Some fun historic trivia:

The butlers pantry in the white house originated during President Andrew Jackson’s time as a locked “vault” to protect the new collection of expensive silver. The new chef did not sleep in the pantry as previous ones did.

SKELETON’S KEY Delta Crossroads #2
10.28.13

“Dani?” Cage materialized out of nowhere. He thundered up the steps and then knelt in front of her. He wrapped one big hand around her forearm and gently tilted her chin up with the other. She rested her head against his shoulder.

“What happened? Is it the heat again? I’ll get you some water.”

“No.” Dani choked. “It’s…I can’t go back in there right now.”

He searched her face, his own twisted into an expression of confusion and concern. The wrinkles across his forehead smoothed out, and his eyes widened. “The butler’s pantry. You opened it.”

Dani nodded.

“Does Gina think that’s that where he killed them?” Cage spoke softly, reminding her of the way she’d heard mothers deal with small children.

This is probably the first true crime show I ever watched, and it sucked me in from the beginning. Hosted by Bill Kurtis, Cold Case Files tackles any case deemed cold, some dating back as far as forty years. It’s interesting to think about how differently an old case might have been handled were it to occur today.

The best thing about the show is that the cases chosen are ones finally solved. Most of the time, a case has been dormant for months if not years until a determined detective or officer gets wind of it and looks at the situation with fresh eyes. Sometimes it takes decades, but dogged determination and advancement in forensic science have resulted in hundreds of solved cases.

Episode Highlights:

The Answer In The Box

On July 25, 1986 eleven-year-old Alison Parrott disappeared from her Toronto, Canado home. A male caller had convinced her he would be taking pictures of Allison and her track and field teammates. She was to meet the photographer at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium. The man had also called a week earlier with the same request, and Alison was able to get her mother’s permission to meet him. She told the family housekeeper her plans, and then left her home. Source

She was found two nights later in Kings Mill Park on the Humber River. Alison had been raped and strangled.

Capture

The case went cold for 10 years until Francis Carl Roy was arrested in 1996. A runner with a known interest in photography, Roy had a criminal record that included assault and rape. When Alison was murdered, he’d been on parole after serving just 18 months of an eleven year sentence for the rapes of two teenaged girls. DNA evidence linked him conclusively to Alison.

He was convicted of first-degree murdered and sentenced to life without the chance of parole for 25 years.

Mommy’s Rules–the Murder of Suesan and Sheila Knorr

Theresa Knorr physically and verbally abused all her children but daughters Suesan and Sheila were targeted the most. Jealousy over their youth and beauty, and the crazed notion the two girls were witches who had forced Theresa to gain weight were used as her motivation to torture them. Source

Theresa burned her kids with cigarettes and beat them, and she trained her sons to beat and discipline her daughters.

Suesan

In 1983, Knorr shot Suesan in the chest. The bullet lodged in the girls back, but her mother refused to seek medical help. She left Suesan to die in the bathtub, but when she survived, Theresa started nursing her back to health.

A year later, Suesan asked to move out. Theresa agreed on the condition she could remove the bullet still lodged in the girl’s back. On the dirty kitchen floor with alcohol as an anesthetic, Theresa had her son Robert removed the bullet with a box cutter. Suesan quickly became infected and slipped into a coma–on the kitchen floor. She was left there to die, and Theresa instructed the other children to walk over her, telling them her illness was a result of possession by the devil. She convinced her sons Robert and Bill to take Suesan and burn her alive.

Sheila

Next, Theresa forced daughter Sheila into prostitution, and then accused her own daughter of giving her an STD. Sheila was locked in a closet and starved to death. Her body was packed into a cardboard box and dumped.

Daughter Terry managed to escape and then spent years trying to get law enforcement to listen to her. No one believed her until in 1993, she finally convinced someone to listen.

Capture

Finally, in November 1993, Theresa and her sons are arrested after an appearance on America’s Most Wanted. She was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, as well as multiple murder and murder by torture. When Theresa found out her sons were set to testify against her, she pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. She was sentenced to two life sentences and will be eligible for parole in 2027.

