Potential Suspects and Persons of Interest

[Jorjamay]

Sorry I am new to the forum so please be gentle with me...

I found the site when I was looking for some information on Caley Antony... and then got caught up in this thread.... It is such a sad case that it makes your heart Ache...
Anyway when I was reading the initial case it reminded me of the Sowham (spelling) Murders of Holly and Jessica in the UK. They were two young girls of similar age who just seem to vanish while walking in a quite village... as the story unfolded it came out that they had for some reason gone into their school caretakers house and something happened things got out of hand and the two girls were murdered..

then I saw this line from a Post in the Possible Connections thread From Emery

Children didn't often go near the pond because the Nursing Home groundskeeper, Mr. Sykes, would chase after you with a rifle filled with grapeshot if he found you there.

and this from a later post by the same poster

When you went through the woods you could either turn left and head to the bottom of Glenway Dr. and through to McComas or you could turn right and cut through the nursing home grounds (not recommended, as I mentioned, because Mr. Sykes the groundskeeper didn't like trespassers).

Maybe the girls took a short cut and something went wrong .....

It's just a though so I thought....

 

[georgiagirl]

Sorry I am new to the forum so please be gentle with me...

I found the site when I was looking for some information on Caley Antony... and then got caught up in this thread.... It is such a sad case that it makes your heart Ache...
Anyway when I was reading the initial case it reminded me of the Sowham (spelling) Murders of Holly and Jessica in the UK. They were two young girls of similar age who just seem to vanish while walking in a quite village... as the story unfolded it came out that they had for some reason gone into their school caretakers house and something happened things got out of hand and the two girls were murdered..

then I saw this line from a Post in the Possible Connections thread From Emery

Children didn't often go near the pond because the Nursing Home groundskeeper, Mr. Sykes, would chase after you with a rifle filled with grapeshot if he found you there.

and this from a later post by the same poster

When you went through the woods you could either turn left and head to the bottom of Glenway Dr. and through to McComas or you could turn right and cut through the nursing home grounds (not recommended, as I mentioned, because Mr. Sykes the groundskeeper didn't like trespassers).

Maybe the girls took a short cut and something went wrong .....

It's just a though so I thought....

Welcome Joramay! I normally just lurk here but wanted to say I think this is worth looking into....sounds like a good theory.

 

[Richard]

The Parole Board met on 21 July 2009 to consider parole for convicted Child Molester/Murderer Fred Howard Coffey, Jr.

Parole was denied. Coffey is now 64 Years old. His next Parole Hearing will be in July 2012.

Here is a link to a website titled "Give Amanda Marie Ray a Voice!" -
which talks about his victim, Amanda Ray, age 10. She was murdered by him in 1979.

http://justice4amanda.tripod.com/


Here is another link to a recent Charlotte Observer story about Amanda:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/165/story/840850.html

 

[Richard]

This thread is several pages long, so I thought that I would go back and do a re-cap summary of possible persons of interest in the Lyon Case. They are listed in the order that they were mentioned in this thread and not in any order of "precedence".

There have also been a number of postings on other threads in this forum regarding possible suspects and persons of interest. I have included some of them here as well.

Please keep in mind that the Montgomery County Police have never named anyone as a "suspect" in this case. Discussion on these boards over the years has suggested many different scenarios and persons of interest, including the Easter Bunny, the ice cream man, the grounds keeper at the old folks home, college students, white slavers, clergy in general, witches, and numerous others. And while anything is certainly possible, the following are persons of interest who merit special attention.

--------------------------------------------------------

Arthur Frederick "Freddie" GOODE III
Freddie was a homosexual pedophile who lived in Hyattsville, Maryland (Prince Georges County). He had been arrested on three separate occasions for indecent assults on minors when in March 1975 (Same month and year that the Lyon Sisters disappeared) he was arrested for five sexual assaults on a 9 year-old boy... see post # 2

Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER
On 1 November 1977, a paroled California rapist was arrested in Salisbury, Maryland by Maryland State Police on the charges of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 9 year old boy. The boy was abducted from his trailer park and buried on a farm ten miles away. The suspect, was one Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER, age 45. He was a tall, gaunt, white man who worked as a general laborer at the Campbell Soup Plant in Salisbury... post # 3

Raymond Rudolph MILESKI, Sr.
Raymond Rudolph Mileski Sr. was a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in the Maryland Prison system. He is linked to the Lyon Sisters, because of claims that he has made on several occasions. Those stories have some varience to them, but basically Ray states that he knows who the abductor/murderer of the girls is.... post # 4 Note, Mileski is now deceased.

