IL IL - Barbara, 15, & Patricia Grimes, 13, Chicago, 27 Dec 1956

[Betty P]

This is correct. They were 15 and 12. The ages of 18 and 24 are clearly a mistake on that website.

Patricia was 12 years old when she went missing on 28 December 1956 - 3 days before her 13th birthday. Their bodies were not found until 23 January 1957, so any reporting done between 31 December and when they were found would have said she was 13 (as seen in her Websleuths thread title.

I have seen other similar cases in which ages are off by a year because of a birthday occurring shortly after someone went missing. Also, some accounts might have only birth year and death year, and this can lead to mis-stating the age.

Yes, one of the articles or podcasts mentioned Partricia had a birthday coming up. Her mom said she had already invited several of her friends to come to a party with birthday cake and soda.

It's a shame that LE wasted so much time pursuing the dishwasher as their main suspect. It should have seemed obvious that whomever killed the girls owned or had access to an automobile. You can't snatch teen and pre-teen girls off the street, assault and kill them, then dump their bodies miles away in the countryside without a car or truck.

 

[Betty P]

A 4 part series on the Grimes sister's murder is being aired on WGN Chicago.

Sisters’ killings blamed for Chicago’s loss of innocence

It’s one of the oldest and most infamous cold cases in Cook County. The evening of Dec. 28, 1956, two sisters left their home in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. Barbara and Patricia Gri…

wgntv.com

So, a retired Chicago detective believes the Grimes sisters murder is related to the murders of John and Anton Schuessler and Robert Peterson, the young boys who were killed in the Chicago area in 1955. It was later determined they were killed by a man named Kenneth Hansen, who owned and operated several stables in the Willow Springs area. Hansen has also been linked to the disappearance of candy heiress Helen Voorhees Brach.

I'm pretty sure there's a thread here for the three boys, I recall reading it many years ago. Hansen was a shady character, IIRC, who ripped off a lot of people in the horse breeding, showing and racing business. It's believed he had made a lot of money from Helen Brach. He also had some shady men who hung around and worked at his stables.

IL - IL - Helen Brach, 65, Chicago, 1977

I posted this in the Cold Cases thread because this may be a link to the Indiana Dunes case (girls missing that were linked to Sy & George Jayne). http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050123-114635-5123r.htm A horse trainer claims he shot her with the same people that were proven involved...

www.websleuths.com

Hansen has been discussed here before as a suspect in the Grimes sisters' murders. So do a lot of other people.

According to evidence, uncovered by Hennigan and exclusively reported by WGN, Hansen was at the Brighton Theater, at the same time, on the same night as the Grimes sisters. What’s more, the girls’ bodies were found on property that Hansen leased for the pasturing of horses.


At the time of the girls’ deaths, investigators obtained a semen sample from Barbara Grimes. That evidence has since been lost by law enforcement.


Hansen’s DNA is in a police database. But with the sample from Barbara Grimes missing, the two can’t be compared.

“The time is going to be now or never,” Johnson said. “If the bodies were exhumed and they were to re-scrape the nails, I think they would find DNA. It’s worth the gamble.”

 

[Richard]

Here is a book on the triple murder of three boys by Kenneth Hansen. The book was written by James A. Jack, who was one of the investigators on the case.

LINK:

Amazon.com

 

[Betty P]

Here is a book on the triple murder of three boys by Kenneth Hansen. The book was written by James A. Jack, who was one of the investigators on the case.

LINK:

Amazon.com

It was amazing when, after 40 yrs, they were able to gather enough evidence to finally convict Hansen and send him to prison.

I'm still not 100% certain he was the one who kidnapped and killed the Grimes sisters, but the similarities can't be ignored. Some pedophiles will prey on minor children of both genders. From some of what I've read recently, there may be at least one other suspect who might have killed the girls. Hopefully, they'll get some answers soon.

But, yes, the investigation that nailed Hansen was very good. That guy was a monster who victimized many people (along with his friends).

There were other shady characters Hensen was involved with in the horse trading/breeding business, also in connection with Helen Brach.

If you haven't read it, the Helen Brach thread here is interesting, if brief.

IL - IL - Helen Brach, 65, Chicago, 1977

I posted this in the Cold Cases thread because this may be a link to the Indiana Dunes case (girls missing that were linked to Sy & George Jayne). http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050123-114635-5123r.htm A horse trainer claims he shot her with the same people that were proven involved...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Richard]

Photos of Edward L. "Benny" Bedwell, age 21, who was an early suspect in the murder of the Grimes sisters.

Bedwell was charged in Florida of the rape of another girl (age 13) following charges being dropped in the Grimes case. He later spent time in prison for other crimes. He is reported as having died in 1972.

LINK:

Murder of The Grimes Sisters - Suspects - Edward L. "Benny" Bedwell | Edward Benny Bedwell

 

[Gunther Toody]

Yes, one of the articles or podcasts mentioned Partricia had a birthday coming up. Her mom said she had already invited several of her friends to come to a party with birthday cake and soda.

