WEBVTT - The Phantom Killer: The Unsolved Texarkana Moonlight Murders 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.399 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:05.359 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:15.240 A series of murders and related violent crimes involving four 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.520 couples was committed in the Texarkana region of the United 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.600 States between February and May of nineteen forty six and 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:27.240 remain unsolved. Before we begin, please note that this story 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:33.800 will include discussion or mentions of sexual assault, violent physical assault, suicide, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:40.640 and some truly terrifying bits in general. Welcome to Criminalia. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:42.280 I'm Maria Tremarky. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:46.839 And I'm Holly Frye. Texarcana is one city that's located 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.480 on the border of two states, and it forms two 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:57.400 metropolitan constabularies, Texarcana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. In nineteen forty six, 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.000 the year we're traveling back to, it had a popular 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.440 of almost fifty thousand people. It was a bit of 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.600 a bustling town, but it wasn't a dangerous town. But 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.640 beginning in February that year, a series of brutal attacks 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:16.320 occurred across a span of ten weeks. Three instances were 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.399 violent attacks on young people parked in secluded areas on 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:23.680 the Texas side of town. The fourth was the shooting 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.640 of a middle aged couple in their rural farmhouse on 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.400 the Arkansas side of town. Three victims were seriously wounded 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.240 and five were killed, and they were all attacked at night, 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.399 So let's talk about who they were and their crime scenes. 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.440 The first victims were Jimmy Hollis, aged twenty five, and 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:49.160 Mary Jean Lawry, nineteen. On the night of February twenty second, 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.960 the pair had seen a movie and then driven just 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:56.360 outside of town to a kind of makeshift lover's lane. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.200 Just before midnight, Jimmy noticed someone approaching them, motioning for 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.600 them to get out of the car. They were wearing 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.680 a mask and shining a flashlight through the window. At gunpoint, 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.520 the perpetrator forced them out of the car and instructed 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:14.840 Jimmy to quote take off your explative pants. Jimmy complied 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:19.000 and was severely beaten, but despite several injuries, including a 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.400 fractured skull, he survived. The perpetrator ordered Mary to run 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:28.120 and then terrifyingly chased her. He ordered her to change course, 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.160 and when he caught up to her, like she was 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:34.360 his prey, he beat her violently and then sexually assaulted 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.760 her with his pistol barrel. Some versions of this crime 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.760 story suggest she was allowed to go, others suggest she escaped, 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.519 and yet others suggest her attacker ran when he saw headlights. 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.240 Mary Jean did get away, but her attacker disappeared by 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.520 the time local law enforcement arrived. They were the first 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.680 couple attacked in what would become a serial murder case, 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.080 and it was downplayed as a freak incident by both 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.760 authorities and the press. Things like this just didn't happen 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:08.000 in Texarcana. Later, both Jimmy and Mary Jean described their attacker, 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.600 but their descriptions were very vague. He stood about six 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.080 feet tall, and he had been wearing a homemade white 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.040 hood that had holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:22.040 They didn't agree on anything else. Mary Jean later stated quote, 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.920 I would know that voice anywhere. It rings always in 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.200 my ears. Eventually she would move to Oklahoma, a fresh 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.560 place to heal her trauma. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.800 Unlike the first victims, Richard Griffin, a twenty nine year 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:40.720 old recently discharged navy Cebee, and Pollyanne Moore, seventeen, his 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.760 girlfriend did not survive the attack on them. Less than 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.960 a month after Jimmy and Mary Jean were assaulted. On 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.520 March twenty fourth, Richard and polly Anne were found dead 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.920 in their parked car, which was Richard's nineteen forty one 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:59.840 Oldsmobile Sedan. A passing motorist had noticed the car parked 0:03:59.880 --> 0:04:03.000 about one hundred yards off the highway in a grove 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.680 and stopped to make sure everything was okay. They saw 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.240 Richard's body on the front seat on his knees with 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:14.880 his head resting on his crossed hands. Polly Anne was 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.600 faced down on the back seat. She had been sexually assaulted. 