Madison.

Did Edwards also murder Dorothy Gale Brown and Karen Lynn Tomkins?  Police suspected as much, but were never able to prove a connection.

Sentenced to death, Edwards hung himself in San Quentin Prison in 1971.

His many sordid secrets were buried with him.
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Book Review

December 28, 2017, 2:34 am
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A Matter of Record: The Commonwealth vs. Richard Charles Haefner  
Derek J. Sherwood 

Review by Robert A. Waters 

Derek J. Sherwood is the author of the successful true crime book, Who Killed Betsy?:Uncovering Penn State University's Most NotoriousUnsolved Crime.  Like that book, A Matter of Record is meticulously researched and written in a readable and dramatic style.  Richard Haefner, who had a Ph.D. in Geology from Penn State University, was later fingered as the probable killer of Betsy Aardsma, but never charged.    

Haefner, a former professor at several universities, bounced from job to job.  Everywhere he worked, valuable rocks would disappear.  Eventually, he drifted back home and worked inhis family's rock shop which had a largecontract to provide samples tothe Smithsonian Institute.  Haefner, a genius when it came to identifying rock specimens, even identified aonce-undiscovered stone.  He was known to be socially awkward, vindictive toward perceived enemies, and had a history ofabusingwomen. 
   
While stilla doctoral student, Haefner was questioned by police about the stabbing death of Aardsma in Penn State's Pattee Library, butwas never considered a suspect. 

The family's rock shop hired young teenaged boys to help collectrocks.  When two young teens accused Haefner of molesting them, he was hauled to the police station and interrogated for five hours.  Although he admitted nothing, and the young men could offer no tangibleproof that thesexual encounters had occurred, Haefner was arrested and brought to trial.   

A Matter of Record describes this case, which, according to the author, "had set a precedent in [Pennsylvania]law and after I uncovered the related items mentioned in the book, Iwas able to write a story about police incompetence, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial prejudice, and the ultimate vindication of a man who should have gone to jail, but didn't." 

Sherwood located thousands of file documents related to the case, including formerly expungedtranscripts of the trial.  Haefner filed a complaint against the Lancaster Police Department alleging civil rights violations for their treatment of him, and Sherwoodfoundthese documents as well.  Along with interviews with many of the participants, A Matter of Record is well-researched. 

The book is at once therecord of a major criminal trial, an exploration of local history, and the continued documentation of Richard Haefner's sordid past.  It should be added to your true crime book collection.
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New Year's Day Murder

January 1, 2018, 5:49 am
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The Girl from the Wrong Side of the Tracks 
by Robert A. Waters 

One cold night in Cleveland, seventy years ago, Sheila Ann Tuley pulled a heavy coat over her sweater and headed out the door of her home.  Holding a handful of quarters, the eight-year-old bounded down the dark streettoward D & N Drugstore.  Sheila's father, Edward, had asked her to make a quick trip tobuy him three packs ofcigarettes.  Sheila often walked to the store, less than two blocks away, to runerrands for her parents.  This night, however, she never returned. 

By eleven o'clock on New Year's Day, 1948, the shabby house on1333 East 124th Street was teeming with cops.  Known for gangstersanda corrupt police force, crime in Clevelandrated among the highest in the nation.  Still, itwasrare for a child to disappear. 

Within the hour, dozens ofcopshad begun a door-to-door search for the missing girl, while others combed the streets and rat-plagued alleys usinghigh-powered searchlights.  If she was lost or injured, Sheila wouldn't last long in that frigid night.  Or, God forbid, if she was being held captive by some unknown predator, time was of the essence. 

Before police could even get a full-blown search underway, they received a call from the C. James Endicottresidence.  At around 11:30 P.M., afterhaving visitedrelativesin another town, the Endicott family arrived home.  When fifteen-year-old James Endicott stepped up onto the porch, he discovered a body.  The search for Sheila Ann Tuley had ended before it really began. 

Sheila had been stabbed seventimes, then left for dead.  A blood-trail showed that shehadmanaged to crawl a hundred feetto the home of her classmate, BeverlyEndicott.  Blood seemed to be everywhere.  The Endicott family had not yet removed their Christmas decorations, and the deadgirllayface-upbeneath three decorative wreaths.  Christmas lights from surrounding homes bathed the pathetic body in redand greenhues.  Bloody handprints on the porch windows indicated that Sheila had attempted to gain the attention of her friend. 

The coroner later reported the cause of death to beafatal thrust of the knife that causeda deep brain-penetratingwound to the head.  Even so, it had taken Sheila2-3 hours to die. 

Detectives began canvassing the area for known child molesters.  It turned out there were more "perverts" than on-the-take cops in Cleveland.  More than a thousand former sex offenderswere interviewed, but all were quickly eliminated. 

On January 5, Sheila was laid to rest at Calvary Cemetery.  Her family sobbed through the service, beforereturning to a house that nowheld a forever-empty spot. 

For more than a week, cops chased phantoms.  Then the Cleveland Press offered a $5,000 reward.  Added to an already existing $2,000 reward, seven grand opened some tongues. 

A call came in fingering Harold A. Beach, 22, a diminutive convicted sex offender who lived just blocks from the Tuley family.  Oneday after Sheila's murder, the informant said, Beach had fled to Baltimore.  Astrange, friendless character who constantly bragged about his supposed prowess with pre-teen girls, the snitch stated that Beach had served time "in the joint." 

Sure enough, cops learned that in 1942, their suspect had kidnapped an eleven-year-old boy and forced himself on the child.  Less than a year before Sheila's murder, after serving a five-year sentence, Beach hadbeen released from prison.  Until his flight to Baltimore, the suspect lived with his mother. 

When picked upby Baltimore detectives, it didn't take Beach long to confess.  He stated that on New Year's Day he'd taken a knife with him and set out to find a woman he could rape.  He encountered Sheila and offered her a quarter if she would accompany him.  Ducking through an alley filled with refuse and rodents, he came to the back of a residence that looked unoccupied.  There he attempted to sexually assaultSheila, but she fought doggedly.  Beach said he panicked when she wouldn't stop screaming.  He pulled the knife, and began "jabbing" her.  Finally, he stabbed her behind the ear, producing thewound that punctured her brain. 

On February 2, 1948, Harold A. Beach, now convicted of Sheila's murder, walked toward the electric chair.  He clutcheda crucifix and prayed out loud for God's forgiveness.  Once he was strapped down, the executioner slammed nearly 2,000 volts of electricity into his body.  The process, repeated twice more, made surethat Beachwas dead. 

Whilethe whole city of Clevelandmourned the demise of Sheila Ann Tuley, only Beach's mother showed any regret forhis passing.  "I'll stick by him till the end," she had said.  And she did. 

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Five Folsom Inmates Gassed After Murdering Warden

January 15, 2018, 11:58 pm
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First use of gas chamber in California 
by Robert A. Waters 

In PEOPLE vs. Eudy, the California Supreme Court summarized an attempted breakout at Folsom Prison: "The crime of which the defendants stand convicted was committed on September 19, 1937. All of them were then inmates of Folsom state prison. Clarence Larkin, the warden of the institution was in his office, located just off the prison yard, for the purpose of interviewing the prisoners who wished to see him. Each convict waiting to see the warden was allowed to enter this office as his turn came.   

"When the defendant Eudy entered, six other convicts bearing knives and a pistol rushed into the office from the yard. They overpowered the warden and the captain of the guard, who were both unarmed, and marched them into the yard as hostages in an attempt to escape. There two of the convicts were shot and killed by guards in towers on the prison wall. Warden Larkin was then fatally stabbed by the five remaining prisoners; and in a melee between guards and prisoners, in which the latter were subdued, a guard also received injuries from which he died." 

Larkin, stabbed 12 times, survived for five days before succumbing.  Prison guard Harry M. Martin was stabbed to death. Yard Captain William J. Ryan, who rushed to aid Larkin, was stabbed numerous times, but survived. 