These are just two of the dozes of harrowing and complicated cases A&E’s Cold Case Files have covered. For a full list, visit the show’s official site.

What do you think about these cases? Should Theresa have a shot at parole? How much should her sons be held accountable? And is the system to blame for Allison Parrott’s murder?

Don’t forget, Welcome To Las Vegas is on sale NOW with an exclusive excerpt of Into The Dark. 
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Into The Dark releases in digital and print November 30th, but you can pre-order your ebook right now.

Thanks so much to all of you for your amazing support!

I’m leaving later today to visit my best friend in the Twin Cities, so I’m reblogging this post. The Villisca Axe Murders were my second ever Thriller Thursday, and this is a new, much improved version.

On June 10, 1912, the sleepy little town of Villisca, Iowa was changed forever. Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah, their four children (Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul), and two friends were found murdered in their beds, their skulls crushed. Lena and Ina Stillinger had gone to church with the Moore’s and had been invited by Katherine to spend the night.

The crime has never been solved.

The bodies were discovered when a neighbor realized the Moore’s hadn’t started their outside chores. Josiah’s brother went to the house to check on the family and found them all brutally murdered.

Word of the bodies spread and inexperienced police lost control of the crime scene. Historical counts have more than one hundred people traipsing through the house to gawk at the bodies before the National Guard arrived.

In town, shock and grief led to frightened citizens taking up arms and suspecting one another. Reporters and private detectives came from all over the country for the story while law enforcement agencies in neighboring counties and states assisted the overwhelmed town police.

With such a muddle crime scene and a century having past, it’s hard to keep the facts straight. The official site of the Villisca Murders lists the following as facts:

• Eight people were bludgeoned to death with an axe left at the scene.
• Doctors estimated time of death at shortly after midnight.
• Curtains were drawn in the windows except for two. They were covered with the Moore’s clothing.

• All of the victims faces were covered with bedclothes.
• A kerosene lamp was found at the foot of the bed of Josiah and Sarah Moore. The chimney was off and the wick turned back. The chimney was found under the dresser.
• A similar lamp was found at the foot of the bed of the Stillenger girls.
• The axe was discovered in the room occupied by the Stillenger girls. It was bloody, although someone had clearly attempted to clean it. The axe belong to Josiah Moore.
• The ceilings in the rooms where the murders took place showed gouge marks made by the upswing of the axe.
• A pan of bloody water was discovered on the kitchen table along with a plate of uneaten food.
• The doors were locked.

• The bodies of Lena and Ina Stillinger were found in the downstairs bedroom off the parlor. Ina was closest to the wall with Lena on her right. A grey coat covered her face. Dr. F.S. William said Lena, “lay as though she had kicked one foot out of her bed sideways, with one hand up under the pillow on her right side, half sideways, not clear over but just a little. Apparently she had been struck in the head and squirmed down in the bed, perhaps one-third of the way.” Lena’s nightgown was slid up and she was wearing no undergarments. There was a bloodstain on the inside of her right knee and what the doctors assumed was a defensive wound on her arm.

The murderer—or murderers—left behind a load of forensic evidence. Had the crime happened today, perhaps it would have been solved. But in 1912, fingerprinting was in its infancy, and DNA testing unheard of. Even if the scene had been properly processed, authorities probably wouldn’t have been able to use the evidence.

Still, there are suspects. Many point to Frank F. Jones, an Iowa State Senator, as the murderer. Victim Josiah Moore had worked for Frank Jones for years. When he left and started his own implement company in 1908, Jones was furious. Moore had stolen the John Deere franchise from him. Rumors also floated around that Moore had an affair with Jones daughter-in-law, and his son was accused of being a co-conspirator. They were never arrested.

William Mansfield from Illinois was suspected of being hired by Frank Jones to commit the murders. One investigator put together a case to bring to the grand jury, pinning not only the Villisca murders but several other axe murders on Mansfield. Insufficient evidence was found. He was released.