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.680 Both victims had been shot in the back of the 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:25.960 head with a thirty two caliber Colt pistol, and later 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:30.120 investigations suggested that they had both been killed outside of 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.360 the car and then been placed back inside. 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:37.320 About three weeks later, the attacker struck again. Fifteen year 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.040 old high school junior Betty Joe Booker loved to dance. 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.000 She wanted to become a medical technician. She was also 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.720 a talented saxophonist who played with a local dance band, 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.200 the Rhythmaires. They had a standing Saturday night gig at 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:55.800 the Veterans of Foreign Wars Club. A former classmate and 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.279 friend since kindergarten Paul Martin picked her up at the 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:03.080 VFW at about one am on April fourteenth, and he 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.800 was supposed to drop her off at a slumber party. 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.640 Betty Joe did not make it to that party, and 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.839 it was the last time either were seen alive. When 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.440 her mother found she hadn't returned home by morning, she 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:19.000 notified authorities. A search party found Paul first, lying near 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.040 the entrance of Spring Lake Park. He had been shot 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.760 four times, once in the right hand, once in the face, 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.800 once in the back of his neck, and once in 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.360 his back, and his body was a mile away from 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.920 where his car was parked with the keys still in it. 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.360 Betty Joe's body was found a few hours after Paul 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.320 in a wooded area about two miles away from the car. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.760 She had been shot in the face and chest. Both 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.320 were shot by a thirty two caliber cult pistol. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:52.200 Authorities posted a bulletin that read quote wanted for murder 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.159 person or persons unknown for the murder of Betty Joe 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:00.480 Booker and Paul Martin on or about April thirteenth, nineteen 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:05.320 forty six, in Bowie County, Texas. Subject or subjects may 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.400 have in their possession or may try to dispose of 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:13.120 a gold plated Bundy E flat alto saxophone serial number 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.120 five two five three five, which was missing from the 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.240 car in which the victims were last seen. Any information 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.800 as to the location of the saxophone or description and 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.000 whereabouts of the person connected with it should be forwarded 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:31.440 immediately to the Sheriff Bowie County, Texarcana, Texas, and the 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:36.719 Texas Department of Public Safety, Austin, Texas. Betty Joe's saxophone 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.719 was found, but not for several months, and when it 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.479 was found, it was in a marshy field near spring 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.000 Lake Park. The Rhythmares never played again. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.279 After this third attack, the community was paralyzed with fear, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.359 as you can imagine. After all, the murders seemed to 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.720 be totally random. Because the perpetrator was targeting young people, 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:00.839 parents began to impose curfews. 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:03.720 The fourth, and what would turn out to be the 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.680 final attack in the community happened on May third, and 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.960 it played out differently than the previous three. Instead of 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.960 targeting secluded spots on the Texas side of town, this 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.680 time the perpetrator struck the home of Virgil and Katie Starks, 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:24.280 who lived on the Arkansas side of town. Remember Texarkana's 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.200 a city that is located on the border of two states. 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.640 Around nine pm, Virgil, a thirty seven year old farmer, 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.760 was sitting in his chair in his den reading the 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.400 newspaper when he was shot twice in the back of 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.960 the head through a closed window. He was killed Instantly. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.400 Hearing the sound of broken glass and what she thought 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:49.360 was a gunshot, Katie, aged thirty six, ran to find 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.760 her husband. Finding him fatally shot, she attempted to call 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.080 the sheriff's office, but while she was dialing, she was 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:00.760 shot twice in the face. The first the bullet entered 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.560 her right cheek and exited behind her left ear. The 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:08.160 second bullet crushed her jaw and then lodged in the 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.120 muscles under her tongue. The bullets that hit her came 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.720 in through the same window as those that had hit 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:19.000 her husband. Katie survived, and despite the gravity of her wounds, 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.600 she evaded her assailant, who entered the home through the 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.640 kitchen door, just as she was able to exit the 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.400 front door and run for help. As reported by the 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:33.400 