The two inmates shot and killed during the attempted breakout were notorious San Francisco bank robber Clyde Stevens and a Los Angelesthiefnamed Bennie Kucharsky.  Both had previously served multiple terms in prisons across the state. 

The following inmateswere later tried, convicted, and sentenced to death: Albert Kessel, Robert Cannon, Wesley Eudy, Fred Barnes, and Ed Davis. 

In the early 1930s, there was a push to replace the practice of hanging in California with a more "humane" way of executing criminals.  Since several western states had begun using the gas chamber, California legislators decided that would be an appropriatedeath-dealingmethod.  The murderers of Warden Larkin would be the first inmates to die in California's gas chamber.   

On the morning of December 1, 1938,at San Quentin Prison, Albert Kessel and Robert Lee Cannon took their final walk.   

Kessel, a formercohort of Clyde Stevens, had been convicted of three bank heists and sentenced to 40 years to life.  Draggedinto the chamber by guards, the terrified killer refused to look up.  Spectators said he was holding a rosary and seemed to be praying.  When the new warden released cyanide from bags located above the prisoners, Kessel attempted to hold his breath.  The cyanide dropped into "acid pots,"causing poisonous fumes to fill the air. According to the Oakland Tribune, "faint wisps of smoke floated upward from the acid pots like the smoke of a dying cigar.  Higher and higher they rose until they reached the faces of the two men."  Kessellasted for about a minute, then his head dropped and he gasped.  The killer twitched, then fell unconscious. 

Robert Lee Cannon, originally from Tennessee, had begun his long criminal career as a car thief and graduated to bank robbery.  The Tribune reported that "Cannon's head went back in a convulsive gesture.  The...smile on his face turned into a gasp of horror and his lips formed words. To the tense spectators outside, the last words that passed from his lips appeared to be: 'It's bad!  It's terrible.'" 

Fifteen minutes after they first entered the chamber, the killers were pronounced dead. 

Newspapers reported that prison officials hated the new method of execution.  Prison Physician Dr. L. L. Stanley told newsmen that "hanging is simpler and quicker."  Dr. J. C. Geiger, San Francisco health director, viewed the execution and stated, "The theory of instant death is hooey." 

On December 9, Wesley Eudy and Fred Barnes, labeled by the press as "incorrigible,"were next.  With 99 witnesses, the two inmates walked into the chamber holding rosaries and praying.  The San Mateo Times reported that "Eudys' and Barnes'hands clenched and their faces convulsed as guards quickly strapped their chests, ankles, arms, hands and legs to the back of two adjoining chairs."  This time, no was smoke visible.  The Times reported that "Barnes coughed violently.  His eyes closed momentarily, and his head dropped to his chest.  Eudy gasped and choked" before dying. 

The final inmate from the Folsom uprising to die was 88-year-old Ed Davis.  The week before his execution, he wrote a letter exonerating an innocent man.  Walter Philpot had been convicted of participating in the 1933 robbery of the First National Bank of Clinton, Oklahoma, in 1933.  Davis named four other men as his accomplices, claiming he had never met Philpot. 

Called a "long-time Oklahoma desperado," Davis wrote a note to the prison warden.  In it, he stated that " I never have and not now [will] ask mercy from God or man."  Called "The Fox" and "The Phantom," Davis's criminal career began at 19.  An old-line bank robber, he ran with Pretty Boy Floyd and other southwestern gangsters.  In fact, he was often the brains behind many successful heists, but he laid low and let others do the actual robberies.  Suspected of several murders, including that of an Oklahoma sheriff, Davis was a hardened desperado. 

On December 16, he walked into the gas chamber, seeming without trepidation.  Ten minutes later, the last participant in the Folsom escape attempt was dead. 

Warden Larkin may have given his life to save others.  As the seven prisoners marched him outside, he yelled to the guards not to open the gate.  At that time, the enraged prisoners began stabbing him.  Had these desperate prisoners escaped, many innocentlives might have been put in jeopardy. 

While much of the focus during the aftermath of the escape attempt was on the prisoners, Warden Clarence Larkin, Yard Captain William J. Ryan, and guard Harry M. Martin were true heroes.

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Murder on Spook Hollow Road

January 27, 2018, 3:46 am
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The Forgotten Girl 
by Robert A. Waters 

It was two o'clock in the morning when motorist Richard Wallace noticedthe body of a woman lying beside a brand-new sedan on Spook Hollow Road.  He aimed his headlights at the body, then stoppedand got out to investigate.  In 1940, thelonely backwoods highwayin rural Pennsylvania imparted a ghostly glowfromhis car's high-beams asWallacestudied the scene.    

The woman's head was bashed in, her clothes ripped to shreds, and her brassiere stuffed in her mouth. Blood-smears inside and outside the car showed signs of a terrific fight.  Although he couldn't recognize the dead girl's face, Wallaceknew the sedanbelonged to his girlfriend's sister, twenty-six-year-old Faye Gates.  The frightened young manwasted no time driving to the nearest phoneto call for help. 

When investigators arrived, they determined that the car had skidded to a halt with three of its tires off the road and the other on the edge of the asphalt.  The girl's leg had been run over, and was wedged between the tire and the road.  Thirty feet away, deputies found a bloody rock, and assumed it was the murder weapon. 

By next morning, sensational newspaper headlineshad beguninflaming the local populace:"Police SeekingMad Maniac"; "Citizens Demand G-Men Assist in Search for Sex Maniac"; "Flat Rock Used to Kill Faye Gates"; and "Sex Slayer Hunted."  The local Rotary Club dunned citizens for reward money, and there was a run on gun stores as many residents armed themselves. 

Col. Lynn G. Adams of the Pennsylvania State Motor Policetook charge of the investigation.  State troopers and local cops began interviewing acquaintances of the victim.  Two girlfriends told detectives that they spent the evening with Faye in Bellefonte, a small town about ten miles from the Spook Hollow community.  The friends started home around midnight, and noticed a brown car following them.  As Faye stopped to let them off at their home, the car sped around Faye and loudly blew its horn.  The friends thought that was suspicious. 

The girlfriends described Faye as a responsible person who worked at a match factory in Bellefonte.  She was proud of her new car, and kept it sparkly clean.  Her friends said she always kept her car doors locked, and they had seen herlock the passenger door when she pulled away. 

Another witness, Richard Millinder, 22, who was married to Faye's cousin, said he was walking home from a game of cards with relatives and had seen no cars pass by. 

Investigators had few clues, but they got lucky when they discovered an "electric eye" alongside the road.  The device was a primitive predecessor of surveillance videos that now dot many highways. Popular Science magazine published an article in 1940 that described the electric eye: "Vehicles passing a given point are automatically counted by a new traffic-recording device just introduced.  Two infrared lamps, housed a short distance apart and mounted on one side of the road, cast invisible beams across the highway to a photo-electric receiving unit on the other side.  Interruption of the two beams by an auto actuates an electrical counting device, which can be set to total the number of passing vehicles by the hour, day, week or month.  Pedestrians are not counted, since the apparatus is so constructed that it registers only when both beams are blocked at the same instant." 

Col. Adams checkedthe number of cars that drove onSpook Hollow Road between the hours of 12:00 and 2:00.  There were exactly ten.  It took several days, but eventually all the cars were tracked down and the driversaccounted for.  Eachhad legitimate reasons for being on the road at that time.  The driver of the brown sedan was a traveling salesman returning home from a long road-trip.  He said he blew his horn so the girls wouldn't cross the road while he was speeding by.  His story held, as he had brought home gifts for his family from his trip and they opened the presents at about the time Faye was murdered. 

Investigators continuedto unravel the puzzle.  Cops believed she must have given a ride to someone she knew who then killed her.  If Faye kept her doors locked, as they believed, that meantshe would not have let a strangerinside her car.  Being safety-minded, she would have picked up only someone she knew well. 

The circumstances pointed to one killer.  Richard Millinder was brought in for questioning a second time.  Caught off-guard, he quickly confessed.   