Rev. George Jacklin Kelly was also a suspect. He was a traveling preacher and had settled in Macedonia, Iowa. In 1917, he was arrested for the murder of ONE of the victims (but experts argue they were committed by the same person). Kelly attended the church and children’s program the day before. He left town early on the 10th.

Kelly confessed, but it was withdrawn before trial. The Villisca site calls his confession a “mockery of law enforcement practices at the time.” Kelly’s first trial was a hung jury; he was aquitted in the second.

Chicago’s notorious H.H. Holmes and Texas’s Servant Girl Annihilator were also discussed as suspects.

The third school of thought is that someone unknown to the area killed the Moore’s and Stillinger girls–a serial killer. Federal Agent McClaughry, assigned to the Villiscia murders, believed Henry Moore (not related) was the killer.

In December 1912, six months after the Villisca event, Henry Moore was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of the murders of his wife and maternal grandmother in Columbia, Missouri.  In that incident, he’d used an axe. Known to be a mean drifter, prone to fits of anger, Moore is a fitting suspect as many experts believe the killings were committed by a transient.

Agent McClaughry interviewed Moore in prison and decided he was responsible for at least 23 murders. McClaughry believed Moore was the Iowa killer, but no one followed up, and he was never prosecuted.

The Villisca House is a now a tourist attraction on the National Registrar of Historic Places. Stories about it being haunted abound. The official site of the murders says paranormal investigators have gathered visual and auditory evidence of a haunting. Objects move, psychics claim to have seen spirits.

Source: Katherine Ramsland – Villisca, Mass Murder in Iowa.
Source: The Villisca Mystery.
Source: The 1912 Villisca Axe Murders Blog.

Who do you think killed the Moore family? Is it possible to solve a hundred-year-old murder?

]]> https://stacygreenauthor.com/archives/1420/feed 55 1420 https://stacygreenauthor.com/archives/1288 https://stacygreenauthor.com/archives/1288#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:26:01 +0000 https://stacygreenauthor.com/?p=1288 Read the rest →]]> Due to this post from Roni Loren (thank you for the warning, Roni) I’ve decided to remove most photos from Thriller Thursday. I hope you’re still able to enjoy them!

Manic Monday means anything goes, and today we’re talking about one of my favorite things–the old South. The rich cultural mix and living history fascinates me, and nothing taps into my love of history more than the plantations that sprawl across the southern states.

Oak Alley Plantation.

Anne Rice fans, this one should look familiar. Oak Alley was featured in the movie Interview with a Vampire.

Located in Vacherie, Louisiana, Oak Alley Plantation is a National Historic Landmark. The incredible alley of live oaks leading to the main house is almost 800 feet long and is much older than the main house, which was built by George Swainy between 1837-1839. Featuring a standing colonnade of 28 Doric Columns, the house is just as beautiful today. The original marble floors have been replaced by wood, the roof is slate, and the columns have been painted to look like marble.

An antebellum sugar plantation, the property was taken over in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart and was the first example of post antebellum restoration on River Road. Now a romantic bed and breakfast, Oak Alley is a favorite for weddings and other celebrations, and is a must-see for any history buff.

Boone Hall Plantation

This one has a special place in my heart. I’ve always loved Civil War history, and when I was in the third grade, a miniseries called North and South aired for the first time. Starring Patrick Swayze (I still maintain this was the role he was born to play) as Orry Main, North and South told the story of how a southern gentleman and a Yankee’s friendship persevered through decades of war and family tragedy.

Boone Hall was featured as Mont Royal, and it was love at first sight for me. One of the country’s oldest working plantations, Boone Hall has been open to the public since 1956. The current house was built in 1933 (the original in 1790) when the owners decided they wanted something more grand and befitting of their stature. Nine original slave cabins still stand as well as a smoke house dating back to 1750 and the Cotton Gin House (1853).