Fred Howard COFFEY, Jr.
Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. is currently serving a life term in NC for the 1979 murder of a 10 year NC girl. He may have been involved in the Lyon Sisters abduction, and possibly in the 24 July 1975 abduction/murder of 15 year-old Kathy Lynn Beatty, also of Montgomery County, Maryland... Post # 5 and several subsequent ones.

Michael Edward PEARCH
Michael Edward Pearch, born 20 April 1945 was shot dead by Montgomery County Police in the streets of Wheaton, Maryland on 13 April 1975. His death ended a shooting spree which he began at Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center during which he murdered two people and wounded five others. Could he have been involved in the abduction of the Lyon sisters from that same mall 19 days earlier? See Post # 7

Hadden CLARK
Hadden Clark, born in April 1951, was approaching his 24th birthday when the Lyon sisters disappeared. A cross dressing, psychotic, serial killer and cannibal, he led a truly bizzare life until finally convicted and sentenced to life terms for the murders of Laura Houghteling and Michelle Dorr, both of Montgomery County. See post # 8


Bar Jonah
What about Bar Jonah? Although his true preference was little boys there was a ton of child *advertiser censored* in his possesion when he was aphrehended. Just a thought but probably not a match in any way...however, he was very prolific and that makes me wonder... post # 19

John Brennan Crutchley "Vampire Rapist"...
During the mid 70's he lived in Fairfax County Va. At the time there were several disappearances of teenage girls. Some investiators suspect his linkage to the Lyon Girls & Kathy Beaty. He was extensively familiar with the area, & also lived in Pa. where there were a number of missing females, & deceased females. Post 22


Unknown Suspect dubbed the Pennsylvania Strangler (1976-1977)
Although the victims of this Never Identified Suspect were somewhat older than the Lyon sisters, this series of related homicides were very close in time and geographical vicinity to Montgomery County, Maryland, and also to other possibly connected disappearances discussed in these threads.


Unknown person dubbed The Tape Recorder Man on these threads. He may or may not have been involved in the disappearance of the girls, but was seen talking to them shortly before they disappeared.

----------------------------------
From other threads this topic:

Richard Miles CHANEY
In 1978, a man named Richard Miles Chaney, dob 19 November 1939, was arrested, tried and convicted of the 1971 murder of little Elizabeth Ann Metzler age 10 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was sentenced to Life without Parole - the highest allowable sentence at the time. In 2002 and 2003, he appealed his sentence, but lost. He is still incarcerated in a Maryland Prison. "Possible Connections thread page 3.

Gerald Anderson ABERNATHY
Wendy Lou Stark, abducted and murdered 1982 Montgomery County, MD, closed case: Could this recently closed case be related to the case of the Missing Lyon Sisters or of Kathy Lynn Beatty? The perpetrator of this crime was a repeat offender who had escaped from a Virginia Prison and was living in Kensington, MD in 1981-82. Did he have previous ties to Kensington? More importantly, where was he in 1975?... "Possible Connections thread post # 243. Note Abernathy is now deceased.


Michael "Mike" DeBARDELEBEN
Where was Debardeleben March 25, 1975? This maniac could easily have kept these girls alive for a bit and been driving around with them as was reported in Northern VA. He was in Northern VA too and was a car thief... post 590 on the origional thread (page 24) and other recent threads as well.

-----------------------------------------

I have probably left a few persons of interest out of this listing unintentionally. If anyone has a person or persons to add, please do. My intention was only to try to bring these previous postings together for the purpose of discussion and consideration.

 

[Richard]

Besides the above mentioned persons of interest are some serial criminals who roamed the Washington DC area in earlier years who were never identified, except by their "nicknames". There was an individual or gang known as the "Green Vega" serial rapists, so called because they abducted women in a green Chevrolet Vega.

Also, there was the "Freeway Phantom" who abducted and murdered young black girls in Washington DC and Prince Georges county, Maryland in the early 1070's.

The MO of the perpetrators in these two cases was a bit different from that of abductor of the Lyon Sisters, but the possibilities are there to look into.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Besides the above mentioned persons of interest are some serial criminals who roamed the Washington DC area in earlier years who were never identified, except by their "nicknames". There was an individual or gang known as the "Green Vega" serial rapists, so called because they abducted women in a green Chevrolet Vega.

