THOMAS SIMMONS OBITUARY. She remained permanently scarred after the death of her sister, and later became a Washington D.C. police officer as a result. If those girls had been white, they would have put more manpower on it, there's no doubt about that.". [20], Common practice at the time was that case files at MPDC Detective Divisions were retained by the detectives assigned to the case. At least one witness would claim having seen her with her boyfriend that afternoon, but that boyfriend's mother refused to let police speak to her son. Considr comme le premier tueur en srie de Washington, D.C., ce meurtrier qui n'a pas encore t identifi tait responsable du meurtre d'au moins 6 filles mineures Washington, D.C. d'avril 1971 septembre 1972. During his trial, it was revealed that he'd been a police informant, aiding law enforcement in the arrests of prostitutes. Patricia Williams sat at a table near a window in a restaurant in Northwest Washington this week, her hands clasped. The killer may have military experience due to the skill displayed during the abductions and the lack of evidence at the crime scenes. She began walking down the street, towards the 7-Eleven. She was sent to buy groceries at a 7-Eleven located a half-mile away from her home by her older sister, but she never returned. Nenomoshia Yates had been sent by her family to a Safeway grocery store, which was just down the street from their apartment - literally less than a block away. [22] [23] Authorities later determined that Barnes was not a victim of the Freeway Phantom and resumed their investigation on the murders. The body was found by a 16-year old hitchhiker, that had stumbled upon it through mere happenstance. Like the first four victims, Woodard had been strangled but it appeared that her end had been a much more violent one. She ended up managing the child abuse squad for several years, hoping to make life better for children around the D.C. region. insensititivity [sic] to people In return, they could pick up a soda for themselves. He might have received some kind of psychiatric treatment to help deal with negative emotions, like depression and anger towards women. However, despite there being no sign of sexual assault, police would find semen on Diane's clothing. Written, hosted, and produced by Micheal Whelan, Borrtex - "Black Out"Blue Dot Sessions - "Arbic Tallow"Graham Bole - "Lurking"Percival Pembroke - "Pembroke-Schaffer Manifold (Parts 1 & 2)"Vitus Von Degen - "Pieta"Rest You Sleeping Giant - "Dead Waters"ROZKOL - "If These"Sann Gusmao - "Reescrever Fotografias Sobre Dias Que Me Rasgam"Organoid - "Cassini"Krackatoa - "Under An Ending Sun", Other original music created and composed by Ailsa Traves, Unsolved Child Murders: Eighteen American Cases 1956 - 1998 by Emily G. Thompson, The Washington Post - Six black girls were brutally murdered in the early 70s. Jim Henson's Muppets made 25 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show between 1966 and 1971. Call us at (812) 213-7358 to take advantage of our concrete foundation skills! We found 15 records for Tom Sullivan in Maumee, Holland and 10 other cities in Ohio. Described as both shy and petite, Carol had just cracked five feet tall, and was near the end of her seventh grade year at Johnson Junior High School. You have a whole generation of family members who would like to see someone brought to justice.". Reports on this seem to vary, with some sources claiming that the call came in three hours after she disappeared, but one record listed the specific time, 9:20, so I'm going to stick with that. Hairs of two unknown males were found on the clothing of Brenda Woodward, hairs whose origin is unknown. A police department spokesman said the cases have been assigned to the cold case squad, which will review the files periodically and investigate any new leads actively. This was beyond the date of the known killer's crime spree, and was ruled out as a possible connection due to a lack of evidence, but remains a real possibility. Were Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons Freeway Phantom? Common practice at the time was that case files at MPDC Detective Divisions were retained in files maintained by the detectives assigned to the case. Another exception of the modus operandi was the body of 14-year-old Angela Denise Barnes; her bullet-riddled body was found on an abandoned Maryland road in 1971. The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. "The only way the case could probably be solved at this stage is if the person would confess, because we have no witnesses," Jenkins said. Investigators and websleuths alike have wondered if Brenda Woodard might have been targeted by a separate killer, who tried to place the blame for her death at the burgeoning "Freeway Phantom" by having the victim write a note saying as much. Robert Elwood Askins was a middle-aged black man that worked at St. Elizabeth's Hospital as a computer technician through the 1970's. [1][2] This has yet to be verified. In addition to this . He didn't want to risk being exposed to the other gang members, for fear of retribution. In another coincidence, five out of the six victims were shown to be related via green fibers found on their clothing. Experts believe that it might have only been a tragic coincidence that Angelas murder loosely mirrored the victims of the Freeway Phantom. We know that this article of clothing was not tested for DNA by either the Maryland State Police or the FBI, but it was last in the possession of the Maryland State Police - who have not confirmed that they actually have the evidence. