CA CA - Virginia Lynn "Ginny" Smith, 13, murdered, Claremont, 23 Jun 1969

[Richard]

Virginia Lynn "Ginny" Smith, age 13, murdered 23 June 1969, Claremont, CA

Although this case was officially closed with the conviction of Leon William Short, it bears looking at to perhaps compare with other similar murders.

This young girl was murdered near Los Angeles while John Norman Collins and Andrew Manuel were in California with their stolen camping trailer. At one time, California investigators felt that it was possibly connected to the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips and that of another Unidentified girl.

Many details of Ginny's murder were similar to those of the other California murders and to several murders in Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The case remained officially unsolved until 1971, when Leon William Short (age 25) was arrested in Ocala, Florida on an unrelated charge. Short "confessed" to murdering Virginia Lynn Smith, a confession he soon repudiated, saying he had done so to receive mental health services. He was extradited to California, and after three trials, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison, still claiming to be innocent.

April 8, 1971, Ocala Star Banner - Ocala, Florida:

LINKS:

Virginia Lynn 'Ginny' Smith (Deceased), Claremont, CA California

Michigan Suspect Linked to Salinas Case - SFC 8/6/69

 

[Richard]

Leon William SHORT on Habeas Corpus: A legal decision regarding communications of inmates...

LINK:

FindLaw's California Court of Appeal case and opinions.

 

[Richard]

This is an interesting and intriguing case.

While there was a conviction (after three trials) of Leon William Short for Virginia Lynn Smith's murder, followed by his sentence to life in prison, it should be noted that the evidence against him all came from statements that Short made and later recanted.

According to news reports, Short's "confession" contained information on the crime which had not been made public, but those specifics were not reported.

Short denied killing Ginny and said that he told Florida investigators he had killed her only to get mental health services.

There is a viable alternate scenario in this case. Investigators at the time thought that Ginny's murder might be linked to two other murders.

One of those was the June 1969 murder of Roxie Ann Phillips. It is most likely that Roxie was murdered by John Norman Collins when he was in California that month with his crime partner Andrew Manuel. (See more on Collins oin the Serial Killer section of Websleuths).

Could Ginny have been a victim of Collins as well?

 

[Richard]

Bumping thread up...

 

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[Richard]

Virginia Lynn "Ginny" Smith, age 13
Murdered in Claremont, California on 23 June 1969

LINK:

Virginia Lynn “Ginny” Smith (1956-1969) - Find a...

Born in 1956. Died in Jun 1969. Burial Details Unknown.

www.findagrave.com

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up.