Texarcana Gazette in the next day's edition, quote she fled 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:37.080 in her bloody nightgown across the highway to her sister's house, 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:41.200 only to find no one at home. She eventually made 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.199 her way to the av Prater farmhouse down the road, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.840 where she was able to summon help, and a ride 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:52.920 to Michael Marr Hospital emergency surgery saved her life. According 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.760 to media coverage, investigators found two small bullet holes in 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:00.320 the front porch window, and the crime scene inside the 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.440 house was a mess, as if the perpetrator had been 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:07.160 in a rage while he searched for Katie. There was 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.800 a lot of blood, but there were also plenty of fingerprints. 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:16.080 Finally, though there is no known record of what most 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.240 of those in charge of the investigation believed at the time, 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.560 some law enforcement weren't so sure the shooter at the 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:27.760 farmhouse was the same person as in the previous three scenes. 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.640 There were two things that left them unconvinced, though the 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:36.880 four crime scenes would forever remain linked. First, bullets removed 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.600 from the Stark's crime scene were fired from a twenty 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:44.720 two caliber semi automatic Cult Woodsman, a totally different weapon 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.080 than the thirty two caliber Cult pistol used in the 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.679 three lovers Lane attacks. And the second the victims well, 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.600 they just didn't line up. Virgil and Katie weren't teenagers 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.240 at Lever's Lane. They were a couple in their thirties 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.240 getting ready for bed in their home. 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:03.520 We're going to take a break for a word from 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:07.600 our sponsors. We've talked about the crimes, so when we're back, 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.600 we will set up the investigation and talk about just 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:12.840 how many agencies were involved. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.280 Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about the investigation, but 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:35.640 let's also talk about the panic that gripped Techsarcana. 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.480 At this point, ten weeks into living in fear, the 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.480 community had escalated to panic and some residents took a 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:48.560 stand to stay safe. They boarded up windows, they armed themselves, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:55.040 and some mainly teenagers, actually formed vigilante groups. Local hardware 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:59.680 stores sold out of guns, ammunitions, and locks. The attacks 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.160 were accurring late at night, and the police dramatically increased 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:07.160 their presence with more frequent late night patrols, but that 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.280 didn't assuage anyone's fears. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.600 A twenty fourteen article published by Texas Monthly described the 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.920 scene at the time like this quote. Women of means 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.120 packed up their clothes and children and checked into downtown's 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.920 hotel grim when their husbands were away on business. Others 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:31.040 rigged Rube Goldberg esque security systems, attaching pots and pans 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.200 to wire that was strung around their property. People who 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.240 had never owned guns slept with loaded pistols on both 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.120 sides of the bed and made palettes on the floor 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.480 so their children could sleep beside them. 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.720 The press played a significant role in amplifying that fear. 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:52.040 Newspapers published sensational headlines and melodramatic articles about the killer 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.840 and the crimes. When national outlets picked up the story, 0:11:56.000 --> 0:12:00.120 suddenly Texarcana was in the spotlight. When the attack X 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.640 became a national story, media outlets from around the country 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:08.040 sent reporters to Texarkana to cover it, and that included 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.920 high profile papers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:16.080 the Dallas News, the Houston Chronicle, and even the London 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:20.520 Times arrived on the scene. John Quincy Mahaffey, then editor 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.760 of the Texarcana Gazette, stated, quote all of the news agencies, 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.880 including the Associated Press, United Press, and the International News 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:30.640 Service sent reporters. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.760 The press quickly dubbed the murders the Texarcana Moonlight murders, 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.160 and they were also responsible for giving the unidentified killer 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.120 a nickname. After the deaths of Betty Joe Booker and 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.200 Paul Martin. In the April sixteenth edition of the Texarcana 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:51.239 Daily News, a headline read quote, Phantom killer eludes officers 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:56.199 as investigation of slayings pressed. The Texarcana Gazette, too, used 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.960 the nickname. The day after, the Daily News did on 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.680 a small story with the headline quote phantom slayer still 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:07.520 at large as probe continues. Editor Mahaffey stated that the 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.760 Gazette's managing editor at the time, Calvin Sutton, had quote 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.920 an acute sense for the dramatic and was behind the nickname. 