Also, there was the "Freeway Phantom" who abducted and murdered young black girls in Washington DC and Prince Georges county, Maryland in the early 1070's.

The MO of the perpetrators in these two cases was a bit different from that of abductor of the Lyon Sisters, but the possibilities are there to look into.

i have been looking at your list...
the type of person, im interesting in, would be one known to have abducted/attempted persons in public places for the added rush, excitement of the event.

this person, would have above average intelligence, be *ccc
*(cool, calm, collective.)

this person wouldn't be known for always/if ever, search9ing for victims in stealth mode.

someone comfortable in wearing a suit, perhaps for there job.

and without looking, can you tell me , at the mall, was the TRM wearing glasses, i think that is correct i read here somewhere.

If we can, narrow the list down, to this type of individual, and discovered where they had there playground and dumping ground, we may get a better understanding, on where the girls may be.

there is one on the list, i have an interest in, though i cant put a finger on it, but he is the type i am looking for on the narrow list.
here is the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brennan_Crutchley

hes above average intelligent.
video and audio found in his possession.
3x5 cards that he kept information on.

and its the glasses, that really caught my interest for a reason.

not saying he did it, but saying the person im looking for from POI, would have some of the same qualities as this individual, as far as whom im looking for.

But my biggest question i would like answered.
was it ever reported WHAT was being said into the tape recorder?
was it ever reported, by anyone you know of, of what was written on the index cards, he was having the girls read into the mic?

that would be a piece of information i would love to know.
what was being said into that microphone on that day.





​

 

[Richard]

Mr. TT, You make some interesting comments and points.

To clarify, are you speaking specifically of the suspect known as Tape Recorder Man when you ask about glasses and MO?

What you say about the type of person who might commit such as crime could apply to the abductor whether or not he was also the TRM. Many think that TRM was the abductor, while others do not think that.

Regarding what was allegedly said into TRM's tape recorder by the Lyon girls, no one but the TRM knows that. The eyewitness called "Jimmy" stated only that he heard TRM ASK the question, "Are any of you into sports?" Although he watched the girls speaking to the man and into a microphone he held in his hand, "Jimmy" could not hear any more of the conversation. A minute later, he stated that the girls were walking away toward the Mall Center, and the TRM was walking away in the opposite direction toward Montgomery Ward's.

When "Jimmy's" story of the Tape Recorder Man - a man with salt and pepper hair who wore a brown suit and carried a tan briefcase with a tape recorder - came out in the news papers and on TV, about 15 other persons came forward with similar stories of having seen such a man at other times, both at Wheaton Plaza and at other malls.

Some of those people stated that they had seen a man who resembled the sketch the previous weekend at Iverson Mall and Marlow Heights Shopping Center (adjacent malls in Prince Georges County, MD). They stated that this man carried a tape recorder and microphone and that he approached young girls. He would state that he wanted to record their voices for his telephone answering machine and he would hand them a 3 by 5 index card with a message written on it. All of the girls who came forward and told this story stated that they DID NOT grant the guy his wish and declined to make any statements into his tape recorder.

Many years later, Montgomery County Police investigators stated that a man had come forward claiming to be the Tape Recorder Man seen in Prince Georges County, but he was adamant in stating that he had never done his thing in Montgomery County. Further, he had an alibi for 25 March 25, 1975 because he had been involved in an acciedent with a government vehicle that day and had gone to the hospital.

Believe what you will of that.

I have big doubts about the "confessor" being a TRM at all. But I am left with even more doubts about a police force which inundates the air waves and news media with stories about a TRM and requests for public help in finding the guy. A force which subsequently swallows this clown's story to the extent that they "don't think the Tape Recorder Man had anything to do with the Lyon Sisters disappearance." And on top of that, it is 30 years before they let anyone know about this supposed TRM number 2.

Now I realize that any police force is a changing organization and that many dedicated officers have spent years working on this case. And, of course, they have a lot more information than was ever released to the press or public. But after so many years, what sense does it make to keep information secret?

