OH OH - William 'Bill' Comeans, 14, Columbus, 7 Jan 1980 - #1

[pdxmama]

Another thought on this. It may have been easy to lure Bill to the car. Bill is now in an enclosed space, unable to flee or fight back. Possible someone in the back seat grabbed Bill's scarf, strangled him (driving the short drive) got to the area Bill was found and dumped him out?

I think this is a possibility. I'm really feeling like the place where Bill was found was not where he was killed.

 

[Gemmie]

The only thing that makes sense to me in this case, is that the killer was LE. I

I had that same thought a few weeks back. The way they handled the case and what feels like their lack of caring is just odd to me. Something is off. :waitasec:

 

[Methodical]

I don't think I'm going to post anymore. I'm a thread-killer. not even kidding......

Don't you dare leave. Why would you say that? Your info & posts do help, as everyone's input does! If there is any lag time in a thread, a lot of the time we are just thinking of all kinds of scenarios and meanings of details, in just trying to put all the pieces together.

 

[Gemmie]

Random thoughts I tucked away till I had a chance to open my account:

I think a key/clue is why he quit his paper route. He didn’t feel safe on it. Not just that he’s riding his bike around alone… but maybe one of the people he collected from did this. “It’s cold outside. Why don’t you come in while I go get money to pay you”

I don’t think the predator necessarily intended to kill Bill with the knife just because he had one. Especially since he was strangled all 3 times. Maybe he had it simply to get Bill to come with him. I just find the knife odd considering he used strangulation all 3 times. It doesn’t seem necessary unless he just wanted to use it to scare him or get him to comply.

I think the part that bothers me the most is the warning of 3 months to live (and then going through with it). I feel like that is one of the most important facts in this case. Why wait 3 months and why kill him at all?

If he’s given 3 months to live…. And the 2nd assault happens shortly after that warning note… then the 2nd assault wasn’t meant to kill him. It wasn’t 3 months yet.

As I said... random rambling. lol

 

[Methodical]

Hello. I'm new here but been following since I read about the twitter acct on Yahoo news a few wks back but have been lurking. :lurk:

I decided to join as every now and then something strikes me about this case that I'd like to share with all the awesome sleuths on this forum. I don't give compliments easily but WOW! I've seen some great thinking/sleuthing here. I wish I had run across this site long ago. :loveyou:

OK, so, my first post is going to be one I sent to Bob personally on his blog a week and a half ago (that never made it here so it's here now. lol).

>>> There’s been something nagging at me I’d like to toss out. Can you please pass this along to websleuths? I’d like to see them solve this.
In a nutshell without going into too much detail… I had an incident with LE where I was almost raped by them (more than 1). I was stranded on the freeway and they were supposed to be taking me to a phone. Without going into details since it’s not pertinent to your case, suffice it to say that I saw a side of LE that I wish I hadn’t. When I tried to report the guy and the incident I got NO help from them. In fact, they tried to cover for the guy, refusing to log my complaint, etc.
Them covering for each other is what is screaming out at me in this case. How they readily dismissed it, pointed their fingers everywhere else, etc. (you know the details of that). Maybe the perp was a kid at the school whose parent was LE and they were covering for them? Or maybe they were LE themselves. Anyway…. just tossing that out in the event it helps solve the case. I found it odd that they didn’t take it very seriously (notes, etc) when it sure sounds serious to me from what I’ve read. I just find their reaction to it puzzling.
So there! My first post. :seeya: I hope I have this site figured out. Don't publically embarrass me if I screw something up. lol

Gemmie,
First,, a hearty welcome to the forums and especially to this thread.
All thread participant's insights are very valuable and there is never any chance of saying anything too "off the wall" to cause embarrassment, as we are all dealing with an UNSOLVED case, still with many unknowns & "missing pieces".

I'm sincerely sorry for learning about your past bad experience with LE. Thankfully it is not common, however it DOES happen all too often in real life. I'm a former LEO and it honestly sickens and enrages me whenever I see or hear of any LEO not acting with 100% honesty, character, professionalism, and integrity. I myself have NEVER, and would NEVER, cover up for any LEO.

I even brought this same subject up in my very first post (I'm new here also), which as post #271 on this thread. Now with your input, i see that I was not alone in thinking a possible LE influence or involvement in this case.
Snipped from my post #271...

