Unsolved: The Texarkana Moonlight Murders

The killer, concealed behind shrubbery, dropped his flashlight and sprinted to the rear of the residence, bounded up the porch steps and tore at the screen. Virgil Starks was in the front room listening to a radio. His wife, attired in a nightgown, was in an adjoining bedroom. A fleet of radio-equipped highway patrol cars patrolled Texarkana nightly. She said the man did not rape her, but that he "abused me  terribly." She begged him to kill her.
The second being a flashlight which was found in the hedge underneath the window that Starks was shot from. The last clue was of smudged fingerprints as well as bloody footprints on the kitchen floor. Early Saturday morning, bloodhounds were brought in from Hope by the Arkansas state police. They found two trails that led to the highway before the scent was lost.

Many have pointed to these two similarities – the flashlight and the hood/mask – as a possible link between the Zodiac and the Phantom. Both men were assassins operating at night in isolated areas, but there was a gap of about twenty-five years between their operations. The zodiac is described as relatively young, so the timeline doesn’t really match.
Though Hollis and Larey both survived, the next couple wasn't as lucky. Richard Griffin and Polly Ann Moore, who parked in a similar area but closer to the main road, were brutally shot in the back of the head, execution-style. Dean Corll was a sadistic pedophile Organized crime responsible for the murder of at least 28 boys over a span of three years. Some even believe that he may have killed as many as 47, taking car and house keys from each victim as a trophy.  There are a lot of duplicates and people reusing the same photos.

"Smoke was filling the room and was coming up all around the man and between his legs." She was found by members of the Boyd family, along with their friend Ted Schoeppey, who had joined the search party. Her body was lying on its back, fully clothed, with the right hand in the pocket of the buttoned overcoat. Booker had been shot twice, once through the chest and once in the face. Griffin had been shot twice while still in the car; both had been shot once in the back of the head, and both were fully clothed. The motorist left Hollis at the scene and drove to a nearby funeral home where he was able to call the police.
Then, he struck her and sexually assaulted her with the gun barrel. The killer ordered the couple out of the car, Hollis was told to remove his trousers. Paul's 1946 Ford Club coupe was found about three miles away from Booker's body and 1.55 miles away from his body. It was parked outside the Spring Lake Park with the keys still in it. Authorities couldn't tell who had been shot first but Sheriff Presley and Texas Ranger Captain Manuel Gonazullas said that examinations of the bodies showed they had both struggled greatly.

He said to the best of his recollection they heard of the murder over the radio or someone came in and told them about the killing. Mr. Tennison said he believed the boy was ill at the time and not responsible for the text of the notes. He said, however, that as far as he knew, the boy was in good condition. He could not recall where his son was at the time of the Phantom killings. S father expressed amazement that his son might have committed the murders or that he had committed suicide. The suicide note left by Tennison revived over the nation the Phantom killings that first shocked then shook the twin cities.
The bodies were then tied in plastic sheets and thrown in one of three mass graves Corll had carved out for his victims. In a final, cruel trick, before killing them, he'd make the boys write letters to their parents explaining their absence, which caused police to assume the victims had simply run away.  The police's main suspect in the murders, Charles Albright, was a taxidermist and just the type of person who'd know how to perfectly remove an eye. He was eventually caught by police after allegedly attempting to murder a fourth victim who narrowly escaped. Many people believe that Albright was wrongly convicted, but he's still serving time in a Lubbock, Texas psychiatric unit. Still, some of the most brutal crimes in the history of the United States happen to have occurred in Texas.
Washington County Sheriff Bruce Crider who originally investigated the suicide said, however, he still is not satisfied as to the reasons for some of Tennison's statements in the notes. Only one viewmaster was found among Tennison's possession and a film on Mexico was found in th strongbox along with the note "confessing" to the slaying of two high school students and a farmer. He also reported that Mrs. Smith told him that Tennison had purchased a "viewmaster" -- a film viewing device -- and film ono Mexico at the same time.

Please disregard all other messages which I have written, they are only thoughts which I was thinking about as possible reasons for taking my own life. There are instances in which the Texarkana Gazette contradicts claims made by the Northwest Arkansas Times with regard to characteristics of Doodie's notes. In instances where such contradictions occur, my analysis has usually assumed the Northwest Arkansas Times to be more accurate. Yates was thensentenced to life in prison, which was eventually overturned during an appeal. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006 after suffering from postpartum psychosis.
At the time, the police did not link them together, but now it is believed that there was a serial killer on the loose in Fort Worth. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the contemporary press, was a series of four unsolved serial murders and related violent crimes committed in the Texarkana region of the United States in early 1946. They were attributed to an alleged unidentified perpetrator known as the Phantom of Texarkana, the Phantom Killer, or the Phantom Slayer. This hypothetical suspect is credited with attacking eight people, five of them fatally, in a ten-week period. According to the Texarkana Gazette, people there have grown so fond of the movie that it has become a tradition to show The Town That Dreaded Sundown each year around Halloween.

Both of these victims eventually recovered from their wounds. Police called for the public to report anyone who owned a flashlight like the one above, found at the Starks murder scene. This was the first spot-colored photograph published by the Texarkana Gazette.In the aftermath of the Starks murder, officers from the entire area were called upon to help in the investigation. Those who had been driving in the area at the time of the slaying, along with several men found in the vicinity, were detained for questioning. By May 5, forty-seven officers were working to solve the murder. On May 9, a mobile radio station arrived with twenty Arkansas State Police officers and a fleet of ten prowl cars equipped with two-way radios, to help coordinate the growing investigation.
For two years police of two states have been unable to solve five slayings at the state-line city. The authorities said they were pressing their investigation, but would await the arrival of two sheriffs, a Texas ranger and an Arkansas state police trooper before attempting to arrive at a definite conclusion. Like Frank Grandstaff, life term prisoner in Tennessee. Rolex replica He composed a cantata about "Big Spring" in solitary and in 1949 was given a six-day furlough to hear it played duringthat West Texas' town's centennial. Keith Peterson, 21, son of well-to-do parents, shot and killed in Dallas the girl who spurned his love.

He rushes to Katie’s aid as she collapses in the backyard, saying, ‘Virgil’s dead.’ Prater fired one of his rifles into the air, alerting some of the other neighbors. One of these neighbors, Elmer Taylor, was quick to respond. After searching for the cause, he asked him to bring the car and help him, he sent a message that Virgil was dead and that Katie needed urgent help.