Who was this self confessed second TRM? What was his record before and after 1975? What photos were taken of him and were they shown to all of the people who claimed to have seen a TRM? Specifically, what did "Jimmy" and his buddy (the only eyewitnesses who saw TRM at Wheaton Plaza talking to the Lyon Sisters) say when they were shown the man and/or his photo? Were they shown the man or photo?

Even if we accept this TRM number 2 at his word and completely buy into his story, that leaves AT LEAST six other witnesses who saw a man with a tape recorder (who resembled the sketch) at Wheaton Plaza ON THREE
OTHER DAYS prior to 25 March.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

To clarify, are you speaking specifically of the suspect known as Tape Recorder Man when you ask about glasses and MO?

I'm glad you asked, for at least on this case, its important to me, that you are able to ( *SEE)!!, what im typing, and not just read the words I post here.
​

Yes!, the one talking with the lyons sisters that day at the mall, the other one, know as the TRM2, i have no interest in, for to me hes just a distraction. But was it reported he had glasses on?

and were they similar, to the glasses John Brennan crutchley is wearing from the link i provided.

AS far as MO, and the short list, iM looking for individuals such as the link i provided. There shouldn't be that many, with know attributes as this one has. The POI on this short list, would NOT necessarily be stalkers whom went out in stealth mode looking for victims, but mostly, more in line with the link person i posted, one whom waited for there victims to present themselves to HIM!


He/they/POI/SHORT LIST had no real preference on a woman, such as hair color, race, age etc.
just whatever woman presented themselves to him, such as a hitchhiker, a visitor .....a easy target that would appear to him, without him having to go out and search.



and for whats it is worth, let me say now that he did kill that woman.
In 1977, a 25-year old Fairfax, Virginia secretary, Debbora Fitzjohn, disappeared. Crutchley was placed under close scrutiny because he was Fitzjohn's boyfriend and she was last seen alive at the trailer park where Crutchley lived. As a result, he was questioned several times for his possible involvement in her disappearance. However, nothing came out of it due to lack of evidence, even after her skeletal remains were found by a hunter in October the following year.

she may have come a pond his work, found some video, jewelery photos, something that showed her what he was really like, and got killed for it.

I wish, LE would have taken that jewelry, and other things when they went there with there search warrant that morning.
he kept survinaires of this victims, most of that jewelery if not all was his victims, when they went back and it was gone, i don't think he would have just thrown the stuff away, that would be like throwing away old photos of love ones, that you could never replace.
he may had buried them somewhere, to retrieve later, after time went by and he was able to resume his life without concern with LE.

sorry for going off thread, just had to post the above.

What you say about the type of person who might commit such as crime could apply to the abductor whether or not he was also the TRM.

Yes!,I am glad you seen that! and that is the short list of POI i am typing about. And known types here, not just POI whom maybe considered suspects, but those KNOWN to have commit crimes, as POI
and this is most important, to focus on those whom we know, to see where there playground dumping ground was, to get a better idea of where the girls are, If those on the short list had a tendency to dump the bodies near by, then we can look to see where they were dumped. and perhaps get an idea, where they may be...........these killers, read papers and watch the news also, and they learned where each other dumped there bodies, and gave ideas perhaps, but just speculating.

He would state that he wanted to record their voices for his telephone answering machine and he would hand them a 3 by 5 index card with a message written on it. All of the girls who came forward and told this story stated that they DID NOT grant the guy his wish and declined to make any statements into his tape recorder.

the following from the link i provided.

What was found during the second search in the Brevard County teen case included a stack of 72 3x5 cards on which Crutchley had recorded women's names and described their sexual performances.

i posted because of the 3x5 cards, which is part of the reason im interested in a short list of known POI, such as john brennan crutchley.
a list of poi such as him, whom did not go out and search for victims, but waited for them to present themselves to him, and had other similar qualities, such as above average intelligent, audio video, etc etc.

Many years later, Montgomery County Police investigators stated that a man had come forward claiming to be the Tape Recorder Man seen in Prince Georges County, but he was adamant in stating that he had never done his thing in Montgomery County. Further, he had an alibi for 25 March 25, 1975 because he had been involved in an acciedent with a government vehicle that day and had gone to the hospital.

i consider the above as a distraction mostly, and don't believe there was a serial killer going around as a TRM. if anything, he was just a pervert, or just wanted some attention.......just my opinion.
​

Now I realize that any police force is a changing organization and that many dedicated officers have spent years working on this case. And, of course, they have a lot more information than was ever released to the press or public. But after so many years, what sense does it make to keep information secret?

