TX TX - Cheryl Henry, 22, & Andy Atkinson, 21, Houston, 21 Aug 1990

[dotr]

Hi @Snoods, upstream you had mentioned iirc this the perp is left handed - how do we know this? Tia.

(I’m still going through all the reference material so maybe I missed it, still familiarizing myself with all the facts here, right now I’m still “collecting the dots”.)

Will add link later, but iirc- the way the knife moved across throat (sorry) was indicitive of a left-handed person, imo.
ETA
Also he held the gun in his left hand.
Houston police release sketch of 'Lover's Lane' suspect
"He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand."

 

[margarita25]

Will add link later, but iirc- the way the knife moved across throat (sorry) was indicitive of a left-handed person, imo.

Thank you, that’s what I figured.

 

[margarita25]

Good post if you remember the Houston rape victim described the offender as having a military bearing and this is obviously something that stuck in her mind and he also wore some kind of homemade uniform:

The man wore a fishnet stocking over his face, black gloves, and a dark shirt and pants that matched, possibly a uniform. He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand. "Where's Randy?" he asked, referring to her boyfriend by name.

The man taunted her, putting the gun to her head and cocking it. He bound her hands behind her back with gray duct tape before taking cash from her purse. Then he duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, threw her on the bed and shoved a bag or pillowcase over her head.

"He became very vulgar with her while he was raping her, and he told her she wasn't very observant, that he had a military uniform, which was probably him trying to throw her off the fact that he might've had a security guard uniform on," Miller said.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

So I’m noticing FWIW that here the perp used duct tape, not rope.

Reading the rape victim’s account again. Brutal.

Noting:

• “long barrel gun”

• “duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut”

• possibly wore uniform

• Like Cheryl, bound victim’s hands behind her back.

• wore a fishnet stocking over his face

•black gloves

•dark shirt and pants that matched

• Asked where her boyfriend was, knew his name.

• Took cash from her purse

—

ETA @dotr: Found it / “He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand”.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

 

[dotr]

So I’m noticing FWIW that here the perp used duct tape, not rope.

Reading the rape victim’s account again. Brutal.

Noting:

• “long barrel gun”

• “duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut”

Thinking of duct/gaffer tape (what colour was it?) and the clubs.
DJs, sound/light techs, bouncers, cleaners ect. come to mind., imo, speculation.rbbm.
DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

"Finally, the week after he retired, Belk got the call he'd been waiting 17 years for: DNA evidence from semen found in Henry's body had been matched to DNA collected in the unsolved 1990 rape of a 30-year-old exotic dancer who worked at GiGi's, a topless club on Northwest Freeway.

Henry had worked at a similar club, Rick's Cabaret, on Bering. Atkinson occasionally worked the door at Dreams Street, a club on Winrock managed by his father.


Now, for the first time, investigators are considering the possibility the man who attacked them frequented or worked at local strip clubs."

 

[margarita25]

Thinking of duct/gaffer tape (what colour was it?) and the clubs.
DJs, sound/light techs, bouncers, cleaners ect. come to mind., imo, speculation.rbbm.
DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

"Finally, the week after he retired, Belk got the call he'd been waiting 17 years for: DNA evidence from semen found in Henry's body had been matched to DNA collected in the unsolved 1990 rape of a 30-year-old exotic dancer who worked at GiGi's, a topless club on Northwest Freeway.

Henry had worked at a similar club, Rick's Cabaret, on Bering. Atkinson occasionally worked the door at Dreams Street, a club on Winrock managed by his father.


Now, for the first time, investigators are considering the possibility the man who attacked them frequented or worked at local strip clubs."

Duct tape was gray:

“The man taunted her, putting the gun to her head and cocking it. He bound her hands behind her back with gray duct tape before taking cash from her purse. Then he duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, threw her on the bed and shoved a bag or pillowcase over her head.”

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

 

[margarita25]

It’s interesting that he took cash from one victim, yet left cash at Cheryl’s & Andy’ site.

(Going back to double check if there is mention of anything taken from Cheryl’s purse)

(ETA: of course we don’t know how much money she or Andy might have had on them to begin with? @mocity )

—-

I wonder if Cheryl may have rejected him at the club, maybe while she was at the bar or Andy was in a bathroom or something. Just a thought.