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:18.480 When he asked if they could refer to the unknown 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.719 murderer as the phantom, Mahaffe replied, quote, why not. If 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.679 the SOB continues to elude capture, he certainly can be 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.760 called a phantom. But Mahaffe did admit quote, Of course, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.040 as we continued to write about the murders, the name 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.040 phantom only served to intensify the hysteria. 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:39.679 An article published in the Texarcana Gazette during the investigation 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:45.280 helped locals navigate life during a crime spree and subsequent investigation. 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:50.199 It read in part as follows quote tax Arcana residents 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.679 can help in this investigation, and at the same time, 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.200 if they are not careful, they can hinder the investigation 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.800 and cause the officers to spend many hours following blind trails. 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.800 Persons who have information which might furnish a clue to 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.800 the identity of the slayer or slayers, or which might 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:13.320 indicate a motive for the crime, should not divulge such 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.560 information on street corners or at cold drink stands, but 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:22.040 should immediately make it available to the officers. Do not 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.720 spread rumors, regardless of how many bases for the fact 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.640 there is in them. Do not say I heard or 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.680 they say, because the chances are that the person listening 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:37.680 will repeat your information and enlarge upon it. Before long, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.440 the story grows to such proportions as to necessitate a 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:46.520 detailed investigation by the officers, thereby perhaps pulling them off 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.920 the true trail and sending them up a blind alley. 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.560 Stick to the facts that you know of your own 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:58.160 personal knowledge, and relay those facts as quickly as possible 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:02.800 to the officers. And that's just good advice in general. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.000 Upwards of four hundred people were questioned in connection with 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:12.640 the killings, but each was cleared. Investigators received numerous false 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.120 confessions as well, which can happen in high profile cases 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.640 like this one. With nothing new to work with. Roadblocks 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.800 were established and official curfews were enforced. 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:28.760 Authorities from Texas and Arkansas shared resources. Several law enforcement 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.920 agencies were involved in the investigation, including, but not limited to, 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:37.680 the Texarcana Police and the Arkansas State Police, the Cass 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.560 County Sheriff's Department and the Miller County Sheriff's Department, the 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:46.960 Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Texas Rangers. Renowned Texas 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.600 ranger Manuel Gonzalez, known as the Lone Wolf, was brought 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.760 in to lead the investigation. His very manner and presence 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:58.479 on the scene lent itself to some very interesting stories 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.880 from both the press and other law enforcement. In one 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:07.280 animated example, during a radio interview, when Gazette editor Mahaffey 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.920 asked him to offer listeners some advice that might help 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:15.640 calm their fears, Gonzales replied, quote, sure check the locks 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.800 and bolts of your doors, and get a double barreled 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.200 shotgun to blow away any intruder who tries to get in. 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:26.960 Mahafe In response quickly changed the subject away from that advice. 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.920 It's true that Gonzalez was often criticized as being more 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.720 of a showman than a lawman, at least when it 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.560 came to appearances, and many statements from other law enforcement 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.960 suggest he turned himself into a kind of one man 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:45.480 pr agency. He's described as kind of a perfect spokesperson, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.600 though with quote the swagger of John Wayne and the 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:50.360 verbosity of Will Rogers. 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.400 Mahaffey has said of Gonzalez, quote rumors that attached themselves 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.160 to Lone Wolf were easy to believe because he was 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:02.120 the living embodiment of the Whyld West. He wore a 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.879 spotless khaki suit and a white ten gallon hat. He 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.600 packed two pearl handled revolvers on his hips, and did 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.320 not deny that he was the ranger who sat in 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.639 the cashier's office in the Crazy Water Hotel in Mineral 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:18.879 Wells and gunned down two ex convicts who sought to 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:23.359 rob the place. He was also so good looking that 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.720 my girl reporters wouldn't leave him alone. He really didn't 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.640 have time to hunt down the phantom. He was too 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.000 busy giving out interviews and trying to run the gazette. 