Yes, without having LE files its hard, and would help if we new more of what they had, we could probably make that list even shorter of known POI, if we had the LE files on this case , but we don't, so perhaps if we can create that short list, with what we do know, and what we speculate on, we may be able to get an ear open to us, and have someone to look again, after they remove the dust from the cover of the file.

in closing, i know i am not very articulate in posting, and i post things out of sequence, especially when answering your replies, but i hope your able to SEE! what i type in response to your postings.
You do help me see things better myself, when you respond, your response lets me know, how well i did, in having you and others see what im typing, so your input is very much appreciated.
its taken me hours, just to post this, with so much editing i had to do.

in a nutshell...
im looking for known POI, SUCH as john brennan crutchley, and see where they dumped there victims, to get a better idea where the girls are at, for i still think they are near by and not taken someplace far away.
If i was in LE and looking into this case, i would go back to where John lived and any property he stayed at, and use a metal detector and search the ground area again, to see if i could find that jewerly...........I am sure, he could be linked to cases in PA, if we had that jewerly.

ALL MOO, NOTHING FACTUAL OR FOR CERTAIN UNLESS KNOWN TO BE, JUST SPECULATION AND ASSUMPTIONS ON MY PART.
​

 

[Jeb]

1. I saw the TRM twice & he was'nt wearing glasses. I've seen the picture of Crutchley, I don't believe he is the TRM I saw.
2. It seems to me there was a place in DC around 1975, called the Spy Shop or something similar by name, were one could buy recorders & cameras for the purpose of consealment.
3. When I saw TRM & he was talking to children, he was either standing upright, or bending at the hips & knees when trying to speak with small kids.
4. I asked MCP recently if I could see the picture of the "PG County TRM" & was told the picture was distorted (I assume with age), and would raise more questions than it would answer.
5. I was told by MCP that Coffey had access to a station wagon, like the one sighted in Mannases,Va.
6. I never noticed any delinquents, or security at Wheaton Plaza in '75. Of course I was there usually in daylight.
7. Richard,3 more suspects mentioned earlier; Rissell, Myers, & Kowalski.
8. Debardeleban does not look like the TRM I saw either. His face is too round, & even in diguise, how do you make a full face look narrow?

 

[Richard]

i have been looking at your list...

the type of person, im interesting in, would be one known to have abducted/attempted persons in public places for the added rush, excitement of the event....​

I had typed a long reply to you earlier, but it disappeared before I could send it. You have some very good ideas and observations.

The Tape Recorder Man was never described as wearing glasses in any of the reoprts, press releases, or case summaries that I have seen. It is possible that someone may have mentioned or discussed the possibility of a perpetrator wearing glasses as a disguise, but I could not find any posts which said that. It is certainly possible that the TRM could have had glasses or sun glasses, but probably was not wearing them when seen talking to the girls.

In regard to a possible second TRM, I doubt that there was a second one. My feeling is that there was only one real TRM and that he was practicing his hobby at a number of different shopping centers between about February and March 1975. The guy who confessed to being TRM number 2 was probably one of those people who want to get into the act by confessing, except that this guy would only confess to being in Prince Georges County and NOT Montgomery County. That leaves it wide open. Either he is lying or there was a TRM in Montgomery County who was seen by at least six persons at Wheaton Plaza on at least four separate occasions, and by at least one person at White Oak Shopping Center.

I think that this TRM number 2 individual is a distraction to muddy the waters, but that the TRM was at Wheaton Plaza and that he was the perpetrator.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

The man was holding a microphone in his hand between the girls, and asking questions. He had a tan briefcase on the ground. It was one of those hard ones that sat up." the boy said, adding that the tape recorder was sitting next to the man, out of the briefcase.

hard ones that sat up?
instead of briefcase, i wonder if it was a suitcase, i remember those hard suitcases at the time, and you would stand them up, instead of laying them down.....perhaps, jimmy assumed briefcase, since the man was wearing a suit, and looked professional, like a reporter?



a suitcase, like i am thinking at the time, one could put a video capture equipment inside, and cut a hole or what not, so the lens could point out and capture the images of the girls, while he had the microphone between the girls and were asking questions?


​

"The man was holding a microphone in his hand between the girls, and asking questions. He had a tan briefcase on the ground. It was one of those hard ones that sat up." the boy said, adding that the tape recorder was sitting next to the man, out of the briefcase.