 

[margarita25]

You people all know much more the locations than I do but here is a reddit thread about the location of the murders in this very nasty case:

Where in Houston did the lovers lane murders take place? : houston

If you click here, then click on a blog by TCD, there are some details I think I’m seeing that I haven’t seen here.

@mocity can you please confirm the accuracy of the details listed in the TCD blog? Tia.

—-

Post #489 page 25.
Garland mentions the knots used on the rope.
We discussed the rope as well.
HPD knows the answer to this.
In fact, after listening to Garland, I believe HPD knows a lot more than what they are leading everyone to believe.

I'd like to know the thickness of the Hemp rope used to tie Cheryl and Andy up.
Hemp is known for it's strength, although it's not as common as it once was. For marine use it's not all that great because it rots fast when wet.
I know Tree cutters and construction workers use thick Hemp rope, say about an inch thick or more.
Thinner Hemp could be used to tie things down in the back of a pick up truck.
Just throwing out thoughts.

@dotr , bringing another forward comment about the rope.

 

[jaejae]

It’s interesting that he took cash from one victim, yet left cash at Cheryl’s & Andy’ site.

(Going back to double check if there is mention of anything taken from Cheryl’s purse)

(ETA: of course we don’t know how much money she or Andy might have had on them to begin with? @mocity )

—-

I wonder if Cheryl may have rejected him at the club, maybe while she was at the bar or Andy was in a bathroom or something. Just a thought.

My feeling is there was not a financial motive. The killer may have stole some money to be able to continue his crimes for petrol and rental of rooms etc but his motive was he liked to kill and instil fear into his victims. My theory is he did not know the victims but may have evesdropped on things at the club or in the rape victim case rummaged around her apartment. Cheers.

 

[Snoods]

Will add link later, but iirc- the way the knife moved across throat (sorry) was indicitive of a left-handed person, imo.
ETA
Also he held the gun in his left hand.
Houston police release sketch of 'Lover's Lane' suspect
"He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand."

Thank you, I was just looking for the links to post about this. We know he held a long barreled gun and cocked it with his left hand.

He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand. "Where's Randy?" he asked, referring to her boyfriend by name. The man taunted her, putting the gun to her head and cocking it.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders


(I’m bummed, I just noticed a lot of my pictures have been removed, I’m assuming because Tinypics is no longer.)

 

[Snoods]

If you click here, then click on a blog by TCD, there are some details I think I’m seeing that I haven’t seen here.

@mocity can you please confirm the accuracy of the details listed in the TCD blog? Tia.

—-



@dotr , bringing another forward comment about the rope.

It’s interesting that he took cash from one victim, yet left cash at Cheryl’s & Andy’ site.

(Going back to double check if there is mention of anything taken from Cheryl’s purse)

(ETA: of course we don’t know how much money she or Andy might have had on them to begin with? @mocity )

—-

I wonder if Cheryl may have rejected him at the club, maybe while she was at the bar or Andy was in a bathroom or something. Just a thought.

Andy was found with money in his pocket.

Also regarding the blog by TCD I did notice a few mistakes.
1) Andy’s car was found by a security guard, not Houston police.
2) Cheryl didn’t work at a strip club at the time of her murder and hadn’t for at least a year so doubtful the murderer met her there.
3) We don’t know if Andy could see what happened to Cheryl, that’s an assumption on her part. It was a very dark area.

She says Cheryl was killed before Andy. I didn’t know this, is this true? Do we know this to be factual? I have read this in a few blog type articles but I have not read a police spokesman specifically saying this. Mocity may know the answer to this.

 

[Snoods]

I still had the location pictures that were deleted so I am reposting them.

I thought it might be helpful for everyone to see the area where they were found, just to get some perspective. I put together some before and after pictures.

For what it’s worth, this has always been a very nice area. The surrounding neighborhoods were/are middle/upper class.

This picture was taken from a police helicopter after the murders in 1990. Andy’s car was found parked in this cul-de-sac. There were no streetlights in the area.


Another police picture. Cheryl and Andy’s bodies were found along this tree line. Andy’s golf balls and club were taken from his trunk and found close to Cheryl’s body.


This is the cul-de-sac in 1988, a few years before the murders. A lot of nothing. Bramblewood was the closest subdivision in the upper right corner. Andy’s car was found at Enclave Round Street, circled in red.