1. This case is very solvable. Even given the very limited info from family & news reports, I'm quite appalled at what I consider serious mishandling & misjudgements by LE right from the onset. For me, it was almost to the point where I thought "this would only make sense if LE was purposely trying to cover up for someone they knew, related or influential." In any case, some of the mishandling sickened me, and I believe LE has not changed their mindset on this case still today.

I'm not saying that LE is involved, but I am saying the possibility exists because I see too many things that indicate the investigation was botched severely. Considering certain details and the evidence collected or "collectable", AND the fact that 34 years has past with this case unsolved is the prime indicator.
Another good example of a LEO gone bad is Drew Peterson. He has left a trail of many missing and dead bodies, even long before Stacy Peterson's disappearance and his conviction for his other wife's murder.

 

[zoomom]

whew! You all came back!!!!!!

 

[zoomom]

Random thoughts I tucked away till I had a chance to open my account:

I think a key/clue is why he quit his paper route. He didn’t feel safe on it. Not just that he’s riding his bike around alone… but maybe one of the people he collected from did this. “It’s cold outside. Why don’t you come in while I go get money to pay you”

I don’t think the predator necessarily intended to kill Bill with the knife just because he had one. Especially since he was strangled all 3 times. Maybe he had it simply to get Bill to come with him. I just find the knife odd considering he used strangulation all 3 times. It doesn’t seem necessary unless he just wanted to use it to scare him or get him to comply.

I think the part that bothers me the most is the warning of 3 months to live (and then going through with it). I feel like that is one of the most important facts in this case. Why wait 3 months and why kill him at all?

If he’s given 3 months to live…. And the 2nd assault happens shortly after that warning note… then the 2nd assault wasn’t meant to kill him. It wasn’t 3 months yet.
As I said... random rambling. lol

Like some sort of sick twisted sadistic game.

 

[Methodical]

Well,, one thing we DO know is that, besides the neighbors inside their respective homes, it appears the only one "on the streets" in that 3 block area near the crime scene of Bill's murder was... an LEO in his patrol car. Very interesting....

Questions for the family:
1. Even today, we know hardly any details about the exact site of attack #1.
I realize it was merely described as "about 50 yards behind the elementary school" in the wooded section. (BTW, that wooded section measures roughly 750' wide x 650' deep, according to viewing Google satellite view)
I tried to see if there was any pathway thru that wooded section, but tree cover was too dense to see. I'm trying to get a true accurate "picture" of where that attack occurred. Did it happen closer toward any particular side of this relatively square wooded area? Did it occur on a pathway just outside of this wooded area? If so which side and exactly where? Was the attack site totally concealed from view by homes?

2. Did LE ever see any indication of tire tracks in the area of Bill's death? (I do realize the site's snow covered off-road area & pavement were likely trampled on, from all the neighbors that were likely to have been walking all around the site)
Other than the family members and the 1 helping neighbor, how many people would you estimate were near the scene (within say,, 100') that night?
After Bill was taken by ambulance that night, and also the following day, did LE ever seal off that crime scene and/or go back to closely search the crime scene and surrounding area in any meticulous or methodical (no pun intended) way? If so, details please.

3. (added) Bob or Kat, I'm having an extremely hard time trying to picture scenarios or "conditions" that would cause Bill to go with anyone (even unwillingly on foot or in a car) without at least hollering? Bill knew the threats, knew the seriousness of the prior attacks, and I'm sure he had intense fear of the perpetrators. To me, this either indicates 1. he was forcefully gagged/silenced. or 2. he naively or mistakenly left willingly with "someone trusting" that used a false pretense for Bill to leave with him, with Bill assuming it would be "just for a minute". 3. Or that "someone trustworthy" person was someone that is both commonly considered trusting by all people, and also has great power/authority with all people in general.

So since you knew Bill far better than us... what do you see as any plausible reason(s) for Bill to have gone off with someone?

My own added opinion & observations:
1.The knife and bottle left at the crime scene is very unusual and quite perplexing. Always has been. IF Bill was killed in a vehicle en-route to the final crime scene (less than 2 blocks away), and simply dumped there, then WHY would there even be any knife or bottle left near his body?
2. No matter what, I see this knife and bottle as so highly untypical, that I cannot get it out of my head that these two items were purposely left there, to add confusion and deceive the investigation.

Your thoughts please...

 

[Methodical]

whew! You all came back!!!!!!

We are glad YOU are back!

 

[zoomom]

Maybe one guy was waiting in the snow, with a beer and the knife, while the other guy went and got Bill in the van. Maybe Bill got in because it was only the one guy, not both. (till they got to the scene.