From Jeb.....post 90

It seems to me there was a place in DC around 1975, called the Spy Shop or something similar by name, were one could buy recorders & cameras for the purpose of consealment??

​

Wishful thinking here.
But i wonder, if any POI that were investigated, had there answering machines checked at the time, to see if there were any women s voices on them......especially women, whom had no known connection, or little involvement with any of them??


i think jimmy said, 50 60 years old?
probably more like 35 or so around the time, which would make him now around 65 give or take....just don't see an old man type doing this at the time...........not discounting jimmy's story, im should he did look 50 60.

March 25 1975 a Tuesday.
POI, could have been working a night shift job?....Dont think he take a vacation, during the month of march, but perhaps.

Jebs post #90 has me confused or something, not sure
I will wait and see if and how you respond to that posting.
thanks again for responding.

​

 

[Richard]

John Brennan Crutchley

Born October 1, 1946
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died March 30, 2002 (aged 55)
Bowling Green, Florida, U.S.
Alias(es) The Vampire rapist
Conviction(s) Kidnapping, Sexual battery
Penalty Life sentence
Status Deceased
Occupation System engineer

John Brennan Crutchley (October 1, 1946 - March 30, 2002) was a convicted kidnapper and rapist who was suspected of murdering more than 30 women, but was never tried nor convicted of those crimes. He was called the "Vampire Rapist" because he drained the blood of his victim almost to the point of death while he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.


Early life and career

Born to a well-to-do family in Pittsburgh, John Crutchley was a friendless child, preferring to spend most of his time tinkering with electronic gadgets at the basement of his home. This penchant for electronics paid off early when he earned a good amount of money repairing and rebuilding complex radio and stereo systems even before he graduated from high school. Eventually he graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics at Defiance College in Ohio in 1970, and earning a master's degree in engineering administration at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He married his first wife in 1969

Crutchley's first marriage showed strains by the time he graduated from college, and it all but ended by the time he moved to Kokomo, Indiana to work at Delco Electronics Corporation. Crutchley had been working at General Motors' Central Foundry Division in Defiance, Ohio where he was responsible for the installation of a new plant security system. He applied for a transfer to Delco Electronics, Kokomo, where the systems were designed and built, and worked there for several years as an electrical systems engineer.

His departure from Kokomo came after an investigation was made by plant security into missing materials. He later moved to Fairfax County, Virginia in the mid-1970s and remarried. He worked for several high-tech firms in the Washington, D.C. area, including TRW, ICA and Logicon Process Systems. At about this time, several teenaged girls disappeared in and around that area. He later moved to Florida and began working in 1983 at Harris Corporation in Palm Bay, FL.


Disappearances

In 1977, a 25-year old Fairfax, Virginia secretary, Debbora Fitzjohn, disappeared. Crutchley was placed under close scrutiny because he was Fitzjohn's boyfriend and she was last seen alive at the trailer park where Crutchley lived. As a result, he was questioned several times for his possible involvement in her disappearance. However, nothing came out of it due to lack of evidence, even after her skeletal remains were found by a hunter in October the following year.

Other disappearances in the area have not been definitely linked to Crutchley. A rash of disappearances also occurred in Pennsylvania when he resided there. In some cases bodies of women were found in remote areas in the state.

Some investigators linked Crutchley with the disappearance of two teenaged girls, the Lyon Sisters in Wheaton, Maryland and a possible rape-murder of teenager Kathy Lynn Beatty in nearby Aspen Hill, both in Montgomery County, where his second wife's family lived.


The "Vampire Rapist"


According to FBI profiler Robert K. Ressler, Crutchley fit the profile of a serial killer, even though he was convicted of only a single non-fatal kidnapping and sexual assault. In late November, 1985, in Malabar, Brevard County, Florida, a nude teen woman, handcuffed at both feet and ankles, had been crawling along the side of the road. She had been passed by several trucks before someone had stopped. She begged the driver to not take her back "to that house," and when he asked where, she told him to remember a certain house. He noted the location, took her home, and called for police and an ambulance.

The hospital determined she was missing between 40 and 45 percent of her blood and had ligature marks on her neck. She'd been hitchhiking the day before and the man who gave her a ride was willing to take her where she needed to go, but said he had to stop off at home first. He invited her in, and she refused, and he got into the back seat of the car and choked her unconscious.... See more at below link.