Millinder stated that since Faye knew him, and lived just two doors from his home, she stopped to pick him up.  He had long fantasized about having sexwith his wife's pretty cousin, and decided to act on his evil impulses.  But when he made a pass at her, Faye rejected him.  Millinder, in a flash of anger and lust, began to rip off Faye's clothes.  While fighting him, her car skidded off the road, and she jumped out and ran. 

Millinder said he quickly caught her, picked up a rock, and smashed her in the head four times.  To keep her from screaming, Millinder stuffed Faye'sbrassiere in her mouth.  He then got in her car, and turned it around.  While doing so, he ran over her ankle and the tire stopped on her leg.  Finally, he walked to his house, which was less than two miles away. 

The arrest of Millinder stunned the local community.  Many didn't believe he could have done it.  Others still believed a stranger, a "sex pervert," had committed the crime.  Even with a written confession, many held doubts. 

In September, Richard Millinder was tried for the murder of Faye Gates.  His confession, detailed and graphic, convinced most, including the jury, that he'd committed the gruesome murder.  The jury convicted Millinder and sentenced him to life in prison.   

During an era in which life meant just a few years, the killerserved only 17 years before being released. 

The life of Faye Gates, an innocent victim, seemed to mean little to asystem more interested in "rehabilitating" criminals than justice.  Except for family and friends, she was soon forgotten.


NOTE: Thanks to Evan Williams for allowing me to use his photo. Check out Evan's blog at SWPA Rural Exploration.

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Cunanan and the Caretaker

February 12, 2018, 4:00 pm
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William Reese
The Forgotten Victim 
by Robert A. Waters 

Andrew Cunanan murdered five people.  Two were celebrities, Gianni Versace and Lee Miglin.  Two were former lovers.   

And then there was William Reese. 

Cunanan's nationwide killing spree seemed to be forged in part by resentment of the successes of others and his own feelings of failure.  However, Reese, 45, was murdered simply for his pickup truck.  Cunananthen drove the vehicle from New Jersey to Miami where he shotVersace. 

In the FX series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, the characters of Cunanan, Jeffrey Trail, David Madson, Versace, and Miglinare fully developed.  (Since much is still unknown about Cunanan's life, part of the plot relies on speculation.)  Almost as an afterthought, William Reese'sviolent end had only a five-minute segment in the show. 

Perhaps he was not as important to the story as Trail, Madson, Versace, and Miglin.  Yet Reese had a life, a good life, and his story should be told. 

William Reese worked as caretaker of Finn's Point National Cemetery in Pennsville, New Jersey.  Located along the Delaware River, the cemetery holdsthe remains of 2,436 Confederate soldiers who died while beingheld captive at nearby Fort Delaware.  It also contains 135 Union soldiers who died guarding the Confederate prisoners, as well as a smattering of veterans from other wars. 

According to the Washington Post, "People found their way to the place looking for their past, and William Reese was waiting.  He worked alone in the quiet.  For more than 20 years, he had been the cemetery's caretaker, but the job meant more to him than just keeping the grass trim and the old lodge in good repair. 

"When strangers arrived with an aging birth certificate, or just some family legends, he was the one who helped them find their name on the Union or Confederate monument.  When strangers brought an urn holding the ashes of a dead veteran, he was the one who dug the small, discreet grave." 

An ancestor of Reese's had fought in the Union army and was buried in the cemetery.  This may have given him some insight into the souls of those looking todelve into distant family history.  In addition to keeping the cemetery pristine and helping others, Reese was anavid historian and co-founder of a group of Civil War reenactors called the Brooklyn Society.  His enthusiasm for Civil War history was so consuming that, in 1993, Reese even became an extra in the movie, "Gettysburg." 

Reese was married to Rebecca, a school librarian, and they had a twelve-year-old son named Troy.  When Reese didn't come home on May 9, 1997, Rebeccadrove to the cemetery searching for him.  His body was found in the caretaker's lodge.  He'd been shot in the head. 

Reese was described by friends as a man of his word, a "common guy andahumble guy."  For years, the family traveled to Civil War reenactments, but Reese had begun paring back his travels because he'd recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.   

Hewasalsoa member of the Methodist Church.  In fact, the New York Daily News reported that Reese "died beside an open Bible, his radio turned to a Christian broadcastingstation."  A friend stated that he "imagines Reese getting up from his Bible on a rainy May 9 to answer a knock at the door, shaking hands with Andrew Cunanan and greeting his alleged killer with a warm smile." 

Rebecca said, "The only thing I can say is that Bill was a Christian, and we can take comfort in knowing he is in heaven." 

Another friend told a Daily News reporter that "Bill was a family man.  He never cussed, he never drank, and he maintained that cemetery beautifully." 

Reese lived in a small home in Upper Deerfield Township in New Jersey.  Friends said he planted fruit trees in his yard and built his son "an elaborate tree fort out back." 

The contrast between Reese and Cunanan is stark.  

It seems that the American Crime Story series could have taken a few more minutes to explore the life of thisinnocent caretaker whodiedat the hands of a random psychopath.  William Reese is missed by his family and friends as much as the more well-known victims of Andrew Cunanan.  He deserved more, much more, in the well-watched TV series.

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Inferno of Death

February 19, 2018, 5:15 am
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Ernest Ivy "Boots" Thomas

RememberingIwo Jima 
by Robert A. Waters 

It's been 73 years since the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima.  Part of General Douglas McArthur's "island-hopping" strategy, Iwo Jima tested the resolve and courage of the Americans involved.  We owe these soldiers a debt—without them, we would no doubt live in a different world today. 

From February 19 to March 26,1945, thousands of United States Marines fought and died on Iwo Jima, avolcanic island 660 miles from Japan.  By the time the battle was over, the Americans had suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, with 6,821killed or missing in action.  The 23,000 Japanese defenders of the island fought to the bitter end—20,000 died in battle or committed suicide when cornered. 

Before the war, the Japanese had spent years building alabyrinth of interconnected tunnels and bunkers throughout the island.  For this reason, the heavy American bombing campaign meant to "soften up" the enemy inflicted almost no casualties.  Once the Marines invaded, they were met with a fanatical opposing forcethat rosefrom beneath the ground,fought in quick spurts, then vanished back into their bunkers.  In many cases, hand grenades and flame-throwers proved more effective for the Americans than rifles and machine guns.  Marines couldn't even dig foxholes for protection because the ground was hardened rock. 

It was during this battle, seventy-three years ago, that Marine Sgt. Ernest Ivy "Boots"Thomas,20, waskilledin action. As his life drained from him, he may have thought of his carefree boyhood in Monticello, Florida.  A few days earlier, he had shared an iconic moment at the top of Mount Suribachi.   

Born in Tampa, the Thomas family moved to Monticellowhen Ernestwas eight-years-old.  Duringhis high school years, war clouds had been gathering, and, on December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the lives of every American.  Thomas was no exception.  Six months later, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.  By then, the Pacific hadbecome an inferno of death. 

Thomas completed basic training (boot camp) at Parris Island, South Carolina.  Until March, 1944, he served as a drill instructor.  That month, he was shipped to Hawaii to begin training for the coming battle of Iwo Jima.  He was nicknamed "Boots" because of his long stint as a drill sergeant. 

Thomas was among the first troops that stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima.  His heroism on the battlefield is described below in his Navy Cross Citation.  But what he is most remembered for is being one of the Marines who raised the first flag on Mount Suribachi.  According to Military Times, "Platoon Sergeant Thomas...was one of the Marines who raised the FIRST flag over Iwo Jima (hours prior to the flag raising immortalized in the Rosenthal photo).  On March 3, 1945 - one week short of his 21st birthday, Thomas was shot and killed by enemy fire as he tried to radio a message during battle." 