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.240 All of the other officers were intensely jealous of Lone 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.399 Wolf and complained bitterly every time his picture appeared in 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:39.879 the paper. 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:45.600 It wasn't all shotgun sales and radio interviews, though. Responding 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.600 to the palpable fear in the community and the swirling 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:53.520 rumors among the locals who continued to turn on each other, Gonzalez, 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:57.439 along with Booie County Sheriff Bill Presley, jointly issued a 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.640 press release. Presley had been on the case since day 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.159 one and was the first on the scene for the 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.840 first three attacks, and their joint statement read quote The 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:11.200 Texar Canon newspapers have cooperated with us all through this investigation, 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.720 and we intend to cooperate with them in furnishing them 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.880 the information they desire when the time comes for divulging 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.159 that information. The newspapers are not printing rumors and have 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:27.240 assured us they will not. Any information the public hears 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.560 about the case will not be official unless it comes 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:36.000 from us through the newspapers. We will appreciate information from citizens, 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:41.679 and all such information will be treated confidentially. We noted 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:44.479 in a lot of case reports and newspaper articles that 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.120 the press refrained from speculating about whether or not any 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:52.160 victims had been sexually assaulted. Though it was kept out 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.800 of the papers or referred to as quote criminally assaulted, 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.480 people in the area assumed that it had happened, and 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:04.040 it had in three of these four crimes, explained to Mahaffy, 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.800 quote sexual assault wasn't made public. You guarded the person 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:09.639 who was raped. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.960 Whenever we're talking about historical crimes, we run up against this. 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:19.199 Forensics today we make assumptions that investigators will test anything 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.119 and everything at a crime scene, but in nineteen forty 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:26.840 six that wasn't the case. The tests just weren't available yet. 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:30.639 There was fingerprint testing, and there were some types of 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.399 testing available to type blood and identify other bodily fluids. 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:39.120 In nineteen forty five, Frank Lindquist invented a screening for semen, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:43.040 but crime labs in forensics were really still in their infancy. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.919 For perspective, the FBI's crime laboratory had just opened in 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.520 nineteen thirty two. The killer, though, was adept at leaving 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.440 minimal to no evidence behind, and that just hindered all 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:56.720 parts of the investigation. 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:01.560 Historian Waynebeck has written, quote, the Texas Rangers were in 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:05.200 contact with every law enforcement agency in the country where 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:11.320 someone attacked people parking and either killed them or committed rape. Surprisingly, 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:14.520 there were many such incidences, even as far away as 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:19.040 Wisconsin and New York. They checked out virtually everyone who 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.359 was arrested for rape or robbery. In Texas, where the 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.600 modus operandi was similar to the tech Sarcanic crimes, there 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.400 were several good leads, including local people, but the rangers 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.360 would go no further with them if their fingerprints didn't match. 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.200 Local investigators moved ahead on a theory that the killer 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.880 was familiar with the area, which allowed him to blend in. 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:49.080 Psychological profiles also suggested the perpetrator was a male, a loner, and, 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.800 because of his tactical approach to his attacks and his 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:57.800 use of firearms, probably someone with military experience. The sheriff's 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:01.320 office posted a five hundred dollars reward for information, but 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:06.200 received no leads. Noticing the killer had a pattern attacking 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:09.600 young couples parked in secluded areas at night, with about 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.439 three weeks between Gonzales attempted to set up a sting 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:18.600 two undercover officers, each with a mannequin posed as teenage 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:22.719 couples parked in lover's lanes. But what investigators didn't know 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:26.879 at the time was the perpetrator was done after the 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:29.960 May third attack. He never struck again, at least not 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:31.159 with a similar crime. 