It really bugs me that there weren't any obvious tracks (shoes or otherwise).

 

[ZaZara]

Tulessa, Don't feel bad for thinking it could be LE. I have pondered, if this was a murder, it could have been LE or LE family members and covered up, or an upstanding citizen's family member cover up.

We just need a whole lot more info than what we have to look at. Not enough here to go on, so we must come up with innuendo and speculation, without knowing what was ever actually found out. Hopefully, if more attention is garnered, LE will open up on that case and let us know why it lead where it did for them. News outlets would be helpful if they could do some asking for us.

Last night I was reading the thread about Christie Lynn Mullins, a girl of 14 who was murdered in Columbus, Ohio in 1975. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220094

For crying ou loud, why does this case remain open? Only because LE insisted they had got it right when they obviously had it very wrong. Do read it for yourselves.
The newspapers were pretty clear about it at the time.
Made me wonder if much has improved in LE between 1975 and 1980, and if so, who or what caused this to happen (or not).

 

[rosesfromangels]

Really great sleuthing on this thread. Methodical, you are amazing. It's wonderful to have your insights.

I keep going back to what appears to be compliance on Bill's part as far as going with these Perps. Of course, I am only speculating. I just cant shake the deduction that they held something so powerful over him that he submitted himself to this torture, and ultimate death. "He was warned". About what? *To do* or to *not* do something?
Since it seems (based on what the thread has told me), he was certainly trying to avoid his tormentors, I suspect it was something he was told *to do* but didn't. What did they want from him that was so precious he was willing to submit to torture for, or sacrifice his life for?

Family.

These Perps were going to hurt someone in his family?
I thought about money and drugs. People are killed over money and/or drugs frequently. I don't see this kid fitting in to that profile at all....(?)
The only other angle I can come up with is embarrassment. He got involved in something that was of a highly embarrassing nature (to him) and he didn't want to participate any further. In this scenario the Perp didn't want to let his victim go (Bill) and killed him due to noncompliance.

This is what I keep sorting through in my mind.
Warned....warned....warned......about WHAT?
To do something? To comply? Still thinking......

Adding one more random thought.
What were the home burglaries like in that area? Had there been a rash of them? I could see older Perps dragging a young kid in to something like that and having "tasks" for him to do that maybe he did once, but them attempted to back out of?

 

[GoingByMyGut]

I don't think I'm going to post anymore. I'm a thread-killer. not even kidding......

Well, you may not have been kidding, but you made me LMAO at 7 in the morning and that's not easy to do!

You are not free to go, ZooMom! I've seen threads go into "lulls" then snap back to action many times. I think yesterday's brief lull was natural, if poorly timed with your post. This thread has been moving very intensely since it began, and sometimes sitting back and thinking, following leads on our own, is a good thing to do. I feel sure it doesn't mean any of us have stopped thinking about Bill. And BTW, after your post yesterday, I spent another hour in lyrics! Yeah, I didn't get anywhere ... and then last night, I started rereading from the beginning again. Patience, Grasshopper: Posts will come.

 

[Methodical]

Addressing rosesfromangels post first...

Thank you for the compliment rosesfromangels, however I don't feel it very deserving, at all. I have seen outstanding insights, directions, and thought processes from MANY other posters on this thread. Many of them much better than mine. The ideas from the others all are top notch and highly valuable to help discover paths I and others may have overlooked. They also help spark new ideas and re-thinking of each of our present ideas.

I agree the "warned" is a key word and suggests motive, whether in part or total motive. I surmise we will never know what the "warned" was referring to, unless somehow Bill confided at least a hint of it's reason to his family.

ZaZara,
Outstanding find! (the Christie Lynn Mullins case)
For the past hour I have been reading thru it, and still have much to read. But it clearly shows the outrageous mishandling of not only the investigation, but also the highly negligent "rush to judgement" improper/false conviction of the mentally disabled "suspect" they accused of the crime, and later (falsely) convicted of the murder.
If LE in that case were "a doctor", it would certainly be ruled 100% malpractice, in the utmost degree. I firmly believe LE has too much limitless control/power with nearly zero accountability. I also believe there needs to be an "equally powerful" professional/citizens review board to review cases that indicate significant LE mishandling or wrongdoing. Unprofessional LE should have to answer to SOMEONE.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Hello. I'm new here but been following since I read about the twitter acct on Yahoo news a few wks back but have been lurking. :lurk:

I decided to join as every now and then something strikes me about this case that I'd like to share with all the awesome sleuths on this forum. I don't give compliments easily but WOW! I've seen some great thinking/sleuthing here. I wish I had run across this site long ago. :loveyou:

OK, so, my first post is going to be one I sent to Bob personally on his blog a week and a half ago (that never made it here so it's here now. lol).