Navy Cross citation 
  
"The Navy Cross is presented posthumously to Ernest I. Thomas Jr., United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as a Rifle Platoon Leader serving with Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, during action on enemy Japanese-held Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 21 February 1945. When his platoon leader was wounded, Platoon Sergeant Thomas assumed command and, before supporting tanks arrived to cover him, led his men in an assault on a fanatically defended and heavily fortified hostile sector at the base of Mount Suribachi.   With the tanks unable to proceed over the rough terrain beyond positions 75 to 100 yards at the rear of our attacking forces, Platoon Sergeant Thomas ran repeatedly to the nearest tank, and in a position exposed to heavy and accurate machine-gun and mortar barrages, directed the fire of the tanks against the Japanese pillboxes which were retarding his platoon's advance. After each trip to the tanks, he returned to his men and led them in assaulting and neutralizing enemy emplacements, continuing to advance against the Japanese with a knife as his only weapon after the destruction of his rifle by hostile fire. Under his aggressive leadership, the platoon killed all the enemy in the sector and contributed materially to the eventual capture of Mount Suribachi. His daring initiative, fearless leadership and unwavering devotion to duty were inspiring to those with whom he served and reflect the highest credit upon Platoon Sergeant Thomas and the United States Naval Service." 

For those who are interested, I recommend the Clint Eastwood movie, "Flags of our Fathers."  Ernest Ivy Thomas is portrayed in the movie by actor Brian Kimmet. 

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March 3, 2018, 1:49 am
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Who Was the Fiendish Elephant Killer? 
by Robert A. Waters 

A week before Christmas in 1941, a bizarre captionin the San Antonio Light read: "Crazy Hate of Animals Behind the Circus Elephant Murders?"  The article was on page 74, far away from the wild headlines following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Still, readers must have paused when they saw the full-page story complete with the picture of an elephant graveyard and a sleazy, mustachioed fellow wearinga derby hat. 

Written by Robert D. Potter of American Weekly, the story begins: "The mystery of who killed the 11 elephants, worth $100,000, of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus is still unsolved.  But the psychiatrists, those scientists who probe the obscure workings of the human mind, have already rounded out the picture of what kind of a fiendish person the poisoner will be." 

It began on November 5, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Earlythat morning, the "mammalian-tractors" were performing their dailychores, that is, pushing around equipment.  Then employees noticed that several of the 50 pachyderms owned by the circus had gathered around two of their fellow slavers.  These two, called Alice and Lizzie, had dropped to the floor, as if they were sick. 

Head keeper Walter McClain knew how to tell elephant slackers from those with true ailments.  He brought along a basket of apples and held them out to the two.  Unless they're sick, McClain told reporters, the elephants will always eat their favorite food.  Alice and Lizzie ignored the bait and were soon pronounced dead. 

The circus, suspicious of the sudden transformation from mammalian-tractor to corpse, had an autopsy performed.  Doctors confirmed that thepachyderms had succumbed to arsenic poisoning. 

Two days later, three more elephants, Lizzie II, Clara, and Palm, fell dead. 

The next stop for the circus was Macon, but workers had to leave four more elephants behind in Atlanta.  All, including perennial crowd favorite, Peggy, were sick.  Afew days later, Peggy seemed to recover, and was transported to Macon.  The trainer of Gargantua, the world-famous guerilla, told reporters that hischarge had brightened up because he thought his elephant friends were returning.  "He has been bluer than anyone," the trainer said. 

But Peggy had a sudden relapse and died.  By the time it was over, eleven were dead. 

The circus was massive.  It employed 2,000 workers, including the famous Wallendas. Inaddition, artists, musicians, jugglers, dancers, and laborers made up the bulk of the show.  One of the major draws wasthe "Ballet of the Elephants," performed to a score by world-famous composer Igor Stravinsky. 

Local police and private eyes hired by the circus attempted to catch the poisoner. Even the FBI became involved.  Henry Ringling North, vice president of the "big show," announced that officials of the Washington Zoo had received death threats to three elephants.  It seemed that all over America, elephants were being targeted.  Soon,however, theG-Menwithdrew from the case, the circus moved on, and no killer was ever identified. 

Investigatorsexplored several avenues in the search for the elephant slayer.  Adisgruntledemployee seemed to be most likely.  In fact, Walter McClain, who had worked at the circus for 19 years, was questioned and released.  After he was cleared, newspapers speculated that some employee may have had a grudge against McClain and poisoned the pachyderms in order to frame the trainer. 

Then there was the theory that the poisoner viewed elephants as powerful creatures, and, disliking people of power, had killed the pachydermsin some form of misguided rage.  One shrink told of a case where a man had poisoned a dog when he was young, and even when he was older, still had a blindinghatred of dogs.  Maybe that's what happened here, theshrink said.  (Okay, that theory didn't make a lot of sense, but somebody floated it out there.) 

Or maybe the killer just hated all animals.  The killing of the elephants wouldhave satiated that hatred for a while, the psychiatrists said, but he would continue to kill.  All animals were deemed to be at risk. 

So, did an animal-hater poison the beloved pachyderms? 

To me, the disgruntled employee theory sounds best.  But we'll never know because the elephant serial killer was never caught. 

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The Teen and the Handyman

March 15, 2018, 2:11 am
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Gripping First-Hand Account of Kidnapping and Murder 
by Robert A. Waters 

At 9:00 a.m., on normally peaceful Stony Brook Road, violence exploded inside a well-kept two-story home.  For many years, textile designer Pierre Sillan, his wife Isabelle, and theirfourteen-year-old daughter, Gail, had lived a comfortable life in Westport, Connecticut, about 50 miles north of New York City. 

On that morning of November 12, 1962, Pierre had already gone to work when Harlis Miller, 32,crept intothe home.    

The following police statement given byGail Sillan describes a thirteen-hour ordeal of murder, kidnapping, and rape: 

"I awoke suddenly and I thought my watch had stopped.  I couldn't seem to figure out what time it was.  I put on a red wardrobe over my flowered nightgown and I went out into the second-floor hallway.  I was going to check the time on a grandfather's clock downstairs. 

"As I walked into the hallway, a man was standing there. He was a tall, light-skinned Negro.  He had worked in our house as a handyman about two weeks ago. 

"He grabbed me and put a piece of cord aroundmy neck and started choking me.  I tried to pull the cord loose and he forced me back into my bedroom, and held me with the cord as he locked the door.  Then he started choking me again.  

"I fought him as hard as I could, but he pushed me back onto my bed.  Just then, my mother must have heard me struggling and choking and she started pounding on the door, and shouting my name.  I guess then I must have fainted." 

"Apparently[Miller]went to the door, unlocked it, and started choking my mother.  When I came to I ran out into the hallway and the man was bending over my mother and was choking her with the cord.  She had been forced down to the floor and was fighting and screaming.  The man then forced us into my mother's bedroom. 

"My mother asked him if he wanted money, and he said he didn't want any money. She then asked, 'Why are you doing this?' and he said, 'You wouldn't understand.'" 

Gail spoke to him.  "Why do you hate us?"she asked.  He then lunged at her and said, "I don't hate you...you wouldn't understand."  He beganchoking her and she again lost consciousness.  

"I kept fainting and waking up, fainting and waking up," Gail said. "When I came to he was choking mother again and I screamed, 'Stop. Stop.'" 

The man then ran to Gail and dragged her into her own bedroom.  He tied her hands and feet.  She said he then retreated to her mother's room and she heard him pulling out drawers and dumping items on the floor.  "I called to my mother but there was no answer," Gail said. 

Shedidn't know it, but her mother had been strangled to death. 

Gail continued her statement:"When the man returns, he wrapped me in a blanket after warning me to keep quiet and took me downstairs and outside where he put me in the back of his car on the floor.  We drove around for a long time, and then he stopped in a lonely place and put me in the trunkof the car.  My hands were tied behind my back." 

She said the attacker drove her around again, and then the car stopped near what she later learnedwas arestaurant. 

"He opened the trunk and asked me if I wanted some chicken sandwich.  I shook my head and told him I wanted to go home." 

She told police the assailantmoved her to the back seat of the car, pulled up her nightgown, and raped her. Then he placed her on the floor with her hands tied behind her backand usedanother rope to tieher to the door-handle.  After he left to return to the restaurant, Gail said, "I then pushed the handle with my head and fell out." 