Source:
John Brennan Crutchley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LINK:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brennan_Crutchley

 

[marylandmissing]

I am going to do some research on this guy. http://gazette.net/stories/10152009/...33_32547.shtml These attacks (that he was charged with, he's suspected in a lot more) were in the 70s and 80s in Aspen Hill.

He worked as a landscaper. Which would easily
A. Give him familiarity with neighborhoods
B. Would not necessarily alarm anyone if a landscaping truck was driving in the area.
C. A landscaping truck pulled over on the side of the road probably would not cause anyone to blink.

There was a child kidnapped in Rockville, raped, and left in a cemetary (Wingo is the last name of the guy who did it - his brother was famous for mass grave breakins in the 80s in Montgomery) about 15 years ago by a landscaper. He admitted he had cased the house for quite some time before doing what he did.

 

[Roughnet13888]

1. I saw the TRM twice & he was'nt wearing glasses. I've seen the picture of Crutchley, I don't believe he is the TRM I saw.
2. It seems to me there was a place in DC around 1975, called the Spy Shop or something similar by name, were one could buy recorders & cameras for the purpose of consealment.
3. When I saw TRM & he was talking to children, he was either standing upright, or bending at the hips & knees when trying to speak with small kids.
4. I asked MCP recently if I could see the picture of the "PG County TRM" & was told the picture was distorted (I assume with age), and would raise more questions than it would answer.
5. I was told by MCP that Coffey had access to a station wagon, like the one sighted in Mannases,Va.
6. I never noticed any delinquents, or security at Wheaton Plaza in '75. Of course I was there usually in daylight.
7. Richard,3 more suspects mentioned earlier; Rissell, Myers, & Kowalski.
8. Debardeleban does not look like the TRM I saw either. His face is too round, & even in diguise, how do you make a full face look narrow?

Hope your 2nd point is correct.

 

[WheatonKid]

Pearch is a very interesting possibility.He had a vehicle,guns,the ability to disguise himself or someone else and a remote area to take the girls to. He seemed to target black adults on his shooting spree and didn't seem to have a record of harming kids.This doesn't mean that he had never harmed a child,only that there is no record of it. I'm not sure what made him go on this killing spree or why he targeted black people though. He lived near the girls and knew the area.Good thoughts!! I'm just trying to figure out how to tie him into this.

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie. Pearch definitely targeted black adults on his shooting spree. I was there at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and University Boulevard when it happened. He came from the Triangle area, shooting people in cars, looked at us four white kids, and moved on. As he continued on foot down University Boulevard, MoCo police converged on the area from every direction. Several officers formed a line, knelt down, and dropped him.

 

[Richard]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie. Pearch definitely targeted black adults on his shooting spree. I was there at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and University Boulevard when it happened. He came from the Triangle area, shooting people in cars, looked at us four white kids, and moved on. As he continued on foot down University Boulevard, MoCo police converged on the area from every direction. Several officers formed a line, knelt down, and dropped him.

Hi Wheatonkid, Welcome to Websleuths and to the Lyon Case forum.

Your close encounter with Pearch is likely a very memorable one. What do you remember of him that day?

Pearch was killed by buckshot from a shotgun blast when he refused to lay down his .45 and turned toward police. At least that is how I have heard the story both in the papers and from an officer who was there that day.

Pearch was a troubled individual and was described alternately as friendly and outgoing and as withdrawn. He was very intelligent, was an Army Sergeant who had served in Germany, and enjoyed art, history, gun collecting and target shooting.

Everyone who knew him was shocked at his shooting spree - and shocked to hear that he targeted black people. He was not known to have ever spoken or acted in a violent or hateful way toward blacks or toward anyone for that matter. An autopsy proved that he had a brain tumor, but it was never proven that this was the reason for his actions.

 

[Richard]

There are two persons who should be considered key witnesses or persons of interest in this case.

They are two boys who reported to police within a few days of the girls' disappearance, that they had seen Sheila and Kate walking west (away from Wheaton Plaza and in the direction of their home) on Drumm Avenue, near Devon the afternoon of 25 March 1975.

Described by police only as a boy "over fifteen" years old and a male companion who were driving in a car and who saw the girls after they left Wheaton Plaza. These boys claimed that they saw the two girls walking home and that they were either walking in the road, or on the adjacent sidewalk (news reports are not clear which).

