OH OH - Mary Ellen Deener, 14, murdered, Mansfield, 14 Nov 1965

[Richard]

Mary Ellen Deener is seen here in this undated photo.

On Sunday November 14 1965, in Mansfield, Ohio, 22-year-old Lester Eubanks attempted to rape 14 year-old Mary Ellen Deener who was on her way to the local Laundromat.

Mary Ellen Deener was shot in the right side of her chest, and then in the abdomen. Eubanks returned to the body after he shot her and smashed Deener’s head in with a brick. It may have been an attempt to finish her off or to conceal her identity.

Eubanks had a history of criminal activity: he had assaulted a 12-year-old girl when he was 16, and had been released on bond for assault with intent to rape at the time of Deener’s death.

Eubanks was convicted on May 25 1966 of first-degree murder while perpetrating a rape. He escaped from prison on December 7, 1973, and remains at large to this day. The FBI has offered rewards for his capture.

Fugitive Lester Eubanks is seen here in this U.S. Marshals wanted poster.

LINK:
DNA holds promise in finding fugitive Lester Eubanks but FBI rules, privacy questions loom

 

[SAMS]

Catch this bastar*!

 

[Richard]

Cleveland, OH – More than 45 years ago, one of the most notorious prisoner escapes in Ohio history occurred. A convicted child murderer, serving a life sentence, walked away from his handlers and justice. On December 7, 1973, prison officials took Lester Eubanks to a shopping center in Columbus, Ohio, and allowed him to shop unescorted as a reward for good behavior. When Eubanks failed to return to his scheduled pick up location, he was reported as an escapee, and has eluded authorities ever since...

LINK:
U.S. Marshals, NCMEC Team Up to Capture 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Lester Eubanks

 

[SAMS]

Cleveland, OH – More than 45 years ago, one of the most notorious prisoner escapes in Ohio history occurred. A convicted child murderer, serving a life sentence, walked away from his handlers and justice. On December 7, 1973, prison officials took Lester Eubanks to a shopping center in Columbus, Ohio, and allowed him to shop unescorted as a reward for good behavior. When Eubanks failed to return to his scheduled pick up location, he was reported as an escapee, and has eluded authorities ever since...

LINK:
U.S. Marshals, NCMEC Team Up to Capture 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Lester Eubanks

Whyyyyyyy? He deserved a shopping trip? Wtf?!!!

 

[Richard]

Whyyyyyyy? He deserved a shopping trip? Wtf?!!!

He got to go shopping as a reward for "good behavior" in prison. Maybe he needed to buy a new sledge hammer. I wonder how good his behavior has been since?

 

[SAMS]

He got to go shopping as a reward for "good behavior" in prison. Maybe he needed to buy a new sledge hammer. I wonder how good his behavior has been since?

Seriously blown away

 

[Richard]

Lester Eubanks is wanted by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority for escape. In December 1973, Eubanks walked away from the custody of the Ohio Department of Corrections while on a temporary honor furlough to go Christmas shopping. At the time of his escape, Eubanks was serving a life sentence for the November 1965 murder and attempted rape of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener. Eubanks had previously been sentenced with the death penalty, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole in 1972

More photos at link:

U.S. Marshals Service, 15 Most Wanted - Lester EUBANKS

 

[Filly]

I never knew about this case until I saw that PO* fugitive.

Pretty,sweet child doing laundry. To be so brutally murdered. This is heart wrenching. Seeing her lovely face from that photo circa 60's I can almost imagine her grown with a career and family. The family that as of 2020 is almost all gone.

I know not to ask "why" anymore however I can pray. I am so sorry she didn't get the chance she deserved.......to live!

 

[Richard]

Lester Eubanks is wanted by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority for escape. In December 1973, Eubanks walked away from the custody of the Ohio Department of Corrections while on a temporary honor furlough to go Christmas shopping. At the time of his escape, Eubanks was serving a life sentence for the November 1965 murder and attempted rape of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener. Eubanks had previously been sentenced with the death penalty, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole in 1972.

