wfgodot
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TX TX - The Texarkana Phantom (1946) *UNSOLVED*
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colette
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New article from NY Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...hands-phantom-killer-solved-article-1.2554028
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...hands-phantom-killer-solved-article-1.2554028
STANDREID
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Tomorrow evening, May 3, is the 70th anniversary of the Phantom's putative attack at the Arkansas home of Virgil and Katie Starks. Mr. Starks was shot and killed in a sniper like fashion and Katie was shot as well but managed to escape and survive. She was not able to give much of a description though because she only saw him in shadow outside a screen and his leg as he began to enter through a window while shouting profanities. This was possibly the Phantom's last attack or it may not have been him at all. The murder is still unsolved, whichever the case.
STANDREID
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Tomorrow, May 5, is the 70th anniversary of the McSpadden mystery. Earl Clifton McSpadden was found on some railroad tracks near Ogden, Arkansas. In the past, it was asserted that he was the Phantom Killer, capping off his spree with a suicide. The coroner, however, found stab wounds on McSpadden's body leading others to think that he was another victim of the killer. Other possibilities are that McSpadden was the murderer and was killed by a person he was attacking or that his death had nothing to do with the Phantom case at all. At any rate, the murders in Texarkana stopped at this point, that is, unless you count the 1948 disappearance of Virginia Carpenter.
Sailor Haumea
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Edgar Ray "Jack" Zachary, the cab driver who was the last person to see Virginia Carpenter alive. He was at one point charged with raping a girl. I consider him a strong suspect if Youell Swinney was innocent.
Pettibon Junction
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I don't think Carpenter is related and in her case, it seems a strong circumstantial case can be made against the cabman, which is enough to satisfy me 70 years later.
MaryG12
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Saw "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" for the first time last night (the 1976 release). It gave me the heebie-jeebies for the rest of the night. It's such an interesting case and in some ways similar to the Colonial Park Murders (the Phantom targeted couples in cars except for the last couple, he targeted them in their home) but am thinking the killer was probably too old for the CPM by the time they took place starting in 1986.
The killings remind me of the Zodiac Killer based who were targeted and M.O. One has to wonder if the Zodiac Killer knew about the Texarkana Phantom Murders and was influenced by them. The Texarkana Phantom Murders is likely driven by resentment and could be an injustice collector or grudge hoarder or grudge holder.
Grudge Hoarders and Mass Murder
Grudge Hoarders and Mass Murder
Coloredstone8221
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Warning long read.
Bolded sections=possible ties to zodiac
Asterisks=suspect
Good morning websleuths hope you enjoyed independence day. There has been some new suspects in the texarkana case and one very promising lead that will be highlighted. I'll start with the least likely suspect the Atoka county man who on May 10th of 1946 in Atoka county Oklahoma assaulted a women in her home ranting that he might as well kill her because he's already has 3 or 4 victims & that he planned to rape her then he fled. There was a manhunt for the guy involving 20 police officers and 160 residents. 2 days later police arrested a man but didn't believe he was the suspect due to his story he could not have been the suspect.
Fair enough though I would've put him through some questioning before definitively ruling him out.
Then we have someone who went by the name of Sammie. It was a psuedonym given to a longtime texarkana resident with a good reputation who the police didn't want to name as a suspect because of reluctance. His vehicles tire tracks where close to where martin corpse was. He failed a polygraph exam so the police had him hypnotized by psychiatrist Travis Elliott. He concluded that Sammie had no criminal tendencies and that he had pulled his vehicle to the side of the road in order to urinate, and that he subsequently visited a married woman with whom he was having an affair with at the time concealing this caused Sammie to fail the polygraph test. Afterwards police verified the details and concluded that sammie wasn't a suspect.
Little bit of a funny story for you guys.
On May 7 a hitch hiker armed with a pistol carjacked and robbed a man who threatening to kill him stated that he had killed five people in Texarkana naming Martin and Booker. The hitchhiker told the man that he was not finished with killing people. Gonzaullas stated that police were doubtful that this man was the Phantom Killer noting how that the killer had gone to lengths to conceal his identity while the hitchhiker boasted to a living witness. There also was another hitchiker who threaten to shoot a motorist in kilgore texas confessed to the killings though it is unknown if this is the same guy.
Faceplam emoji* (In head, wow how stupid can you be I would've investigated ALL leads regardless of the differences.) Did they ever confirm he had a mask?