>>> There’s been something nagging at me I’d like to toss out. Can you please pass this along to websleuths? I’d like to see them solve this.
In a nutshell without going into too much detail… I had an incident with LE where I was almost raped by them (more than 1). I was stranded on the freeway and they were supposed to be taking me to a phone. Without going into details since it’s not pertinent to your case, suffice it to say that I saw a side of LE that I wish I hadn’t. When I tried to report the guy and the incident I got NO help from them. In fact, they tried to cover for the guy, refusing to log my complaint, etc.
Them covering for each other is what is screaming out at me in this case. How they readily dismissed it, pointed their fingers everywhere else, etc. (you know the details of that). Maybe the perp was a kid at the school whose parent was LE and they were covering for them? Or maybe they were LE themselves. Anyway…. just tossing that out in the event it helps solve the case. I found it odd that they didn’t take it very seriously (notes, etc) when it sure sounds serious to me from what I’ve read. I just find their reaction to it puzzling.
So there! My first post. :seeya: I hope I have this site figured out. Don't publically embarrass me if I screw something up. lol

Just awful, Gemmie -- sickening. I'm so sorry that happened. Pdxmama put it best so I will just second that. I really appreciate you sharing that, because I think a lot of times we're reluctant to believe LE could be involved and your story is a reminder that it does happen.

Question for you: Did you by any means mean to suggest that your experience was with this police force? Or was it some other?

You are not the first in the thread to suggest this, btw, so you are not alone.

One of things I think lends credibility to what you are saying is the internal conflict that is evident at the beginning of the case. How often in the late 1970s did you see a department so QUICKLY call on the use of FBI resources -- to me it seems like they were seeking third party validation because two sides couldn't agree internally. Was some "cleaner" LEO calling on help from the outside because he knew what was going on and lacked credibility internally? It seems like it was a fight for him to get a declaration of homicide, IMO, and it was consults from the outside (FBI and NYC) that ultimately held sway.

In spite of that effort, the declaration was publicly discredited in the 9/13/1981 Columbus Dispatch "Mystery Still Lingers ..." article by two other officers -- in spite of no official redaction by the coroner. Ironically, they re-spin the same FBI and NYPD consults to do this. I also found it odd that the deputy coroner's answer about the Q of homicide was "I have no feeling one way or the other." It's what you say when you're between a rock and a hard place --you can't lie, but you can't go against your bully colleagues either. To me, the article reeked of cronyism.

IMO, there were signs all over that article that whoever had previously been fighting for Bill in the department (Det. R's "former partner" Det. SM) no longer had power or say -- maybe he had transferred out. IMO, internal disagreement may be common, but making it public this way is not. This was not the chief of police talking, but two detectives, and if it was the "party line," it was clearly uncut and uncensored by internal PR (if indeed they had PR at the time)!

Even earlier than that (Oct. 1980), an LEO telling the media that *some people* thought the letter campaign that occurred was serious, but he thought it was a hoax seems to me to be a breach in public communication policy. Who wings it like that -- not as a team but as a single voice? Very egotistical, IMO, and very brazen -- very confident of his position. IIRC, I posted that I came away from that article feeling a strong dislike for the officers giving the info. Also in an article at this time, after one LEO says how concerned the dept. is, another says something like *uh, we have no idea what we're doing here*! Just another sign of internal fracture, IMO -- the force is not working together.

On another note, this was one of the reasons I asked if the LEO patrolling the neighborhood the night of Bill's attack ever expanded on his account of what he saw that night. My first impression was that he was a foot patrol -- just something I went to in the absence of details about that -- and I wanted to be sure it actually WAS an LEO, not someone masquerading as authority, which would be an easy way to overcome Bill. How typical was it for LE to patrol the neighborhood?

I would like to hear that this LEO also appeared at the scene, that he helped in the resuscitation effort, and that he was obviously upset by what had happened on his watch -- in other words, that the impression of the family is that this LEO was a stand-up guy who exuded trustworthiness. I'd also like to hear that he gave a report on what he saw that evening. IOW, I want to know he didn't disappear into the chaos to be protected by his colleagues. JMO

The best ever possibility of "hidden in plain sight" would be an LE patrol car, IMO. I don't want to go there without evidence, but this was why it was a good reason to add LE to the list of people who lived in Bill's neighborhood at that time.