Where is he today? And how many other children has he preyed upon since his 1973 escape from prison? How many unsolved murders before he was captured did he commit?

LINK:

U.S. Marshals Service, 15 Most Wanted - Lester EUBANKS

 

[Richard]

Lester Eubanks, Pedophile, Predator, and Child Murderer
As he might appear today.

 

[Richard]

Recently discovered photos may lead authorities to fugitive killer
Jamal A. Hansberry
March 28, 2021

... Authorities say Lester Eubanks worked and lived in Los Angeles under the alias ‘Victor Young’

U.S. Marshals are soliciting the aid of the public to identify people pictured in newly uncovered photos. The people in the photos may have worked with or socialized with fugitive murderer Lester Eubanks, according to ABC News.

Per the report, authorities say Eubanks worked and lived in Los Angeles under the alias “Victor Young” after he escaped from the Ohio State Penitentiary, where he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life after murdering a 14-year-old girl in 1965...

... Having remained hidden and illusive despite an active search spanning five decades, Eubanks has maintained his reputation as one of America’s most wanted criminals. The U.S. Marshals posted their highest-ever reward for information leading to the capture — $50,000, according to ABC News...

LINK:

Recently discovered photos may lead authorities to fugitive killer

Recently discovered photos may lead authorities to fugitive killer

Newly unearthed photos may hold clues in long-running manhunt for 1965 killer

 

[Richard]

Although it is known who murdered Mary Ellen, the whereabouts of her escaped killer Lester Eubanks remains unresolved.

 

[Richard]

Bumping thread up. Mary Ellen Deener's murderer, Lester Eubanks escaped from prison in 1973, and remains missing or unaccounted for.

 

[nerosleuth]

Had a such a similar escape incident occurred today, there would have been huge public outcry in all of the major news media today.

I took a look at an old Columbus newspaper article from December 1973 about Eubanks escape at the public library today. I'm not able to link or copy the old Columbus newspaper article from the public library.

On the day of his escape, Eubanks was a honor inmate on a holiday shopping shopping trip with with four other inmates at the Great Southern Shopping Center on South High Street on the South side of Columbus. The inmates were not escorted or chaperoned while they were shopping. The inmates were supposed to meet a prison guard at a certain time and location when their holiday shopping trip ended. Eubanks walked away from the other inmates that he was with during his holiday shopping trip.

At the time of Eubanks escape, the Columbus newspaper article reported that it was the third escape incident during the last ten days of inmates escaping during a holiday shopping trip. Eubanks escape caused Ohio prison officials to suspend the holiday shopping trips for inmates in Ohio pending review.

When Lester Eubanks was convicted in May 1966 for the murder of Mary Ellen Deener, he received the death penalty for her murder. Eubanks death sentenced was commuted to life in prison after the United States Supreme Court declared the death penalty to be unconstitutional in 1972. Eubanks became a honor inmate after his prison sentence was commuted to life in prison and he was an inmate at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio at the time of his escape.

 

[Richard]

One is left to wonder if Eubanks went straight, repented of his evil ways, and became a respectful and useful member of society - OR if he continued to abduct and murder children.

How many more victims were there?

 

[OddOneOut]

One is left to wonder if Eubanks went straight, repented of his evil ways, and became a respectful and useful member of society - OR if he continued to abduct and murder children.

How many more victims were there?

I wonder if this case (and possibly other victims found) would be best solved through @othram. If he later had children, their DNA might be listed on ancestry or similar sites. Since he escaped in 1973, we probably don't have his DNA; however, he probably had known relatives and their decedents that might donate theirs.

He had already victimized a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. It seems unlikely he would have stopped. Catching him or finding out where he has been, if he is dead, might solve many more cases.

I wonder if the person, in this article, with the last name of Eubanks is a relative and how LE found out he was in Los Angeles?

New clues point to Southern California in long-running manhunt for child killer

Newly unearthed photos may hold clues in the hunt for a child killer who's been on the run for nearly half a century, and who could be living in Southern California.

abc7.com