DC DC - Freeway Phantom Haunts police

[Richard]

I was recently doing some newspaper archive research about the disappearance of Sheila and Katherine Lyon from Wheaton Plaza (MD) on 25 March 1975.

That same day that they disappeared, the Washington Star Newspaper (long defunct) printed a story about a possible lead in the Freeway Phantom case. The story was about a man who was pleading guilty to his involvement in some 1972 rapes and in return for his assistance and possible testimony in the Phantom case, other charges (many) on him were being dropped. I don't know what ever came of that hopeful lead, but the case is still unsolved today - as is the case of the Lyon Sisters.

 

[Richard]

Has anyone seen anything recently concerning this old case?

 

[scriptgirl]

I don't think this will be solved and I don't get why they think Askins is a good suspect. And I don't know why that cop assumed the killer wasn't white

 

[not_my_kids]

YouTube video on victims and case.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFDl75x8rWs"]YouTube- Victims of the Freeway Phantom[/ame]

And another:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO1gK95gup4&feature=related"]YouTube- The Freeway Phantom Revisited[/ame]

Blog on the case (wee bit biased).
http://howcanyoujustwalkaway.blogspot.com/2008/10/dc-sketchbook_28.html

Random Google result:
http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkillers/F/FREEWAY_PHANTOM.php

Committee minutes (Very interesting read, especially if you like legal stuff)
http://www.dcacdl.org/docs/allewelt_committeereport.pdf

That's all I can find before it starts repeating itself.

 

[Richard]

Bumping case up. This spring will mark the 40 year anniversary of these murders...

 

[mysticrose]

The Cold Case Of The Free-Way Phantom
May 27th, 2010


During a 16 month period that that began in the spring of 1991, the Freeway Phantom as he became known, killed six females, ages 10 to 18, three with the middle name Denise. At least three were raped, and every one of them were strangled. Their bodies were found on, or near busy roads or highways in the District Of Columbia, or Maryland. Most of the Police files are incomplete and all of the physical evidence has been lost or destroyed, ruling out today's sophicated forensic tools. So the case has yet to be solved.

Thirty -five years ago, the Freeway-Phantom slayins triggered one of the largest investigations the region had seen. Two dozen detectives were assigned to the hunt initially, and the FBI was called in, until Watergate diverted the agency's manpower. The failure to solve the homicides continues to haunt families of the victims.

There was a note written by one of the victims, the 5th, and stuffed in the pocket of her clothing. It read, " this tantamont to my insensitivity to people, especially women. I will admit to others when you catch me if you can!" Free-way Phantom. This was dictated by the killer, and written by the victim.

The slayins of the victims, all black and seemingly choosen at random- came during a time of political and racial tumuit in the City. Washington did not yet have home rule, and it was still reeling from the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. More that 70 percent of the Districts 757.000 residents were black, and there was widespread distrust of the police Department, which was more than 60 percent white



Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/293894_the-cold-case-of-the-free-way-phantom#ixzz0vMZakj4V

 

[mysticrose]

Research paper on the freeway phantom

The Freeway Phantom murders terrorized the Anacostia region of Washington, DC from May 1971 until September 1972. The profile for the killers’ seven victims proved startlingly consistent. The murders were carried out in an equally consistent- and horrifying- manner. The investigation, reaching its height with 70 investigators and four police precincts working on the case, proved inept. Today, no convictions have been made to shed certain light on the Freeway Phantom, but many theories still exist.

The “Phantom” chose very similar victims. Perhaps the most chilling parallel between the subjects is that four of the seven victims had the middle name “Denise.” In addition, the girls were between the ages of 10 and 18: “the younger girls looking older and the older girls looking younger.” The victims shared similar physical and psychological descriptions: friendly, happy, skinny, tall, smiley, charming, and gregarious. Four played in the same parks. Four went to junior highs close to each other, two being classmates. (Krause, C1)

http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/42024.html

 

[mysticrose]

Freeway Phantom

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_Phantom[/ame]

 

[reportertype]

Thanks for posting!