Owned by the McRae family since 1955, Boone Hall still produces crops, including strawberries, tomatoes and pumpkins. Tours are giving almost year around, and the plantation also takes part in many celebrations, including a stunning Christmas festival.

Melrose Plantation, Cane River Valley.

The antagonist from INTO THE DARK is from the Cane River Valley, and Melrose Plantation was the inspiration for his dark and tragic past.

Melrose is among the more unique plantations in the deep south. Marie Therese CoinCoin, born as a slave in 1742, had fourteen children: four black and ten of Franc0-American blood. Sold to Thomas Metoyer with several of her children (some fathered by Metoyer), Coincoin and her offspring were freed and later received a number of land grants. The grants formed Melrose plantation and descendants of Marie still live in the area today.

The current house was built in 1833, and the plantation would change ownership throughout the years. In the twentieth century, the sprawling grounds and structures became home to a colony of artists, perhaps none more famous than Clementine Hunter. Some of her paintings remain at Melrose.

Melrose is open to tours and the hub of the Cane River National Heritage Area.

Do you love the old southern plantations? Have you ever visited any? Do you have personal history with any of the grand old homes?

Last month, Beverly Diehl issued a call on her blog to participate in her MLK Blogfest, and I jumped at the chance to be a part of something so meaningful.

Growing up in predominantly white southern Iowa, I didn’t have many experiences with racism. Everything I knew about the subject came from the history books, television, and movies. I knew Martin Luther King was an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and that was about it.

Then, the summer before my junior year of high school, our music department took a trip to Washington, D.C. By bus, mind you. From Iowa. One of the buses broke down on the way, and the trip was talked about for years as being a miserable but sometimes fun experience. At sixteen, I didn’t grasp the importance of lying the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier during the changing of the guard, or of being in the East Room of the White House where both Lincoln and Kennedy’s bodies were laid out. Seeing Lincoln’s bloody pillow in the house across the street from Ford Theater was chilling, but I was more concerned with boys and how I looked.

But one thing about that trip sticks out in my mind: the first time I heard King’s legendary “I Have A Dream” speech. To be honest, I don’t remember where exactly we were–I think it was somewhere around the Lincoln monument–but I remember being in a media room, the lights darkened, and sitting with my best friend and her mother. And the video played.

I’d read the speech before, learned about its importance. But I’d never heard King speak. That day, watching the black and white video of a courageous man in the prime of his life as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln monument, a perfect backdrop, I was moved to tears. It was the first and only time a speech ever made me cry. It was more than just the passionate tone of King’s voice, the cadence of the words, and the reaction of the crowd.

It was the first time I truly understood the plight of African American’s during the Civil Rights Movement. A hundred years after Lincoln freed them from the terrible practice of slavery, they still languished, fighting for equality. Finally, I understood–as well as I could–the cruelties they faced.

I often wonder if today’s generations truly grasp the sacrifices of King and the other brave men and women who marched on Washington. Would they have the courage to stand up for their beliefs, for their personal rights? Even though racism is still prevelant in this country, do the younger generations understand the humiliation of not being allowed in a restaurant because of skin color? Of having to move seats because of skin color? With all the priveleges we have today, can any of us really understand?

Today, nearly forty-four years after his tragic death, I wonder if King would consider his dream fulfilled. What would he think of the world as it is today? Despite equal opportunities and an African-American president, are the minorities truly free at last? Will we ever live in a world where people aren’t judged by skin, religion, or ethnic background?

What does today mean to you? Do you remember the first time you heard the “I Have a Dream” speech?

In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow tells Barbosa the “deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.”

I’d like to think the very deepest and hottest pit is set aside for the most horrendous criminals of all: child molesters/killers.

Unlike Mary Bell, Arthur Gary Bishop had a normal childhood. Born in Hinkley, UT in 1951, Bishop grew up in a devout Mormon family and was an Eagle Scout and an honor student. When he turned eighteen, he served as a missionary in the Phillippenes.

He would go on to molest and kill five young boys.