All MOO

 

[zoomom]

For anyone- does anybody know how Bill learned how to play the piano? Completely self taught at home? Piano lessons at someone's house? In school? (In the 70"s, 3 of my sibs took outside music lessons, and they were picked on by bullies. One of my brothers got put head first into a school garbage can practically every other day!))

I'm trying to figure out why Bill was a target to begin with.

p.s. I am trying to thank every post - but it keeps timing me out on the thanks button. So thanks to every post and poster!

 

[Methodical]

Outstanding post GBMG!
Great insight, great pertinent references for follow-up, and very complete (even considering just the limited info/details that have been exposed).

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Methodical, this is partly to you, but I am also partly just jumping off your post.

Original post TBM:

Well,, one thing we DO know is that, besides the neighbors inside their respective homes, it appears the only one "on the streets" in that 3 block area near the crime scene of Bill's murder was... an LEO in his patrol car. Very interesting....

I agree, Methodical. Very interesting.

Questions for the family:
1. Even today, we know hardly any details about the exact site of attack #1.
I realize it was merely described as "about 50 yards behind the elementary school" in the wooded section. (BTW, that wooded section measures roughly 750' wide x 650' deep, according to viewing Google satellite view)
I tried to see if there was any pathway thru that wooded section, but tree cover was too dense to see. I'm trying to get a true accurate "picture" of where that attack occurred. Did it happen closer toward any particular side of this relatively square wooded area? Did it occur on a pathway just outside of this wooded area? If so which side and exactly where? Was the attack site totally concealed from view by homes?

Yes, the tree cover on the map obscures everything. The statement about the 50 yards is in the CD article I sited in my last post. It says (IBM) that Bill "was riding his bicycle down a trail about 50 yards into a woods behind prairie Lincoln Elementary School." In her map (on Twitter or FB), KatCo shows Bill traveling north to south on the east side of the woods, but I dont know that she meant to be exact. She may be suggesting the path is on that side or close to that side, but that is my leap.

Also, Bob and Kat, on this first attack, I do not believe we know duration. We know the attack occurred at 8:30. Can you tell us when Bill got home?

Other than the family members and the 1 helping neighbor, how many people would you estimate were near the scene (within say,, 100') that night?

Same MSM article above says "35 to 40 people on the scene."

 

[GoingByMyGut]

For anyone- does anybody know how Bill learned how to play the piano? Completely self taught at home? Piano lessons at someone's house? In school? (In the 70"s, 3 of my sibs took outside music lessons, and they were picked on by bullies. One of my brothers got put head first into a school garbage can practically every other day!))

I'm trying to figure out why Bill was a target to begin with.

p.s. I am trying to thank every post - but it keeps timing me out on the thanks button. So thanks to every post and poster!

BBM1: Good Q! IIRC, we have not heard the answer to this and I have wondered it too. We do know that Bill bought the piano with his paper route earnings ... which, now that I think of it, seems like quite an accomplishment.

Offshoot: Bob and Kat, did you ever hear Bill talk about any unusually big tippers on his paper route?

BBM2: I totally agree. I am class of '74 and all arts and esp. theater lovers were targets. I don't know how they stood it.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Patrol car LEO was encountered in the second block south of residence on same street by two brothers. LEO stated, he thought they saw someone walking the other way, at which point brothers reversed direction toward the tracks. During CPR on Bill LEO was on scene snapping pictures with a camera with no attempt at scene control at that point.

For what it's worth...

BBM: Interesting ... I am not sure how to read that. A trained LEO putting his feelings aside and jumping into action the way he was taught? One reading is that taking pictures was a form of scene control -- given the number of people on the site, the only way to protect its integrity might have been to photograph it before it got any more muddled. Also, I can't imagine anyone who was involved in the crime wanting to immortalize anything he messed up in pictures; that would require truly incredible confidence. And yet, there's something that bothers me about it. It could just be my "human" response knocking into his "professional' response.

Bob, two more Qs:
(1) The LEO said "someone," meaning he was not close enough to see at the time? Would the LEO have known your father or neighbor if he saw them? I assume, by this time, that they had found Bill.

(2) I wonder if someone else at the scene, but at a little more of a remove than you -- someone who might have had the luxury of noticing the emotional responses of those around them -- has ever given you any feedback on what they saw at that time?

Off to work, will check in later.