It has always sounded to me as if the Phantom was someone who lived and/or worked close to most of these girls. They might have even recognized him as someone from the neighborhood.

I am sure police suspect a black man because a white one would have stood out more in that area. I wonder, since no one saw or heard the abductions, if they accepted a ride from someone they thought they knew?

 

[LotsaLatte]

I am wondering if they looked into older teens and men that lived or worked around these children. Teachers, custodians, store employees, park workers, etc. that would be familiar to these girls on some level. Someone that they would each talk to if approached and maybe feel comfortable enough to accept a ride or help with groceries, etc. with. It's so sad, I really wish it would be solved.

 

[Richard]

This series of murders began exactly 40 years ago this month. They began in May 1971.

Does anyone have any theories or ideas about it? After all these years, perhaps new information will come out.

Could there be a similar series of abduction/murders in other US cities before or after the Freeway Phantom series in and around Washington DC?

 

[AKWILKS]

I have wondered if the DC Freeway Phantom could be the same person as the Rochester NY "Alphabet Killer". The Phantom targeted black school girls, the Alphabet Killer targeted hispanic and ethnic Catholic school girls. Same general age ranges. The Alphabet Killer targeted girls with "double initials", like C.C., M.M. and W.W. A man arrested in California, Joseph Naso, is charged with killing 4 women with double initials. He is now being investigated for the NY crimes. I think 4 of the DC victims all had the same middle name - Denise.

This was a note found on the body of one of the DC victims.

 

[believe09]

So do you think the mis spelling of insensitivity was deliberate? It appears to have a nasty little phrase in the middle of it.

I swear I have seen this handwriting before. Hmm.

 

[Misfitdolly]

So do you think the mis spelling of insensitivity was deliberate? It appears to have a nasty little phrase in the middle of it.

I swear I have seen this handwriting before. Hmm.

I read either in a previous post in this thread or one of the linked articles that it is believed this note was written by the victim who's pocket it was in but dictated by the killer.

 

[Ambercat]

So do you think the mis spelling of insensitivity was deliberate? It appears to have a nasty little phrase in the middle of it.

I swear I have seen this handwriting before. Hmm.

The capitalization (or lack there of) is interesting, too. Yes -- it looks very familiar to me, too.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

So do you think the mis spelling of insensitivity was deliberate? It appears to have a nasty little phrase in the middle of it.

I swear I have seen this handwriting before. Hmm.

...

​

​

 

[docwho3]

At first I wondered if the message was a sort of message-within-a-message.
I noticed that some of the letter 'I' characters appeared to be upside down
& also some of the 'T' characters.

After thinking about it a bit more I decided this was not the case.
I believe the misspelling was possibly the result of the dictating of the spelling of the word.
Example: She writes insensiti & not remembering the rest of the letters he spelled
for her to write she prompts 'ti?' and he says 'tivity' so she adds
insensiti + tivity to end up with insensititivity.

Or perhaps he dictated the spelling but paused partway through the word
& then resumed dictating the spelling of the rest of the word with the same results.

Putting the hyphen in freeway is interesting. I wonder if that was her
or the person doing the dictating.
I also wonder if the newspaper article used a hyphen in the word freeway.
Not really important but if it was the killer's spelling it helps give an insight
into his spelling level & perhaps his thinking level.

However it is just barely possible that the extra 'ti' was her way of inserting
the 2 letters of his name (if she knew it) or perhaps a logo on his truck or van.

