| Author |
Message |
    
Belinda Pearce
Sergeant
Username: Belinda
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 10:40 pm: | 
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After seeing the film The Town That Dreaded Sundown I got really interested in this but I can not find any information about it at all.Anybody else interested  |
Gary Alan Weatherhead
Chief Inspector
Username: Garyw
Post Number: 588
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 8:55 am: |
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Hi Belinda
It's a very interesting case that has been almost totally ignored by the media and subsequent true crime writers.
I can't explain the lack of interest in a very intriguing case.
All The Best
Gary
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Glenn L Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 1384
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 9:06 am: |
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Hi Belinda and Gary,
I must say I am totally unaware of it myself, and you are both making me quite curious here. What case is this?
All the best
Glenn Gustaf Lauritz Andersson
Crime historian, Sweden
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Ally
Inspector
Username: Ally
Post Number: 451
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 10:15 am: |
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Crime Library has this on the Moonlight Murders.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/unsolved/texarkana/index_1.html?sect=4
It's overly dramatic and doesn't stick to facts in preference of sensationalism, but it gives you the idea.
(Message edited by ally on March 28, 2004)
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Glenn L Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 1386
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 2:48 pm: |
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Thanks Ally.
Cheers.
All the best
Glenn Gustaf Lauritz Andersson
Crime historian, Sweden
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bjbruther
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 3:27 am: |
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Here is the basic information that I know --you can find the entry in Michael Newton's Encyclopedia of Serial Murder on p. 160-161. Basic details February 23-May 4, 1946, an unknown masked killer killed five individuals and wounded three others--he was a "lover's lane" killer as shown in the movie, otherwise there is very little info on the case and it has never received a full-length book study--it is mentioned in Lone Wolf, Gonzaullas, Texas Ranger, by Brownson Malsch, reprinted in 1998 by the University of Oklahoma Press, a book about the career of the Hispanic Texas Ranger sent to Texarkana to investigate the case. It has full details of the case. You can obtain it easily through Inter-Library Loan, a wonderful service of your public library. |
Belinda Pearce
Sergeant
Username: Belinda
Post Number: 15
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 29, 2004 - 11:14 am: |
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That is more than I have managed to learn since I first saw the film about eight years ago I will try and find those books but I'm not sure if they would even have been published here |
Stanley D. Reid
Sergeant
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 11
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2005 - 1:39 am: |
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Hi all
Lapsing into the celebrity syndrome here, have you heard the theory that President Clinton's dad could have been the killer and that records might have been altered to indicate that he was out of the area at the time? He returned to the region after WW2 just before the attacks started and they came to a halt when was killed in a traffic accident. Most of us would be happy if this could disproven. The best case against it right now is that the murders may have continued in other areas after Mr. Blythe died. Since most of the assaults occurred near RR tracks, I always wondered if the killer was a RR employee or a hobo who rode the trains.
Best wishes,
Stan |
BJ Bruther
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 3:39 am: |
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I can help shoot this one down pretty quickly--the records would have to be altered during the years of Clinton's governorship not only in Arkansas but also Texas. The Texas Rangers were involved in the case, see Brownson Malsch's book on Gonzaullas, and I can't see the land of the Bush dynasty altering records to protect a neighboring Democratic governor's dear old dad. I think they would rather highlight Blythe's potential involvement in the case. At the time of the murders, there were two suspects: the fellow killed by the railroad track (now most people think he was killed by the Phantom in hopes of derailing the investigation) and some unnamed suspect that spent loads of time in prison, I think in Texas. Otherwise, we have no suspect, just a mysterious killer who preyed on isolated lover's lanes and finally worked up his courage to attack a couple in an isolated farm house. BJ |
Stanley D. Reid
Detective Sergeant
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 119
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 8:23 pm: |
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Hi BJ,
I think the reference was to employee records about times and travels. Blythe was not a suspect in anyone's files at the time of the crimes, I don't believe, nor is he a serious suspect now.
Regarding the farmhouse attack, a telephone contact of mine has talked recently with law enforcement authorities in Texarcana and they told him that they now think that this crime was separate and in no way related to the other murders. The suspicion is that it was some sort of family dispute.
Stan |
Angel
Sergeant
Username: Angel
Post Number: 26
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:14 am: |
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Just in case someone in the future finds this case interesting.
http://www.geocities.com/txkphantom/
There is no such thing as right or wrong - only places to stand.
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Stanley D. Reid
Chief Inspector
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 514
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 4:50 pm: |
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Hi all,
I saw today that the body of Mary Jane Reed was exhumed to search for evidence. She and her boyfriend, Stanley Skridla, were killed in a lover's lane murder in Illinois during 1948 that was a mirror of the slayings in the Texarkana. A while back, I contacted an intermediary who in turn got hold of authorities in charge of both cases. It seemed like both groups had their own pet theories, though, and weren't too interested.
Best wishes,
Stan |
Belinda Pearce
Sergeant
Username: Belinda
Post Number: 48
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 1:52 am: |
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That's very interesting about the farm house attack being unrelated.I still think it's possible this killer could still be alive
I also wonder if the zodiac killer got some ideas from this |
Stanley D. Reid
Chief Inspector
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 517
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 1:57 pm: |
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Hi Belinda,
Both are possible. He would be quite an old fellow if the former is true.
This case has always intrigued me. I wrote a brief review of The Town That Dreaded Sundown for CrimeBeat Magazine in June of 1992. In November of 2002, I also wrote an account of the crime for America's Most Wanted News Magazine.
Stan |