It's a shame that LE wasted so much time pursuing the dishwasher as their main suspect. It should have seemed obvious that whomever killed the girls owned or had access to an automobile. You can't snatch teen and pre-teen girls off the street, assault and kill them, then dump their bodies miles away in the countryside without a car or truck.

Bedwell claimed that the guy he was with, had stolen a car and it was used in the crime.
Afterward, the driver dropped Bedwell off on Madison Street in Chicago and Bedwell claimed he never saw him again.

 

[December]

Like a lot of older cases, time was wasted because there was this idea that they had run off to watch Elvis movies or follow him around the country or something.

But, i think this is because very serious crime used to be rare (or maybe knowledge of it was rare). So, it was easier to think that two girls just got caught up in the excitement of not coming home when they were supposed to rather than think that someone(s) deliberately captured them and murdered them. Especially since it sounds like the streets they were walking on were busy.

Although, i feel it's pretty obvious that they got into a car. Maybe more than one car. (The first one maybe voluntarily thinking that they were with someone they could trust maybe) the second one either they were forced into it or they had been driven somewhere that they thought this car (or truck) was their only way to get home (maybe). Idk.

I just read that forensics kept parts of them probably to keep it from being known that they were raped. This makes me wonder if they were raped by multiple people. Such as you hear of girls who are trafficked now and that's what happens to them. Maybe this was an early version of that? Jmo and I hope this is not true. Just... This would explain why they were kept alive and fed (at least milk and bananas) in the intervening time. I don't think a lot of people could be in on this because, in all these years, word would have gotten out. But, more than one person. Jmo

 

[Betty P]

Bedwell claimed that the guy he was with, had stolen a car and it was used in the crime.
Afterward, the driver dropped Bedwell off on Madison Street in Chicago and Bedwell claimed he never saw him again.

Did Bedwell ever identify or give any information about the guy he was with? It seems unusual Bedwell would help with the kidnapping, rape and murder of 2 young women with a total stranger.

 

[Gunther Toody]

Did Bedwell ever identify or give any information about the guy he was with? It seems unusual Bedwell would help with the kidnapping, rape and murder of 2 young women with a total stranger.

His name was William Willingham. If I recall...Bedwell walked into a bar on Skid Row in Chicago and Willingham was sitting in a booth with two girls he later stated were the Grimes sisters.
After a few drinks the four of them supposedly went into the car and to a motel, where they were alleged to have spent the night.

The next day, the four were riding around and stopped for hot dogs not far from where the girls were found.
Supposedly, Both men wanted sex again in the car but the girls refused. The men hit them several times and rendered them unconscious, after which Willingham allegedly drove to the dumping site where they were lifted over the guardrail and left to die.

The two men, then drove back to Madison St where they parted company.
Bedwell was turned in to the police by restaurant owner Minnie Duros and her husband who identified Bedwell and the Grimes girls, from their being in the restaurant that night...or so the story goes.

The above facts were stated by Bedwell in his confession

Bedwell was also a dishwasher a the restaurant.

 

[Betty P]

His name was William Willingham. If I recall...Bedwell walked into a bar on Skid Row in Chicago and Willingham was sitting in a booth with two girls he later stated were the Grimes sisters.
After a few drinks the four of them supposedly went into the car and to a motel, where they were alleged to have spent the night.

The next day, the four were riding around and stopped for hot dogs not far from where the girls were found.
Supposedly, Both men wanted sex again in the car but the girls refused. The men hit them several times and rendered them unconscious, after which Willingham allegedly drove to the dumping site where they were lifted over the guardrail and left to die.

The two men, then drove back to Madison St where they parted company.
Bedwell was turned in to the police by restaurant owner Minnie Duros and her husband who identified Bedwell and the Grimes girls, from their being in the restaurant that night...or so the story goes.

Bedwell was also a dishwasher a the restaurant.

Nothing personal, but that story the police claim Bedwell told them doesn't seem realistic. I can't see a killer making friends with someone in a skid row bar who then assists in a double murder on the spur of the moment. Even more unlikely that they would allow the stranger/accomplice/witness to just walk away.

It also seems unlikely the girls would voluntarily go into a bar on skid row and drink with a complete stranger, let alone spend the night with them in a motel, etc. Were the police able to find or talk to the mysterious guy with the car?

 

[Gunther Toody]

Nothing personal, but that story the police claim Bedwell told them doesn't seem realistic. I can't see a killer making friends with someone in a skid row bar who then assists in a double murder on the spur of the moment. Even more unlikely that they would allow the stranger/accomplice/witness to just walk away.

It also seems unlikely the girls would voluntarily go into a bar on skid row and drink with a complete stranger, let alone spend the night with them in a motel, etc. Were the police able to find or talk to the mysterious guy with the car?

That is the story Bedwell told investigators as his confession to the crime.
Evidently, they did not believe it since he was not convicted.
They even had Bedwell reenact the crime

 

[Gunther Toody]

That is the story Bedwell told investigators as his confession to the crime.
Evidently, they did not believe it since he was not convicted.
They even had Bedwell reenact the crime
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