Gail ran blindly down the street in her blood-soaked night-clothing, her hands still tied behind her, sobbing, and frightened that her attacker would pursue her.  She ran to the nearest home and kicked at the door.  It was shortly after 6 p.m.  She had been a prisoner for more than ten hours.  

Mrs. Mary Burgo of Norwalk foundGail on her front porch and usheredher inside.  After hearing the terrifiedteen's story, Burgo called police.  Then she calledthe Sillan home to let her familyknow that Gail was alive.  The victim was then transported to Norwalk Hospital. 

A police officer told reporters that "she is a very brave girl.  No one could have gone through a more terrible experience, but she is feeling much better today and eventually she will have to know about her mother." 

Gail quickly identified her attacker as Miller. 

Immediately after Gail escaped, Harlis Miller returned home and went to bed.  The next morning,heandhis common-law wifeleft Connecticut anddrove to his mother's home in Soperton, Georgia. 

Police launched a nation-wide manhunt to track down the suspect.  Three days later, Georgia police arrested Miller. 

Triedand convicted of first degree murder and rape, Millerwas sentenced to life in prison.  On appeal, that decision was overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court because detectives had searched Miller's car without a warrant.  A few months later, the murderous handyman was convicted once again and again sentenced to life in prison. 

Gail Sillan later attended the New York School of Interior Design and worked for many years atVital Enterprises in Vista, New York.  She died in 2013, at 64 years of age. 

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Murders Unsolved

March 26, 2018, 5:39 am
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Louise Lawson
 Ghosts of the Unquiet Dead 
by Robert A. Waters 

Almost every town, village, and city in America has unsolved murder cases.  Some date as far back as the founding of this country, while others are recent.  This is a sampling of murders unsolved, and of souls that still cry out for justice. 

Louise Lawson.  The New York media called her a gold-digger, a "moth," a hustler, and other harsh names.  But to the folks in her hometown of Alvarado, Texas, the beautiful Louise Lawson was a rose cut down in her prime.  She came to the big city to study piano and voice, but her singing career never got off the ground.  Although Lou (as she was called) landed bit parts in a few movies and worked as a chorus girl in Flo Ziegfield's follies, she eventually gravitated to procuring "sugar daddies."  For certain favors, the famous and not-so-famous plied Lou with a stylish apartment, cash, stocks, and expensive jewelry.  It may have been the jewelry that got her killed.  On themorning of February 8, 1924,the 26-year-old Texan opened her door to two men who allegedly were bringing her a case of bootleg whiskey.  But during the few minutes they were in the apartment, the men strangled Lou to death.  When cops arrived, her apartment had been ransacked and $20,000 worth of jewelry was missing.  Lou's loyal Texas family brought her home and buried her—a crowd of 2,000 filled the local Baptist Church.  In New York, the search for her killers quickly stalled.  While several other vulnerable women in the city were also murdered for their jewelry, the killers were never caught. 

Patricia Rebholz.  On the steamy night of August 6, 1963, 15-year-old Patricia left a teenage dance party at the American Legion Hall in Greenhills, Ohio.  The pretty, popular cheerleader began walking toward her boyfriend's home.  She never made it.  After a brief search, her bludgeoned body was found in a yard across the street from Michael Wehrung's home.  Michael, her boyfriend, also 15, immediately became the chief and only suspect in the brutal slaying.  Day after day, police interrogated the teen.  Investigators leaked information and misinformation to the press, soon turning most of the town against him.  In truth, there was no hard evidence to connect Wehrung to his girlfriend's death, and he was not charged.  Fast-forward to December 6, 2001, 38 years after the murder.  A new prosecutor, convinced of Wehrung's guilt, indicted him on one count of second-degree murder.  After a week-long trial, the jury found the defendant not guilty.  It's unlikely that Patricia's still-grieving family will ever learn who killed her. 

Georgia Jane Crews. "Hello… yeah… you know that girl that you looking for… yeah, the twelve-year-old… yeah… she's dead."  The call came in to the Lake County, Florida Sheriff's Department on April 10, 1980, two days after 12- year-old Georgia Crews vanished.  Lake County was sparsely populated, and Montverde, where Georgia and her family lived, had a population of only about 200 souls.  On the evening of April 8, Georgia left her home to go to a nearby market.  Or maybe it was to visit a friend.  No one really knew.  What is known is that she never returned.  A week later, after a massive search, the child's remains were found 30 miles away, in Casselberry.  She'd been stabbed once in the back.  Investigators never determined whether she had been sexually assaulted, though her pants were unbuttoned.  Thirty-eight years later, there are no real leads.  Even the recorded message left by the killer has been lost, like the little girl who walked down the street and vanished. 

Paul Burch.  The brutal torture and murder of Paul Burch, a gas station attendant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, generated local headlines, but no national publicity.  According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, on November 13, 1957, two customers looking to pay for gas found Burch's body "sprawled facedown between the runners of the station's grease rack."  He'd been stabbed 14 times with a blunt-bladed knife about five incheslong after being knocked out with a blow to the back of the head. Fifty-seven-year-old Burch was married, with five children.  He was planning to purchase the service station and had been to see a lawyer that very day to work out details.  More than $200 in cash and a $250 check were stolen, presumably by his killers.  The Santa Fe Police Department worked diligently to solve the case but came up empty.  Not only has no one been charged, but there have never been any real suspects. 

Tens of thousands of murderers walk our streets every day.  And every day, millions of long-forgotten victims cry out for vengeance.  Unfortunately, their voices can no longer be heard. 

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"The constant drip, drip, drip of innuendo"

March 31, 2018, 9:47 am
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Remembering Terrorists who Weren't
by Robert A. Waters

In 2007, Richard Jewell died of complications from diabetes.  Only 47, this mild-mannered "mama’s boy" became entrapped in a storm of intrigue orchestrated by the FBI.

An obituary in the New York Times described the affable, Lynyrd Skynyrd-loving security guard: “The heavy-set Mr. Jewell, with a country drawl and a deferential manner, became an instant celebrity after a bomb exploded in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park on the evening of July 27, 1996, at the midpoint of the Summer Games. The explosion, which propelled hundreds of nails through the darkness, killed one woman, injured 111 people and changed the mood of the Olympiad.”  Jewell had discovered the package containing the bomb, alerted his superiors, and moved hundreds of spectators away from danger.

Not content to let a hero be a hero, the FBI quickly set its sights on Jewell.  Through leaks to the press, agents surreptitiously assassinated his character, leading a lynch mob of media moguls to accuse Jewell of murder.  Hounding him unmercifully, the Feds hoped to break the mild-mannered security guard.  It soon became evident that he had nothing to do with the bombing, and he was dropped as a suspect.  But by then, millions of Americans still suspected he was the murderous bomber.  In a series of lawsuits, the innocent Jewell won millions of dollars from various newspapers and television networks that had libeled him.  Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to planting four bombs in Atlanta (including the Olympic nail-bomb) that killed two people.  He is currently serving life in a Federal prison.

The crucifixion of Dr. Steven Hatfill was even worse.  In a profile of the virologist and bio-weapons expert, The Atlantic wrote: “His story provides a cautionary tale about how federal authorities, fueled by the general panic over terrorism, embraced conjecture and coincidence as evidence, and blindly pursued one suspect while the real anthrax killer roamed free for more than six years. Hatfill’s experience is also the wrenching saga of how an American citizen who saw himself as a patriot came to be vilified and presumed guilty, as his country turned against him.”

In 2002, with television cameras rolling and news helicopters swooping low, the FBI searched Hatfill’s apartment twice.  Attorney General John Ashcroft took to the White House podium and named Hatfill a “person of interest.”  For two years, the Feds trailed Hatfill like a pack of feral dogs.  His phone was bugged, surveillance cameras set up around his apartment, and the scientist was hounded everywhere he went.  Hatfill felt backed into a corner.  Again, the FBI purposely set out to break an innocent man.  Hatfill lost his job at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and when he was accepted for a new job at Louisiana State University, the FBI pressured the institution to rescind its decision.  After one day of employment, the university withdrew its offer.