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled, her body dumped about 200 yards south of the Suitland Parkway near Interstate 295. If that is the case, it perhaps explains the next development in the story. Authorities later determined that Barnes was not a victim of the Freeway Phantom and resumed their investigation on the murders. When she failed to return home in a timely manner, her family began conducting a search for her throughout the neighborhood, knocking on doors and making calls to anyone that Brenda knew. They said they had arrest warrants for another 26 people. One of the cases often pointed to as an example of this very behavior is the disappearance of Sheila and Katherine Lyon - two sisters that disappeared from the Washington D.C./Maryland region in 1975. Angelas body was also wearing her shoes which did not fit the bill of the victims of the concerned serial killer. They were identified as rookie cops who had resigned from the force during their one-year probationary period. [8] "A white man picked me up, and I'm heading home in a cab," Crockett told her sister, adding that she believed she was in Virginia before abruptly saying, "Bye" and hanging up. However, in all of these cases, one kept Romaine Jenkins up at night. Edward Sullivan et Tommie Simmons Freeway Phantom taient-ils ? I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! "And this is probably one of the most massive and extensive investigations that was ever conducted in D.C.". While there, he broke free of his restraints and assaulted three orderlies with a chair before being subdued. Robert Askins would later be convicted on kidnapping and rape charges, stemming from two separate incidents - including the one that had put him on the investigators' radar. This was also supported by the contents of her stomach, which included some kind of citrus fruit. He graduated from Harvard College in 1874, and was a pupil of Lefebvre and Boulanger in Paris, where he took a gold medal. She recalls her mother's devastating sobbing, and the gloom that fell upon the entire neighborhood. Here was a lead, that was as promising as any thus far, which had now evaporated into nothing. Trainum was able to recover many of the documents from the Maryland State Police - who had carefully stored the files - but had no idea what had been lost in the preceding decades. [21][2] With current evidence and any information of the case from when it happened, no leads produced sufficient evidence for prosecution. Most unusually, three of the victims shared the middle name Denise. The other, which Detective Romaine Jenkins believes might be related, was the murder of Teara Ann Bryant, who was killed in November of 1972 - two months after the last known Freeway Phantom murder. Many theorize that the Maryland State Police have since lost the evidence, but are unwilling to admit it providing an already-aggravating story the most unfortunate ending possible. [19] All these leads were investigated to their logical conclusion. Her education policy was cashed in to bury her.". She read the case notes and offered insight whenever possible, but that was really all she could do. In April 1939, Askins was found criminally insane and committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. Some leads were easily proven not to be viable, while others required substantial investigation. Why was this case never solved? Police believed that the culprit of this violent death had fed her in the interim few days. Despite seeming to know specific details about the various murders, this inmate - Morris Warren - had alibis for the days of several crimes, so investigators began to surmise that he had gotten his information from elsewhere. "Whoever did it has gotten away. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! Not only was Johnson's body found incredibly close to the area that Spinks had been recovered - their bodies had been found a grand total of fifteen feet apart from one another. Court documents were found in a desk drawer in which a judge had used the word "tantamount," an uncommon word that had appeared in the note dictated by the killer of Brenda Woodward. The police later recovered one of the .38 caliber pistols reported stolen by the two police officers. Her father had put aside education money for college. [5] About two hours later (around 9:20 pm) the Crocketts' phone rang and was answered by her 7-year-old sister, who had waited at home while her family searched the neighborhood. Touted as Washington, D.C.'s first serial killer, this yet-to-be-identified murderer was responsible for the killing of at least 6 minor girls in Washington, D.C. from April 1971 through September 1972. Unfortunately, this began a really frustrating period of time, in which the Maryland State Police held the item in a backlog, but were unable to test it in a timely manner. The other, they claimed, belonged to an African American man. Yeah, that came back into play roughly 30 years later, in 2002, when Trainum submitted that piece of evidence for forensic testing. The Sullivans: With Paul Cronin, Steven Tandy, Reg Gorman, Vikki Hammond. Ph: (781) 272-0050 All of these victims had a number of traits in common. He seemed to be an amiable man, who was known for his propensity to use the word "tantamount" - seemingly at random - but a further look at Askins revealed a bit of a sketchy past. It's really infuriating, knowing that investigators might have come so close to solving at least one of the major mysteries in this case, but it got lost in a sea of bureaucracy and legalities. With the fourth murder, the FBI had gotten involved, and investigators were now hunting a single killer a killer that now seemed to accept his nickname. However, with her body being found not too far away, just eight hours after her abduction, we can reasonably surmise that wasn't the case. They may be living somewhere else, doing it again. Both would eventually be convicted for the crime, and sentenced to lengthy stays in prison. The children knew that failure to comply would result in a severe punishment - such as being hit with a switch or a belt - but that did not deter young Carol Spinks. In another striking similarity to the other crimes, green fibers would be found on her clothing. Abduction and rapeManual strangulationLigature strangulation (once)Stabbing (once) When her mother's boyfriend asked her if she was in Virginia, Brenda replied: This question seemed to confuse everyone, and Brenda's mother's boyfriend could only respond: "How could your mother see you if you're in Virginia?". It was a word that had been used in his prior legal paperwork, during his murder trial from the 1950's and subsequent release, but had also been included in the Freeway Phantom's note. County, Maryland) discovered the body of the missing 10-year old. The search for Brenda Crockett was - thankfully - not a long way. [5], Authorities quickly concluded that Crockett likely called her home at the behest of the killer, who fed her inaccurate information in order to buy the necessary time to perpetrate the crime, and to hamper the investigation. According to most behavior analysts - such as John Douglas, the grandfather of the study of serial killers, who wrote the popular book "Mindhunter" - most serial killers tend to target those in their own racial demographics. He mentioned a cooperating inmate at Lorton Prison, who had recently confessed to investigators, and was currently singing like a bird. The 12-year old girl lived with her father and stepmother in an apartment in Northeast, along Benning Road. "It's in the past, plus personnel in the police department has changed. He ultimately let the victim go without harming her any further, and the incident was reported to police. Carol obliged, and accepted the five dollars from her older sister. The perpetrator might have served in the Army during the Vietnam War and may have been responsible for some war crimes such as rape and murder during massacres. Police were called to the scene, and it was immediately theorized that Diane was a victim of the dormant Freeway Phantom. Vicksburg. They were charged with Angelas murder and were held by Washington, D.C. police in Charles County jail in Maryland. However, as I already hinted at, the FBI cooperation had quickly evaporated, when it became clear that the Watergate scandal wasn't going away anytime soon. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. ". She was found wearing the clothing she had disappeared in, but her shoes had been removed. edward sullivan and tommie simmonsmark anthony ontario. especiAlly women. Where Are They Now? Before her death, it appeared that the victim had been brutalized, having been hit in the face more than once. Hours after the body had been discovered, when police had roped off the scene, she would unknowingly stumble upon the commotion. 1971-1972 Today, Williams and other relatives of the victims will hold a memorial service in honor of the girls, whose slayings, with the exception of one, remain unsolved. 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