Years later, a student who knew Bishop in high school would say he was a “geek, rarely if ever finding someone who would accept the rare offer of a date.”

After his arrest in 1983, Bishop would admit to being addicted to porn—specifically, kiddie porn. He cultivated sick fantasies for years until he finally had to act them out.

Bishop didn’t start out hunting kids. His first scrape with the law came in 1978 when he was convicted of embezzling $8,714 from a used-car dealership where he worked as a bookkeeper. Those who knew him couldn’t believe it, but Bishop pled guilty and promised full restitution. The courts believed him. Then he jumped bail and took off.

Once the news had broke about Bishop’s horrifying crimes, several Utah parents complained about him molesting their kids, but none had come forward prior to the murders. Had they approached police, they might have save the lives of Bishop’s victims.

Bishop made his way to Salt Lake City, changing his name to “Roger Downs.” That’s the name he wrote down when he joined the Big Brothers program, giving himself access to boys desperately in need of a father figure. The organization would later admit to getting tips about Downs’s molesting at least two kids—neither of which were assigned as his little brother. Big Brothers/Big Sisters said the accusations were reported but the police did nothing.

In 1979, molesting the boys was no longer enough.

On October 14, 1979, little Alonzo Daniels vanished from the courtyard of his apartment complex in Salt Lake City. Police combed the area, encountering “Roger Downs” in his apartment just across the hall from Alonzo’s. Of course, he denied knowing anything about the boy’s disappearance.

Bishop (a.k.a Downs) had lured the little boy away with candy, then (according to his confession), tried to undress and touch Alonzo once he had him in the solitude of his apartment. When Alonzo cried and threatened to tell his mother, Bishop lost control. He clubbed the four-year-old with a hammer and then drowned him in the bathtub.

Even worse, Bishop marched past Alonzo’s mother as she searched the courtyard for her child, never knowing his body was in the cardboard box her neighbor had just carried out to his car.

If that’s not the act of a savage animal, I don’t know what is.

The search for Alonzo included the city’s search and rescue team as well as hundreds of citizens, but it was too late. Bishop buried the Alonzo 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City in the desert near the town of Cedar Fort.

Bishop would later say he felt disgust as his crime but also a sick excitement. And he knew he’d kill again.

There was no doubt Bishop knew right from wrong. Whether out of guilt or fear of arrest, he spent the next year trying to find other ways to soothe his urges. He adopted about fifteen puppies from shelters and used them as substitutes for the kids.

“It was so stimulating,” Bishop told Detective Don Bell. “A puppy whines just like Alonzo did. I would get frustrated at the whining. I would hit them with hammers or strangle them.”

The puppies weren’t enough. Bishop kept molesting kids, threatening them from telling. As long as the child was docile, Bishop didn’t feel the need to kill them. But fighting back or threatening to tell made him lash out.

Soon, another search party was formed. Witnesses from the skating rink remembered seeing Kim talking to a man around 25-35. They said he had a full face and wore glasses as well as an Army jacket or some kind of parka. Other leads turned up, but they were no good.

“Roger Downs” lived a few blocks away from the Peterson’s home. He was again questioned and no connection was made. Bishop had bludgeoned Peterson to death and buried him near Alonzo’s body.

Like most serial killers, the violence was easier the second time around, the fear waned, and the rush of murder grew.

Eleven months later, four-year-old Danny Davis became Bishop’s next victim.

“I saw the most beautiful little boy kneeling in the aisle.”
–Bishop to the Deseret News

After trying to get candy from the gumball machine, Danny refused Bishop’s offer. Bishop moved to leave, but in a terrible twist, Danny had decided to follow the man and get some candy. Bishop led him to the parking lot.

Danny’s grandmother couldn’t find him and summoned the manager. Shoppers remembered seeing a little boy at the candy machine with a nice young man, but no one could I.D. photos of Danny.

The search for Danny Davis became among the biggest in Salt Lake City history. A $20,000 reward was offered, and the FBI, Child Find and the National Crime Information Center became involved, but no answers were found.