Hatfill told The Atlantic that “it’s like death by a thousand cuts. There’s a sheer feeling of hopelessness. You can’t fight back. You have to just sit there and take it, day after day, the constant drip-drip-drip of innuendo, a punching bag for the government and the press.  And the thing was, I couldn’t understand why it was happening to me.  I mean, I was one of the good guys.”

Hatfill did muster the resolve to fight back, holding press conferences in which he refuted the lies about him.  After two years, it became obvious that he could not have been the anthrax killer.  Hatfill eventually won more than ten million dollars in lawsuits against the Department of Justice and television networks.

Having been KOed by Hatfill, the Bureau next turned its sinister spotlight on Bruce Ivins.  An eccentric, mentally-fragile scientist who worked in the bio-lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, he allegedly fit the profile of the anthrax killer.  FBI agents orchestrated a program of harassment designed to break Ivins’ will.  With the media bearing down on him and the Feds threatening to charge him with murder, Ivins could no longer take it.  On July 29, 2008, he downed a whole bottle of Tylenol, killing himself.  That’s all the FBI needed—they pinned the blame for the anthrax letters on him.  Had he been mentally tough enough to withstand the FBI’s constant persecution, Ivins, like Hatfill, would probably be a millionaire today. 
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Can You Help Solve these Cold Cases?

April 15, 2018, 6:29 am
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Julie Fuller

Two decades-long mysteries  
by Robert A. Waters 

A Sad End for Baby X 
Rupert, Idaho has a population of nearly 6,000 souls.  This quiet town near the Snake River seems an unlikely place for a gruesome mystery to unfold.  But on November 17, 1989, Robert Boseiger located a burned-out 50-gallon drum near the Minidoka Landfill.  Peering inside, he saw what he thought was a dead monkey.  When sheriff's deputies arrived, they determined the remains were those of a child.  Lawmen reported that the three-week-old female victim "had been disemboweled, was missing both hands, missing her right arm, had her abdominal organs cut out, was possibly skinned, and then burned."  After nearly 30 years, no one has identified the child that became known as "Baby X." 

During that time, lots of theories have surfaced.  Was the baby sacrificed by a devil-worshipping cult?  Worse yet, was the child bred and born specifically to be tortured and murdered?  Orwas the case as simple as Minidoka County Sheriff Ray Jarvis's theory that a "migrant worker" gave birth to a child who died of pneumonia or some such natural disease.  Not being fluent in English, and from a culture that fears authority-figures, maybe the mother and her family placed the body in the barrel and burnt it so they wouldn't have to report it to cops.  And maybe, he continued, animals ate the hands and arms and its internal organs.   

Who knows?  One thing is certain: this case is as cold as it gets, and, unless some guilty soul confesses, the true answer will likely never be known. 

Who Murdered Julie Fuller? 
On July 27, 1983, in Arlington, Texas, eleven-year-old Julie Fuller stepped outside of her room at the Kensington Motel to take trash to the dumpster.  Less than a minute later, she was gone.  Vanished.  Julie's family, which had recently moved from England, launched a frantic search of the area, then called police.  The next day, her nude body was found in Fort Worth, raped, strangled and discarded in a ditch.  Thirty-five years later, the case is still unsolved. 

Recent advances in DNA technology has allowed investigators to create an image of what the killer might have looked like.  It's called, phenotyping, and can predict physical appearance, including eye color.  Ft. Worth police recently released pictures of what the suspect may have looked like at various ages.  A detective stated that since there were no eyewitnesses to Julie's abduction, they hope these images can spark someone's memory.


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April 26, 2018, 8:10 am
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"I had to defend myself and my family..." 
by Robert A. Waters 

The following is a police report of an incident that could easily have turned deadly.  It happened in my hometown of Ocala, Florida when Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Bloom responded to a 911 call.  This chilling report is printed verbatim. 

Bloom wrote: 

"On 1/31/2014, I responded to 6075 NW 31 Avenue, Ocala, Florida, in reference to a call from a homeowner stating that they found an unknown man in their 7-year-old daughter's bedroom upon returning from dinner. 

"Upon arrival, I observed the mother, victim Heather Smith, running from the home toward my car with her three small children.  Victim Heather stated that her husband, victim Jesse Smith, was inside holding the subject at gunpoint until I could arrive. 

"I entered the home and observed the victim Jesse standing in the kitchen holding a pistol pointed at the defendant.  The defendant, later identified as Paul Matheny, was lying on the floor of the adjoining bedroom hiding under a blanket.  Victim Jesse was advising me as I approached him that he 'has no idea who this man is.' 

"I ordered the defendant to show me his hands from under the blanket at which time the defendant refused to do so.  At that point, I pulled the blanket off of him and ordered him to place his hands behind his back.  He further refused and rolled onto his stomach, tucking his hands into his chest.  I then grabbed the defendant's right arm and was able to place a handcuff on him, however, as I grabbed his left arm, he pulled away and attempted to roll away from me.  Seeing the struggle, victim Jesse offered to assist me in handcuffing the defendant.  However, after a brief struggle, I was able to place his left hand in cuffs also. 

"It should be noted that I arrived at this call in a marked patrol car, in duty uniform and clearly identified myself as a law enforcement officer to the defendant. 

"The defendant openly stated, 'This is my house.'  I asked him what his address was and the defendant replied 3030 NE 18 Court and that his phone number 352-622-8862.  I advised him that this was not the address where I found him tonight.  He continued to state, 'But this is my house.  I built it.'  The defendant's driver's license indicates an address of 3112 NE Jacksonville Road, Apartment # 5, Ocala, FL 34479.  Further investigation revealed that the defendant is most likely homeless. 

"The defendant had apparently entered the home through a side door that victim Jesse says does not always close properly.  He stated that when he returned home with his family from dinner, the door was closed but not locked.  He did not become alarmed because of the ongoing trouble with the door lock. 

"Victim Jesse stated that as his wife Heather was getting their 7-year-old daughter ready for bed, she entered the child's bedroom with the daughter and 'saw the blanket on the floor begin to move.'  She and the child screamed, at which point victim Jesse responded from another room in the house and held the defendant at gunpoint until my arrival.  The homeowners stated that nothing appeared to be missing and that the defendant had apparently came in the home, turned on the television, drank a soda and took a blanket from the sofa into the child's bedroom and went to sleep on the floor. 

"The defendant did have a slight smell of an alcoholic beverage about him during my contact with him.  The defendant was arrested and transported to the Marion County jail without further incident." 

If that's not scary enough, it turned out that Paul Michael Matheny had three previous convictions for exposing himself to others.  In an interview with the Ocala Star Banner, Smith recounted that Matheny was lying next to his daughter's clothes.  "I had to defend myself and my family," Smith told staff writer Austin L. Miller. 

In Florida, more than half its twenty-one million residents own guns and one and-a-half million have concealed carry permits (not counting several hundred thousand out-of-state visitors).  At any restaurant in Florida, several patrons are likely to be carrying handguns.  Armed robbers have been shot by customers or business owners.  Burglars and home invaders have a good chance of encountering an armed homeowner, as happened in this case.   

Matheny should consider himself lucky he didn't get shot. 

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May 5, 2018, 1:50 am
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"Enveloped in Mystery"
Compiled by Robert A.  Waters

In 1895, a gruesome murder occurred in the backwaters of Florida.  A few national newspapers published brief stories about the case, but never followed up with a conclusion.

Aucilla, Florida, located in Jefferson County, had a few hundred residents.  Many worked for local lumber and turpentine companies.  Before air conditioning, it took a hardy soul to live in the backwoods of the state.  This compilation of stories about the rape and murder of Stella Johnson shows that Florida, then as now, could be a dangerous place.

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Young Girl Murdered: Atrocious Crime Reported from Aucilla, Florida

Janesville (MO) Daily Gazette

September 7, 1895--Sometime last Tuesday night, Stella Johnson, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a widow who lives near here was kidnaped. 