Google earth view of the parking lot/old cul-de-sac today. Blue circle around old cul-de-sac.


Andy’s car when it was found.

 

[Snoods]

@margarita25 You pointed out another difference in his MO, the duct tape.

Differences in MO:

Rape victim: Tied victim up with duct tape
Andy and Cheryl: Tied them up with hemp rope using intricate knots. (He was prepared.)

Rape victim: Weapon used long barreled gun.
Andy and Cheryl: Weapon used knife.

Rape victim: A lone woman in her apartment, she had just returned home from work at GiGi’s strip club. He was already upstairs in her bedroom. He did ask where her boyfriend was, maybe he was expecting them to arrive home together?
Andy and Cheryl: A couple, parked in an out of the way area. They had been at Bayou Mama’s night club earlier in the evening.

Rape victim: Stole money from her.
Andy and Cheryl: Andy was found with money in his pocket and $20 was found near Cheryl.

Rape victim: Left alive.
Cheryl and Andy: Murdered.

 

[dotr]

Andy was found with money in his pocket.

Also regarding the blog by TCD I did notice a few mistakes.
1) Andy’s car was found by a security guard, not Houston police.
2) Cheryl didn’t work at a strip club at the time of her murder and hadn’t for at least a year so doubtful the murderer met her there.
3) We don’t know if Andy could see what happened to Cheryl, that’s an assumption on her part. It was a very dark area.

She says Cheryl was killed before Andy. I didn’t know this, is this true? Do we know this to be factual? I have read this in a few blog type articles but I have not read a police spokesman specifically saying this. Mocity may know the answer to this.

May 16 2013
New clues in grisly Lover's Lane Murders
rbbm.
"Atkinson also recalls what police investigators told him: They surmised that Andy let them tie him to a tree and that they know that the girl was killed first which means he was tied to a tree and listened to her scream, listened to her being murdered knowing that they were going to do the same thing to him and he couldn t do anything about it. That s hard to accept".

 

[margarita25]

The offender was also described by the witness as having olive skin which combined with a suntan may have made him appear more Mediterranean in his appearance than he actually was:

When Miller tracked the woman down in Galveston County, she still remembered her attacker's features through the fishnet stocking. On Friday, she described him for Lois Gibson, HPD's forensic artist.

She said he was a white man in his mid-30s, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes, a possible mustache and olive skin.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

What about reaching out to Lois Gibson for an updated, age progressed sketch? I’m not sure about you guys, but I think my appearance has changed some in 11 years.

 

[margarita25]

Marking this as a resource to possibly contact for a story, Investigative Reporter Wayne Dolcefino:

HPD turns back on Farb family – Dolcefino Consulting

 

[margarita25]

I’m watching a show on HLN about the NorCal rapist. On this show is a victim speaking about her rape - it sounds so similar to a lot of things, particularly particularly the other rape that was linked to Cheryl’s and Andy’s case... I would think that of course surely his DNA has been compared via CODIS? He was identified via GEDmatch.

Any news @mocity?

 

[mocity]

I’m watching a show on HLN about the NorCal rapist. On this show is a victim speaking about her rape - it sounds so similar to a lot of things, particularly particularly the other rape that was linked to Cheryl’s and Andy’s case... I would think that of course surely his DNA has been compared via CODIS? He was identified via GEDmatch.

Any news @mocity?

I will read up on him. It doesn't ring a bell. The DNA from Cheryl's rape as well as the earlier rape victim are both in Codis so I would think it gets compared. I will send the detective an email and ask her. I doubt she will respond. We are still getting the run around about the DNA testing.

 

[Niner]

@mocity - here's the link:
CA - NorCal Rapist - Roy Charles Waller (58), Sacramento County

 

[margarita25]

Bumping for Cheryl & Andy in 2020.

Dateline NBC featured the 25 year old cold case of Lisa Ziegert. Her killer eventually confessed after being pressured to submit a DNA sample. Anyway, my point is that during the course of the investigation, Parabon released a sketch. The show mentioned it took “a year and a half to get the report from Parabon.” Just wanted to make a note of that here.

 

[mocity]

Its very frustrating - Parabon and Cece Moore have told us they would love to work on Cheryl's case and even said they would push it to the front of the line. HPD will not use them and have told us the FBI lab is the one working on it. A year ago they told us it might take a couple of months