ID ID - Boise, WhtMale, alias 'William Toomey', cyanide suicide in church, Dec'82

[PrivateInspector007]

I read conflicting reports of "Wm. L. Toomey" or "William L. Toomey".

"William L. Toomey" almost sounds like asking the question "Will you mail to me?" IMO. Not saying it holds any water, but could be a clever pun/inside joke by the decedent. I am thinking back to the Austin Powers movies "Ran-dom Task", "Dixie Normus", things like that.

Someone mentioned that it could be since William= Bill .. 'Bill To Me'
Because he had $1,900 cash for funeral expenses.

 

[annpats]

Well, Wm. is certainly an old-fashioned abbreviation of writing William.

And Toomey is definitely an Irish name, it's more usually spelt Twomey in Ireland.

However, judging by the clothes, he certainly dressed like a ranch hand from Idaho. Almost in a costume sort of way.

Whoever he was, I hope he is now at peace.

 

[carbuff]

This is a very strange case.

There were a couple of similarly strange cases in Montana about the same time.

Episcopal priest James Anderson disappeared in June 1982. His car and some of his belongings were found years later, but no sign of him. James Otis Anderson – The Charley Project

Father Kerrigan, missing from Montana in 1984. He had attended the Jemez Spring counseling. John Patrick Kerrigan – The Charley Project. From the Charley Project information potentially connects him to yet another priest murder, this one in New Mexico in August 1982 (bbm):

In August 1982, nearly two years before Kerrigan vanished, another Franciscan priest named Reynaldo Rivera was called away from his rectory in Santa Fe, New Mexico by a man who called himself "Michael Carmello" and asked for a priest to come administer last rites at a rest stop in the town of Waldo. Three days later, Rivera's body was found lying in the open in a remote desert area three miles from the rest stop. He had been shot to death and his murder has never been solved.

"Carmello" had called the same rectory earlier on the day of Rivera's disappearance with the same request for a priest to come and give the last rites, but the first priest he spoke to was unable to come, so he called back later and got Rivera.

The FBI created a profile of Rivera's killer, theorizing the person was someone who was familiar with the Catholic Church and felt betrayed by it. It's possible more than one perpetrator was involved. One of the officers investigating the murder believed there was a connection between Rivera's murder and Kerrigan's disappearance, but he could find no evidence that the two men knew each other.

 

[JaneGaGa]

Could this be James Edward Lewis? The nose looks different to me but hard to tell from the small photos. Timing works.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[RubyJuno]

Someone mentioned that it could be since William= Bill .. 'Bill To Me'
Because he had $1,900 cash for funeral expenses.

"William Toomey" = "will 'em to me"?

 

[mayimagpie]

perhaps the name is more of a word scramble, but i'm not great at those.

 

[PrivateInspector007]

Regarding the Unsolved Mystery staff solving the case, seems odd that if they did 'solve it' that it is kind of weird that the information won't be released until the new season comes out? The police still had some evidence that the show turned in for testing. I am not sure how the legal process works in that regard. I had a thought of the string tie Wm. was wearing, it is mentioned that an artist 'stamp' was on the back, "P. White". Could this actually be a custom tie with the deceased's name? There is a picture of it, however it is really poor quality and doesn't show the stamp.
Regarding the murdered priests, surely some kind of DNA was left behind?

Altogether, such a strange case. Hope we get some resolutions with all the advanced technology.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Could this be James Edward Lewis? The nose looks different to me but hard to tell from the small photos. Timing works.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Good suggestion. The timing does work and his face looks like a plausible match. Someone with a military background such as Lewis could also be familiar with cyanide. But Lewis had significant shrapnel scars and the man found in Boise reportedly had no scars according to NamUs.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Could this be James Edward Lewis? The nose looks different to me but hard to tell from the small photos. Timing works.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There's actually an existing thread here at Websleuths on Lewis:
NC - NC - James Lewis, 42, Fayetteville, 3 October 1982
The last message gives a plausible match to a UID with scars found in January 1983 in Florida. It's not clear if anyone ever submitted Lewis as a match. There's also a lot of really interesting and in-depth conjecture about what Lewis was potentially involved in prior to his disappearance. It doesn't sound like much of it was church-related.