"Over Fifteen" stated that he knew Sheila from school. He further stated that the first reports stated that the girls had been sighted at around 7pm and that he therefore did not report his sighting immediately, because he did not think it significant.

On 27 or 28 March 1975, Police stated in the press that they felt an earlier report (by another boy) was inaccurate or mistaken. That was when "Over Fifteen" came forward with his story. Police began to consider this new report by "Over Fifteen" to be a possibility, and some stories state that the Sighting at Drumm and Devon was the last known/confirmed sighting of the girls. Police, however did not release information on "Over Fifteen's" statement until two weeks later.

For this reason, news stories and theories vary as to when the last sighting was. Some police investigators have said that they are not sure about the accuracy of the "Over Fifteen" sighting story.

The names of the two boys in the car have never been released to the press or public. They should be considered persons of interest in this case. They should be located and questioned again about the events that they claimed to have witnessed. There are several possibilities regarding their story:

1. It is possible that they told the truth and that the girls actually were at Drumm and Devon heading west that afternoon. If so, it is significant in nailing down more accurately the time and location of their abduction. It would be interesting to study their full statements to ascertain exactly what they said.

2. It is also possible that they were mistaken and that it was two other girls who were seen that day. Knowing whether or not the boys correctly described the girls clothing might verify that.

3. Police have stated that it is possible that the boys had seen the girls on a different day, and say that because of the length of time between the sighting and the news reports (about two weeks), the story cannot be considered accurate or reliable. Actually the boys came forward on or about 28 March to police, but their story was not made public right away. The statements by the boys were made only about three days after the girls disappeared.

4. The possibility also exists that these guys were lying or making the story up for whatever reason.

5. Another possibility, not previously considered, is that these boys could have played a much greater part in the girls' disappearance.

Consider the last point for a moment. These boys claimed to have been driving a vehicle down the same residential streets that the girls were walking, at the same time, and they claim to have not only seen, but to have recognized the girls. Actually "Over Fifteen" claimed to have known Sheila Lyon, while the older boy (the driver) stated that he did NOT know the girls, but he confirmed the rest of the "Over Fifteen" story.

It has been suggested or theorized that perhaps the girls knew their abductor. Could it be that these boys actually picked the girls up and took them somewhere? Did police consider this and was the car driven by the boys gone over? How thoroughly were the boys questioned?

If these boys were telling the truth about seeing the girls and if they did not pick them up, there would have only been a short window of opportunity for someone else to have abducted them. Does their statement mention any other vehicles or persons in the area at the same time as the sighting?

When was the last time investigators spoke with these two?

 

[Motherof5]

Richard,do we not know the exact ages of either of these boys?

 

[Richard]

Richard,do we not know the exact ages of either of these boys?

No. The police spokesman stated only that the boy who contacted them was "over fifteen" in response to a reporter's question. The other boy would have had to have been at least 16 to have had a driver's license but no age stated.

My impression was that the boy who claimed to have known Sheila from school was probably in ninth grade to have been over fifteen and still at a Middle school. Sheila was in the eighth grade at the time and she was only a few days away from her 13th birthday.

The other boy (who was driving) stated that he did not know the girls. He was probably in High School or no longer in school.

It would be very interesting to see the statements that these two made. If true, then these two were the last known persons to have seen the girls alive. If not true, that distinction would probably fall on "Jimmy" who told of seeing the girls talking to the Tape Recorder Man at the Mall.

 

[JeffM]

Newbie here--interested in this discussion because it touches on my life in various ways, although I left the DC area in '72. There's another unsolved murder from that time, Gwen Ames, killed in Reston, VA in 1972--sounds like there were plenty of killers in the area, and of course hers could have been an isolated thing. It was the first murder in Reston's history. I went to high school with Gwen, and also with Deborah Fitzjohn (some accounts, like Ressler's, say Debbora, but her senior class yearbook says Deborah), who later became (in all likelihood) one of Crutchley's victims. Crutchley apparently wasn't in VA until the mid-70s, so he wasn't Gwen's killer, presumably. In my class at that high school was Scott Scurlock, who later became a very infamous bank robber. Not the greatest recommendations for that school...

As I said, I was gone from the area after '72 and didn't know about the Lyon case until coming across it here. Some fascinating theories here, thanks.