This morning the nude corpse of the girl strapped to a log and horribly mangled was found floating in a small lake about six miles from her home.  The girl's neck had been broken and her throat cut from ear to ear.  Her right arm had been severed from the body at the shoulder and no trace of it can be found.  Several young men who had been paying attention to the girl are under suspicion.  In the girl's room was found a mask which had been torn from one of her assailants.  The coroner is investigating and if the inquest confirms the suspicions entertained three men will be lynched.

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Examination showed that the girl had been outraged.

Philadelphia Times

September 6, 1895 (Aucilla, Florida)--On the shore of the lake there is a small cabin, and when it was searched, evidence was discovered which indicated that it was the scene of the outrage and murder.  In the hut was found the night gown of the girl, that being the only garment she wore when she was kidnapped.  The gown was covered with blood, as was the floor of the cabin.  From the cabin down to the lake a bloody trail led.  Beyond a few bloody footprints on the door of the cabin, the fiends who committed the crime had left no trace.  The crime is enveloped in mystery.

The girl and her mother had lived alone.  Tuesday night, according to Mrs. Johnson, Stella retired at the usual hour, and about 12 o'clock the mother heard her daughter screaming.  She rushed to Stella's room and found it vacant.  The mother gave the alarm, and since then, posses have been searching for the young girl, but in vain until this morning. 

Several young men who have been paying attention to the young girl are under suspicion, and it is hinted that the mother knows more than she had told.

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Her Neck Broken, Throat Cut. Right Arm Severed and the Body Strapped to a Log In a Pond.

Columbus Daily Herald

Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 6, 1895--A special from Aucilla, Fla, says: Last Monday night Stella Johnson, the 14-year old daughter of a widow who lives near here, disappeared.  The mother said the girl had been kidnaped and posses have been searching for her.  Thursday the girl's nude and mangled body was found strapped to a log in a pond some distance from her home.  Her neck was broken, throat cut and right arm severed from the shoulder.  The arm could not be found.  She had also been outraged.  The coroner is investigating.  Several persons are suspected and the story of the mother is regarded as peculiar.

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If anyone has additional information on this case, please contact me.

NOTE: The photo used is from the Florida Memory Project.
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Who Strangled 15-year-old Joanne Dunham?

May 23, 2018, 2:12 am
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50 years later, murder is still unsolved

From the New Hampshire Department of Justice website:

"On June 11, 1968 at approximately 7:10 a.m., Joanne Dunham, age 15, was last seen while walking from her home at Raiche Mobile Homes in Charlestown, NH enroute to her bus stop on her way to school.  She never got on the bus.  Her body was found at approximately 4:15 p.m. the following day on a roped-off dirt road on Quaker City Road in Unity NH approximately 5½ miles from where she was abducted.  An autopsy determined that Joanne died of asphyxiation."

Although Joanne was sexually assaulted, it is unknown if DNA is available for testing.

If you have information on this case, contact:

Cold Case Unit
NH State Police Major Crime Unit
33 Hazen Drive
Concord NH 03305
Telephone: 603-271-2663
Fax: 603-223-6270
E-mail: coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov
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$52.00 and a pack of bubble-gum

June 3, 2018, 9:34 am
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A Random Murder in Ocala 
by Robert A. Waters 

It was early on the morning of February 8, 1985, when I drove by the Tenneco service station and convenience store on State Road 200 in Ocala.  The place was swarming with cops.  I purchased gas thereoften, so I wondered what was going on.  Later that day, I heard about the murder of aclerk who worked there. 

The place was small, with eight pumps, four on each side.  Thetiny convenience store contained soda and beer, andracks overflowing with candy, cookies, and chips.  The placewas usually busy, being a quick stopover for locals like me who lived nearby, as well as students attendingCentral Florida Community College.   

MehrleW. Reeder was one of those anonymous souls who occasionally walk this planet.  He'd been a clerk at the store for many years, yet no one really knew him.  A tag on his shirt read"Chet," and, as with many sixty-year-old men, he'd developed a paunch and had begun balding.  While he was friendlyto customers, he had no family in the area and rarely associated with the outside world (except to go to work).  Later, investigators learned he was a veteran of World War II, and that he had moved to Ocala decades earlier. 

DanielRemetawas a ne'er-do-well from Michigan.  He should have worn a tag on his shirt that read, "Trouble."  But when he walked into the Tennecostore that morning, Chet Reeder had no idea that he'd be dead within seconds. 

Remetacameto the counter holding a pack of bubble-gum.  As Reeder opened the cash register to ring up the sale, Remeta pulled a .357 Magnum from his pocket and blasted the clerk in the chest.  As he was falling, Remeta shot him again.  The killer then grabbed the cashfrom the till, about $52.00, and walked behind the counter.  Staring down at the dying clerk, Remeta fired point-blank twice more.   

By the time a would-be customer found the corpse, Remeta and his cohorts were long gone.  They would soon make national news for a cross-country killing spree that left fivedead, and three, including a cop, wounded. 

As the Ocala Police Department launched its investigation, officersnoticedthe bizarre sight of a one-dollar bill lying on Reeder's chest.  Had it floated down as Remetasnatched up the money, or had it been placed there on purpose?  A single pack of bubble-gum lay on the counter. 

The coroner reported that Reeder had been shot four times: one bullet entered hisleft cheek, "smashing"his dentures; another round hit the clerk just beneath the left collarbone; there was a wound to the upper chest; and a bullet had passed through the left side of his neck.  The coroner told reporters that theround that hitReeder in thechest had "exploded"his aorta, killing him. 

Detectives located two shell casings and two spent bullets in the store. (They were later matched to the gun Remeta used to commit other crimes.) 

At first cops were stymied, random killings being the most difficult to solve.  Then Kansas authorities contacted them.  Remeta and his gang had been captured after murdering three store clerks in the state and engaging in a shootout with police.  Remeta confessed to fiverandom killings, including Reeder's, and three attempted murders.  In one case, he abducted a convenience store clerk and shot her nine times.  She survived and crawled to a highway where someone picked her up and took her to the hospital.  At his Florida trial, she testified against the madman.  Remetashot another clerk five times--thisWascom, Texas man also survived and testified against his attacker. 

Remeta was sentenced to five life sentences in Kansas, the state having no death penalty at the time.  Then he was tried in Florida for Chet Reeder's murder.  Jurors voted 12-0 tosentence the killerto death. 

Daniel Remetawas executed in Florida's electric chair on March 31, 1998. Newspapers reported that thousands of Kansans cheered when they heard the news. 

While the news media interviewed some of Remeta's surviving victims, and published stories about those he killed, there was so little information known about Chet Reeder that the clerk became aforgotten man.  He hadfamily up north, however, and they transported him back home to Frederick County, Maryland for burial.   

The storehas changed hands numeroustimes, but I never went back.  I drive by the place a fewtimes a week, and it still gives me the creeps.  I continue to wonder how a Michigan career criminal, out of all the gas stations in America,foundthis one.  And how did a harmless man who had served his country and worked for a living end up dead for a mere fifty-two bucks?  Makes no sense to me, but that is the randomness of murder.
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A Cultural Phenomenon

June 16, 2018, 12:18 am
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Walmart Heist Goes Doubly Wrong for Robber
by Robert A. Waters

Roughly 1 in 20 Floridians have permits to legally carry firearms.  Concealed carry has become a cultural phenomenon in the state.  Every place you go (except for "gun-free" institutions such as schools, colleges, and the post office), people have firearms hidden in holsters, purses, pants pockets, and vehicles.  In fact, it's getting downright dangerous for crooks in the Sunshine State.

One Jacksonville, Florida robber learned this the hard way.

A few days ago, Christopher Raymond Hill, dressed in bright orange clothing, allegedly robbed a Walmart store in Jacksonville.  According to Fox News 40, Hill "went into a Walmart liquor store and asked the cashier, LaToya King, for change for a $20.  When King told [Hill] he had to buy something, he purchased a pack of cigarettes.  However, when she opened the cash register, he leaped over the counter, grabbed the register [drawer], and ran out of the store."