 

[Richard]

Artist rendering of “William Toomey” on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website.

LINK:

A man whose name isn't his – the curious case of William L. Toomey

 

[Tuck]

Some people seem to think that this is James Thomas Cole, who went missing from Boise in 1978. He is not listed anywhere as a missing person, but I’ve attached a photo of him and a link to some recent news coverage about his disappearance.

CAVALCADE: The man who went missing twice

 

[Natasha Mullins]

Can anyone find that unsolved mysteries episode still? The youtube posted is taken down now and not on the way back machine and when I search for the episode number it says it was in episode 23 of season 2 but season 2 only goes to episode 19 on all the sites I've found. Does anyone have a link or any ideas of where I could find it easily? It seems like it's become a segment on one of the "lost episodes".

 

[Hockeyfan158]

I’m still convinced this is James Edward Lewis who went missing in North Carolina in October 1982 he’s the spitting image of Toomey.

From Namus

James Edward Lewis, of Fayetteville, NC, left home on October 3, 1982 in a white Ford Fiesta. He told his family that he was going to Vero Beach, FL to interview for a job ferrying Piper airplanes from the dealer to buyers. Jim Lewis was a recently-retired major with 25 years in the US Army -- a Ranger, founding member of the "Golden Knights" U.S. Army Parachute Team, a highly-decorated and wounded Vietnam veteran, a skilled pilot with commercial and seaplane ratings, as well as a dedicated husband and father. It was his habit on trips away from home to stay in phone contact with his wife; however, after his October 3 departure, he did not call home. In January 1983, Ms. Lewis received a call from a parking-lot attendant at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport informing her that the Ford Fiesta had been parked in the long-term lot since October 6, and was accumulating fees. The family reported the discovery of the vehicle to Fayetteville police, but the car was repossessed by the finance company before authorities investigated. In 1992, reading a news report of remains found in a nearby county, The family contacted the Hoke County Sheriff's Department but the discovered remains were determined to be those of another deceased. Soon after, The family had James Lewis declared legally dead. However, his remains were never found.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[Aurora90]

quite the unique case...

 

[Caring1]

Think about this man often and wonder what the details surrounding his suicide could mean. The alias, the western attire, the way he chose to do it and the reason for the location being ”inside the church”.

@othram, would this be one you could work with to help indentify?

 

[Friday Fan]

Artist rendering of “William Toomey” on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website.

LINK:

A man whose name isn't his – the curious case of William L. Toomey

Well, that was "all over the place"...


We've got a suicide in a church and the article points to:

Tylenol murders in Chicago
Tylenol plant in Texas
Murdered priest in Texas
Murdered priest in AZ

____________________________
I'm personally not a fan of Unsolved Mysteries.

________________________________
I don't know who "Wm Toomey" is, but I doubt that he was the Tylenol murderer

As to why they think he murdered the priests in Texas and AZ, who knows?
I do believe Reyos was trying to clear his name and the only way it can be done in Texas is to find another suspect. In 2005, Reyos was likely grasping at straws.

Fortunately in March 2023, Reyos had another day in court. New technology was used on fingerprints at the Fr Ryan murder scene. Prints belonged to three men. All three men were named and are believed to have been involved in Fr Ryan's murder. One man in particular.

So, I don't think "Wm Toomey" killed Fr Ryan.

Forty Years Later, Wrongfully Convicted James Reyos Has Another Day in Court

Those in the office that prosecuted him in 1983 agree James Reyos did not murder a priest. His case is back before a district court judge.

www.texasmonthly.com

3 dead Odessans named in priest’s murder - Odessa American

The Odessa American is the leading source of local news, information, entertainment and sports for the Permian Basin.

www.oaoa.com

 

[lonewanderer]

quite the unique case...

There is quite a few parallels with him and the “Christmas Tree Lady” who was identified last year after decades had passed.