*A day later it was announced that an escaped german pow was being hunted by police as a matter of routine was considered a suspect. He was a stocky 24 year old man who weighed 187 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He had stolen a car in mount Ida Arkansas & attempted to buy ammunition in some eastern oklahoma towns. The police kept searching for the pow but he had disappeared into thin air never to be recaptured.*
I would eliminate earl mcspadden as a suspect because the same man was found in florida around 6 months later who had shot a couple named Elaine Eldrigde 24 and Lawrence O Hogan 23 where found dead without a single clue. Lawrence was crumpled beside his car and Elaine was found sprawled on the Beach several yards from where her mate was shot.
This is where we draw some similarities to the zodiac. Dr. Anthony Lapalla a psychologist at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana stated during a newspaper interview that he believed the killer to be a white man between the ages of 30 to 50 years old. He also considered the killer to be motivated by a strong sex drive and a sadist while at the same time being a cunning planner and a clever, intelligent, shrewd and dangerous individual who remained at large.
The only thing I disagree with here is where he states the killers age being between 30 to 50 years of age because that contradicts what the police had stated on may 8th.
He also believed the killer knew at all times what was being done in the investigation as well as knowing that the lonesome roads were being patrolled as it would explain why he chose to attack the Starks home. He also added that the killer was planning to continue to make unexpected attacks such as that of Virgil Starks on the outskirts of town.
He also believed that it was the same man who murdered all 5 residents and that such criminals in some instances will divert attention to other distant communities where it is believed the crimes are committed by a different individual or manage to overcome the desire to kill and assault women.
That last part is false when referring to his desire to stop killing because of the florida shooting. This is a stretch but with moving all over the place is it possible that the zodiac's description of being a drifter correlate to what was being said here and that with overcoming his desires he couldn't keep it at bay for too long leading to his sadist behavior and zodiac murder spree?
He also believed that the murderer could have been leading a normal life appearing to be a good citizen. He also said the killer wasn't a veteran or else his maniacal tendencies would have been apparent while on duty. The Phantom was not necessarily a resident of the area despite his knowledge of it as he could well have been a resident of another community whom acquainted himself with Texarkana's surroundings. Due to the strenghtening of police force the killer would willingly leave because of the difficulty of committing a crime in those circumstances. The Phantom may have also reasoned in past crimes that the only way to remain unidentified is to kill all persons at the scene.
Where he states he wasn't a veteran that shoots down the los angelos war vets claim. The only thing I disagree with here is that he would have been unfamiliar with the area despite knowledge of it that is 2 contradictory statements in the same sentence it's either one or the other. though going off of the may 8th report I would lean more towards the former than later but that he had learned after the first go around to not leave any victims alive so as to not be caught.
Now it is time for my personal thoughts All in all I think Anothony Lapalla has some very interesting leads while some of his points fit suspiciously well others can be outright refuted due to other legit claims. There was los angelos war veteran who was discharged for being a psychoneurotic and confessed he could've done it because he was in a coma and the story was convincing to the police although I doubt it because there is NO WAY you could be that smart while in a coma. I DO think it is the german pow who was never recaptured as his whereabout are unknown. So how do we identify this man? Suggested course of action look into german american pow records in the texas/Arkansas area and hope that they kept records of who was in custody and who escaped. The flashlight that was never identified, has anybody looked into german flashlights that where used at the time? I also find it very coincidential that the zodiac also used a flashlight. Could this phantom also had been studying astrology? The very last thing I would like to point out is that in the 340 cipher he mentions he has killed 37 people if we combine the phantom murders, the florida shooting, the nevada killing and the california murder spree we come to 15 dead 4 survivors so then who are the other 22?...
Rocket fuel ladies and gentlemen.
Bolded sections=possible ties to zodiac
Asterisks=suspect
Good morning websleuths hope you enjoyed independence day. There has been some new suspects in the texarkana case and one very promising lead that will be highlighted. I'll start with the least likely suspect the Atoka county man who on May 10th of 1946 in Atoka county Oklahoma assaulted a women in her home ranting that he might as well kill her because he's already has 3 or 4 victims & that he planned to rape her then he fled. There was a manhunt for the guy involving 20 police officers and 160 residents. 2 days later police arrested a man but didn't believe he was the suspect due to his story he could not have been the suspect.
Fair enough though I would've put him through some questioning before definitively ruling him out.
Then we have someone who went by the name of Sammie. It was a psuedonym given to a longtime texarkana resident with a good reputation who the police didn't want to name as a suspect because of reluctance. His vehicles tire tracks where close to where martin corpse was. He failed a polygraph exam so the police had him hypnotized by psychiatrist Travis Elliott. He concluded that Sammie had no criminal tendencies and that he had pulled his vehicle to the side of the road in order to urinate, and that he subsequently visited a married woman with whom he was having an affair with at the time concealing this caused Sammie to fail the polygraph test. Afterwards police verified the details and concluded that sammie wasn't a suspect.