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:33.760 We're going to take a break here for a word 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.320 from our sponsors, and when we return, we'll talk about 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:42.320 who authorities considered to be suspects. 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:59.920 Welcome back to Criminalia. There were a lot of suspects. 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:03.520 Authorities may have questioned hundreds of people, but there were 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:07.200 fewer they took seriously as the perpetrator of these crimes. 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:09.880 One man in particular stood out. 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:14.720 Over the years and decades, several suspects have emerged in 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:20.800 this investigation. The problem evidence linked to these potential perpetrators 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.560 is primarily just circumstantial. 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:28.880 Residents immediately began to come forward with accusations against other locals, 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.479 neighbors they suspected of the crimes because of any number 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:35.160 of reasons. It was kind of like a witch hunt 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.720 in that regard. One resident, for instance, with a grudge, 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:43.840 accused their neighbor, an IRS agent, an innocent IRS agent. 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.200 But in these instances, fingers pointed mostly at those who 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:51.600 had proximity to the crime. Scenes and seemed to behave 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:56.640 suspiciously and by people with grudges. No local was ever 0:22:56.680 --> 0:22:58.119 conclusively linked to the case. 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:01.600 There were a lot of curse suspects that local and 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:04.560 federal agents looked into. But let's talk about some of 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.400 the serious suspects that authorities pursued and some of the 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:14.159 theories that locals considered possible. There was suspect Henry Booker Tennyson, 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.959 who went by duty. He was an eighteen year old 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:21.600 university freshman at the time of the attacks. Investigators found 0:23:21.680 --> 0:23:26.000 inconsistencies in his story and in their evidence that actually 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.080 ultimately ruled him out. He went on to take his 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:33.040 own life in nineteen forty eight, leaving behind a cryptic 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:37.240 note slash poem that a minority of armchair investigators have 0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:41.640 interpreted as a confession. One of his friends, though, came 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:45.320 forward to the police with an alibi for Tennyson. They 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:48.080 were at home together playing cards when they heard the 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:50.760 news report on the Martin Booker murders. 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:53.960 Next, there was a forty two year old man from 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:56.879 College Station, Texas, which is about two hundred and fifty 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:00.640 miles away from Texarcana, and he was non to get 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:02.959 a kick out of sneaking up on parked cars at 0:24:03.000 --> 0:24:06.879 Lover's Lanes with his twenty two caliber rifle, and was 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:11.640 frequently known to visit Texarcana. So while that's terrifying, he 0:24:11.800 --> 0:24:12.360 was innocent. 0:24:13.440 --> 0:24:16.840 A Missouri Pacific Railroad section Hand wrote a letter to 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:21.320 the Governor of Texas confessing to the killings, but he 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:26.359 also confessed to killing Satan. He also challenged FBI Director 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:30.359 Jay Edgar Hoover and President Harry Truman to a duel. 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:35.240 It was determined he had no connection to the killings, and. 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:40.080 Then speculation arose about an unnamed German pow. Then an 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:43.560 escaped prisoner of war was the killer. There is not, 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:47.439 nor ever was evidence to support this theory, but it 0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:51.080 does remind us that the Second World War had ended 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:53.000 just five months earlier. 0:24:53.960 --> 0:24:58.760 On May thirteenth, the Texarcana Gazette reported quote, despite combined 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:03.879 efforts of Texas, Arkansas County, City and federal officers, no 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:06.600 trace of the Phantom killer has been found as of 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:11.560 late tonight. Officers said there were no new developments. We've 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:14.000 been working in circles all week, was the way one 0:25:14.040 --> 0:25:18.200 officer expressed himself. There were no attacks after May third, 0:25:18.400 --> 0:25:21.440 but by late summer, the case still hadn't moved forward. 0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:27.200 But then there was the investigator's favored suspect, Yule Swinney. 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:30.399 Yuell was a tall, thin, twenty nine year old with 0:25:30.480 --> 0:25:35.920 an extensive record of car theft, counterfeiting, burglary, and assault. 0:25:36.720 --> 0:25:40.640 He became a person of interest to investigators for two reasons. Firstly, 0:25:41.359 --> 0:25:45.600 Yule had a history of violent behavior. He gave ambiguous 0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:49.840 answers to investigators' questions. As a local resident, he would 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:52.359 have been capable of being in the vicinity during the 0:25:52.400 --> 0:25:56.680 period the attacks happened. However, it's unknown whether his fingerprints 0:25:56.760 --> 0:26:00.440 matched and he found at the Starks farm. Despite being 0:26:00.480 --> 0:26:04.280 the prime suspect, being an habitual criminal didn't make him 0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:07.719 the perpetrator of these crimes, at least not without some 0:26:07.760 --> 0:26:08.480 real evidence. 0:26:09.119 --> 0:26:13.639