In the Walmart parking lot, Hill attempted to steal a silver Ford SUV but couldn't get it started.  

So much for his getaway scheme, now it was time for Plan B.

Scott Reardean, sitting in his pickup outside Supercuts hair salon, was approached by Hill, who placed the money-filled drawer in his truck bed and asked for a ride.  When Reardean refused, Hill pulled a knife.  He slashed Reardean several times before his victim pulled a handgun from his glove box and pointed it at his attacker.  Reardean, who has a concealed carry permit, stated: "He was like, 'Don’t shoot me.'  I was like, 'Then get out of here.'"

Hill fled, but soon decided to carjack someone else.  With a woman behind the wheel, he may have mistakenly thought this carjacking would be easier.  The unidentified victim was in a drive-through line at Starbucks when Hill jerked open her door and jumped in her car.  He yelled at her to drive, telling her that someone was chasing him.  The woman quickly got out, opened her trunk, and retrieved a Ruger firearm.  Hill reportedly began to move toward her.  However, he did an about-face when she pointed the gun at him.  (The news report does not state whether she had a permit to carry, but it's extremely likely.)

Now thoroughly defeated, the accused robber fled to Supercuts and hid in the rest room.  It didn't take long for cops to locate him.  He faces a slew of charges, including strong-arm robbery, attempted carjacking, and aggravated battery.  If convicted, a long stint in prison awaits the bumbling crook.

But Hill should thank his lucky stars that he wasn't shot.

Reardean, bleeding from cuts to his hands and legs, spoke to reporters.  "These guys can talk about banning assault rifles and banning guns," he said, "but when it comes and happens to them, they're going to wish they had one."

Hill, sitting in the tank, is likely wondering if robbers can get a fair shake in Florida.  Used to be, you could rob with impunity--now you not only have to fight police, there's always a citizen or two waiting to take you down.
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Searching for the "Hoodie Killer"

June 30, 2018, 1:21 pm
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Let's Get Justice for Linda Raulerson 
By Robert A. Waters 

Ten years later, and there's still no resolution in the stone-cold murder of Linda Raulerson.  On the night of July 22, 2008, the life of this vibrant, caring wife and mother drained away on the floor of Joy America Foods in Lake City, Florida.  As the lone clerk in that convenience store, she had no chance when confronted by a gun-wielding killer.  

This case bothers me for several reasons.  On the one hand, Raulerson worked hard to support her loved ones—on the other, surveillance video shows a crackhead who robbed and stole and murdered to support his useless life.  (Yeah, I know, he hasn't been caught yet, so how do I know he's a doper?  Not much brain matter goes into that deduction so figure it out yourself.) 

Married to John Raulerson for 38 years, Linda loved the simple things of life: animals, particularly Persian cats, which she raised; cooking; crafts; and painting.  Two of her favorite pastimes were bass fishing and creating antebellum-style dresses for the Olustee Festival held each year.  (For those who don't know, the Civil War Battle of Olustee took place near Lake City.  In 1864, a rag-tag group of Confederate regulars, old men, and young boys defeated the Union army as it attempted to gain control of the interior of Florida.) 

A second reason I'm outraged by this murder is that the victim complied in every way possible during the robbery.  I've heard it said over and over, just give the thief your money.  Then he'll be gone and you'll be safe.  A few dollars aren't worth your life.  Time and again, this horrible advice has proved to be predictably false, and this case proves it.  When you're dealing with psychopaths and hard-core addicts, violence is often built into their mutated genes. 

Yet another reason for my rage is that the robber likely went on his merry way, never caring that he took the life of a genuinely good person or that he may have destroyed a family.  To him, it was just a quickie that had no meaning, like a one-night stand.  Grab a couple hundred bucks, buy some dope, get high, and start thinking about tomorrow's heist. 

There seems to be little progress in the investigation.  It's scary that the "Hoodie Killer" might still be out there. 

If he's ever caught, Old Sparky sits gathering dust in an unused corner of Raiford Prison.  I say forget that stupid needle and bring back some real juice.  

The facts of this case are horrifying.  Check it out by clicking onto the following link: http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2008/08/linda-raulersons-murder-revisited.html

If you have information about the case, contact the Columbia County Sheriff's Office tip line at 386-984-2871 or Columbia County Crime Stoppers at 386-754-7099. 

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Hanging at Four Pole Creek

July 22, 2018, 6:28 pm
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The First (and Last) Execution in Cabell County, West Virginia 
by Robert A. Waters 

For several days before the scheduled hanging of Allen Harrison, overloaded trains chugged into Huntington, West Virginia.  Hotel rooms sold out, and restaurants stayed open late to feed the crowds.  On November 17, 1892, Harrison, a 26-year-old ne’er-do-well and convicted killer, would walk up the gallows to meet his fate.

Newspapers of the day described Harrison as handsome, but odd, having “peculiar habits and strong likes and dislikes.”  According to legal reports, he couldn’t get along with his father, so he left home while still a teen.  Wandering about, Harrison wound up homeless before Frank Adams, a prosperous farmer living near Big Cabell Creek, fifteen miles from Huntington, took pity on him and let the wayward stranger live in his home.

Adams’s beautiful daughter, Bettie, was 16-years-old and Harrison quickly fell in love. 

Although Frank Adams and his wife treated Harrison kindly, he did little to reciprocate those good deeds.  He rarely worked, and never contributed much to the arrangement. 

Bettie ignored Harrison’s constant advances, which grew more passionate as time passed.  After a year, Frank Adams asked his nuisance boarder to leave.  Adams explained to Harrison that he made life uncomfortable for his family by constantly pressing Bettie to become his paramour and that Harrison’s jealousy and continued quarreling with Bettie made life in the family untenable. 

Harrison moved out and into a neighbor’s home.  For the next few weeks, he stalked Bettie.  Hiding in bushes outside her home day and night, he spied on her.  When she left her residence, he followed her, sometimes approaching her with passionate protestations of love.  Each time he was rejected, his anger boiled higher.  In addition to his constant stalking, Harrison wrote hundreds of letters to her, professing his continuing adoration.

Finally, his “love” turned to hate.

A day before the murder, he stole a pistol from the neighbor he was staying with, then purchased two two-ounce vials of laudanum, an opioid sold by prescription at the turn of the century.

On April 20, 1892, Harrison went to the Adams home, walked through the front door, and found Bettie Adams removing ashes from the fireplace.  He fired, hitting Bettie in the chest.  She collapsed onto the floor and screamed, “Oh Ma, Allen has shot me.”  Her mother ran into the room and held Bettie in her arms, attempting to shield her daughter from the murderous madman.  Harrison tried to shoot her again, but the pistol misfired.  Finally, he got it working.  Placing the barrel against the unfortunate girl’s back, he fired again.  Bettie’s sister also witnessed the shooting. 

Bettie bled out before help could arrive. 

Harrison ran into some nearby woods and hid the gun.  He then swallowed the laudanum and lay down, using his coat for a pillow.  Searchers quickly located the killer.  Still in a stupor, he was transported to the Cabell County Jail.  While there, he vomited several times, likely because of the drug he had taken. 

Later, when asked by reporters if he would do it again, Harrison replied, “Yes, I would.” 

At trial, Harrison’s lawyer declared he was insane.  However, because of the obvious planning of the murder, his insanity defense fell apart.  Harrison was convicted and sentenced to death. 

On November 17, men, women, and children began gathering in the field near Four Pole Creek.  By nine o’clock, nearly 5,000 people surrounded the “hanging tree.”  Unlike many hangings, the crowd seemed solemn.

At eleven, Harrison issued a statement claiming to have no knowledge of the crime.  He did, however, admit he may have done it.     

At two-fifteen, Harrison walked up the gallows.  Within minutes, he was dead. 

Seven years later, West Virginia abolished public executions. 

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