Little bit of a funny story for you guys.
On May 7 a hitch hiker armed with a pistol carjacked and robbed a man who threatening to kill him stated that he had killed five people in Texarkana naming Martin and Booker. The hitchhiker told the man that he was not finished with killing people. Gonzaullas stated that police were doubtful that this man was the Phantom Killer noting how that the killer had gone to lengths to conceal his identity while the hitchhiker boasted to a living witness. There also was another hitchiker who threaten to shoot a motorist in kilgore texas confessed to the killings though it is unknown if this is the same guy.
Faceplam emoji* (In head, wow how stupid can you be I would've investigated ALL leads regardless of the differences.) Did they ever confirm he had a mask?
*A day later it was announced that an escaped german pow was being hunted by police as a matter of routine was considered a suspect. He was a stocky 24 year old man who weighed 187 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He had stolen a car in mount Ida Arkansas & attempted to buy ammunition in some eastern oklahoma towns. The police kept searching for the pow but he had disappeared into thin air never to be recaptured.*
I would eliminate earl mcspadden as a suspect because the same man was found in florida around 6 months later who had shot a couple named Elaine Eldrigde 24 and Lawrence O Hogan 23 where found dead without a single clue. Lawrence was crumpled beside his car and Elaine was found sprawled on the Beach several yards from where her mate was shot.
This is where we draw some similarities to the zodiac. Dr. Anthony Lapalla a psychologist at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana stated during a newspaper interview that he believed the killer to be a white man between the ages of 30 to 50 years old. He also considered the killer to be motivated by a strong sex drive and a sadist while at the same time being a cunning planner and a clever, intelligent, shrewd and dangerous individual who remained at large.
The only thing I disagree with here is where he states the killers age being between 30 to 50 years of age because that contradicts what the police had stated on may 8th.
He also believed the killer knew at all times what was being done in the investigation as well as knowing that the lonesome roads were being patrolled as it would explain why he chose to attack the Starks home. He also added that the killer was planning to continue to make unexpected attacks such as that of Virgil Starks on the outskirts of town.
He also believed that it was the same man who murdered all 5 residents and that such criminals in some instances will divert attention to other distant communities where it is believed the crimes are committed by a different individual or manage to overcome the desire to kill and assault women.
That last part is false when referring to his desire to stop killing because of the florida shooting. This is a stretch but with moving all over the place is it possible that the zodiac's description of being a drifter correlate to what was being said here and that with overcoming his desires he couldn't keep it at bay for too long leading to his sadist behavior and zodiac murder spree?
He also believed that the murderer could have been leading a normal life appearing to be a good citizen. He also said the killer wasn't a veteran or else his maniacal tendencies would have been apparent while on duty. The Phantom was not necessarily a resident of the area despite his knowledge of it as he could well have been a resident of another community whom acquainted himself with Texarkana's surroundings. Due to the strenghtening of police force the killer would willingly leave because of the difficulty of committing a crime in those circumstances. The Phantom may have also reasoned in past crimes that the only way to remain unidentified is to kill all persons at the scene.
Where he states he wasn't a veteran that shoots down the los angelos war vets claim. The only thing I disagree with here is that he would have been unfamiliar with the area despite knowledge of it that is 2 contradictory statements in the same sentence it's either one or the other. though going off of the may 8th report I would lean more towards the former than later but that he had learned after the first go around to not leave any victims alive so as to not be caught.
Now it is time for my personal thoughts All in all I think Anothony Lapalla has some very interesting leads while some of his points fit suspiciously well others can be outright refuted due to other legit claims. There was los angelos war veteran who was discharged for being a psychoneurotic and confessed he could've done it because he was in a coma and the story was convincing to the police although I doubt it because there is NO WAY you could be that smart while in a coma. I DO think it is the german pow who was never recaptured as his whereabout are unknown. So how do we identify this man? Suggested course of action look into german american pow records in the texas/Arkansas area and hope that they kept records of who was in custody and who escaped. The flashlight that was never identified, has anybody looked into german flashlights that where used at the time? I also find it very coincidential that the zodiac also used a flashlight. Could this phantom also had been studying astrology? The very last thing I would like to point out is that in the 340 cipher he mentions he has killed 37 people if we combine the phantom murders, the florida shooting, the nevada killing and the california murder spree we come to 15 dead 4 survivors so then who are the other 22?...
Rocket fuel ladies and gentlemen.
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