Bishop molested the boy, quieting his crying by pinching his nose and covering his mouth. He dumped his body with the other two like trash and went on with his life.

“Roger Downs” lived less than a block from the grocery. Again, police knocked on his door and again, no one realized “Roger Downs” lived close to all three victims. Years later, neighbors would remember Downs had a special affection for kids.

I don’t know how this wasn’t put together soon. Perhaps it was indicative of the age, when horrific child molesters were still relatively unknown. Maybe Bishop was just that good of a con man. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t finished killing.

In the police’s defense, other than being in proximity to “Downs,” there were no similarities in the cases. The boys were taken on different days of the week, at different times. Bishop broke the rule of serial killers and preyed on a victim outside his race with Alonzo Daniels. Kim Peterson was much older than Daniels and Davis.

Two years passed without a disappearance. Then on June 23rd, 1983, Troy Ward vanished. Allowed to play by himself at a park near his house, Troy was supposed to meet a family friend at four o’clock so he could be driven home for his sixth birthday party. Troy didn’t show.

A witness reported seeing a little boy matching Troy’s description leaving the scene with a man just before four. They seemed happy and the witness thought they were father and son.

Can you imagine the torment that witness later went through?

Like the others, Bishop molested Troy. He would tell Detective Bell that he thought about letting Troy go, but the boy’s threat to tell changed his mind. Troy was killed in the same manner as the others, but for whatever reason, Bishop buried him near Big Cottonwood Creek.

Like most serials, Bishop finally escalated. He could no longer satiate himself for long periods between kills. A month later, he killed thirteen-year-old Graeme Cunningham.

On July 14, 1983, Graeme was ready to go on a long-planned weekend camping trip. His companions? A classmate and an adult, Roger Downs.

Graeme disappeared before the trip. Snakeline, Roger Downs visited the Cunningham’s home to offer help.

“I wanted to help her,” Bishop later told Detectives. “I just didn’t know how to tell her I killed her son.”

Bishop’s reign of killing was about to come to an end. A detective finally recognized “Roger Downs” had been interrogated after each disappearance and that he lived close to the first four victims and was familiar with the parents of the fifth.

They couldn’t believe it—the killer may have been under their noses the entire time. Could he have made such a mistake as to take a boy he was known to? Yes, in fact. Killers often let down their guard and are caught by dumb decisions.

“Downs” was brought in for questioning, and by morning Detective Bell had the whole story, including his real name, from Arthur Gary Bishop.

The next morning, Bishop led police to the boys remains.

“I’m glad they caught me. Because I’d do it again.”

Bishop’s trial began on February 27, 1984. Bishop said his addiction to child pornography caused his fantasies and drove him to act out. Six weeks later, he was found guilty of five counts of aggravated murder, five counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of sexually abusing a minor. He was sentenced to death. Bishop apologized to the victims families and requested to be executed by lethal injection.

Before his execution, Bishop wrote the following letter:

“I am a homosexual pedophile convicted of murder, and pornography was a determining factor in my downfall. Somehow I became sexually attracted to young boys, and I would fantasize about them naked. Certain bookstores offered sex education, photographic, or art books which occasionally contained pictures of nude boy. I purchased such books and used them to enhance my fantasies … All boys became sexual objects. My conscience was desensitized and my sexual appetite entirely controlled my actions.”

Arthur Gary Bishop was executed by lethal injection at Utah State Prison on June 10, 1988. He did express remorse for his crimes, but I find no compassion for him. I’m against the death penalty in many cases, but this is one where I feel justice was served.

What do you think? Should Bishop have been sentenced to death? Should there be a mandatory death sentence for child killers?

“We underestimate the damage that these accumulated images do to the brain. The immediate effect can be delusional, equivalent to a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion. The witnesses became confused and paralyzed by the violence they witnessed outside their window. They were fascinated by the drama, by the action, and yet not entirely sure that what was taking place was actually happening.”

–Psychiatrist Ralph S. Banay

Winston Mosely