 

[docwho3]

For those who might have missed it in the news article Askins was mentioned here:
'. . . In the late 1970s, D.C. homicide detective Lloyd Davis developed his own
Phantom suspect. Davis recalls showing up to work at the homicide office one
March day in 1977 and being told to question a rape suspect who had just been arrested.
The suspect, Robert Askins, had been charged with raping a 24-year-old woman in his house. . . .'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062501086_5.html

Why was he a suspect?
'. . . When police searched Askins's house in the 1700 block of M Street NE shortly after
his arrest in 1977, Davis found the appellate court opinion in a desk drawer.
For Davis, a single word leapt from the page. In a footnote, the judges had used
the word "tantamount," the word in the note found in the coat pocket of Phantom
victim Brenda Woodard.
It was not an ordinary word, as Davis saw it. Later, he would learn that Askins often
used the word at the National Science Foundation, where he worked as a computer technician. . . .'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062501086_5.html
Bolded by me

Note : If the extra 'ti' was written upside down it might be she was
trying to convey
that he was an IT guy. . . .a computer tech.

Still I think it unlikely that is what she meant. Most likely a simple dictation/writing error.

 

[AKWILKS]

A police "expert" thought at the time this may not have been written by the killer, but dictated by him and written by a victim. Which makes zero sense to me.

So a 1972 DC Police "expert" theorized that the killer may have dictated the note and the victim wrote it, which I think is ridiculous, and I have not seen any evidence to support that.

A young woman, knowing she is about to die, writes the note, with apparently no shakiness? I doubt that.

Some of the writing does look intentionally distorted, as if the writer is trying to disguise tendencies.

Who knows? I have never heard of a case were the victim wrote a taunting note, see no evidence of it here, so I am personally treating this as likely the killers writing.

I can also say that I have communicated with the Metro DC Police in the past several months, offering to show them a handwriting comparison of the note to a suspect's handwriting, and they said 'please send it in', which I did, and they followed up with questions to me.

So, at the very least they are open to the note being written by the killer, perhaps even thinking it is probable.

 

[AKWILKS]

I have absolutely no compelling reason to think this could be a Zodiac related case.

Though Zodiac did write a letter as the "Red Phantom" and mailed it July 8, 1974, the 3 year anniversary of one of the six murders of young black girls in the DC and Maryland area in 1971 and 1972. Also the "S" here looks like an upside down "5", a Z trait. The "catch me when you can" line reminds one of Z saying the police "will never catch me", but Z probably got that from Jack the Ripper, so the Freeway Phantom may have been either copying Jack or Zodiac. Both the Freeway Phantom and the Zodiac open their writing with "THIS IS".

Nothing about the MO or targets here relates to what we know about Zodiac at all.

But why not consider every possibility?

Does anybody think the writing has any Z qualities? Or anything that reminds you of another criminal case?

There are four major unsolved cases of child killings in the 1970's. The DC Freeway Phantom, the Rochester NY "Alphabet Killer", the Michigan Oakland County Child Killer aka "The Babysitter" aka "The Snowman" and the Atlanta Child Killer (who may have called himself "The Ghost Killer"). [Wayne Willams was convicted of killing two mentally retarded adult black men - all the other child killings were blamed on him, but that is questioned by many, inlcuding some former police on the case.]

JOSEPH NASO is now being investigated for the NY Alphabet Murders, as he is charged with killing 4 women in California, all of whom had double initials, just like the 3 NY victims (CC, MM, WW).

Seperate and apart from my Zodiac research, I have examined the possibility two or more of these child killings may be linked. I have the Zodiac as one suspect among many (including "UNSUB White Male"), as the FBI said a letter sent from the "Zodiac" in re the Atlanta case matched confirmed Zodiac writing. But there are better suspects than Z, and a LOT that does not fit. But SOMEBODY killed these kids in DC, NY, GA and MI.

In all four cases, the bodies were laid out by roads and freeways, or creeks or rivers, some had been washed, some had hands in funeral positions. In DC and Atlanta, black children were targeted, and in both cases victims were seen with white men. In both cases the victims made phone calls with the abductor present. In DC, Atlanta and Oakland County there were writings left with the victim or letters sent from the killer to newspapers. There are other MO aspects and traits linking these child killings. But there are also major differences. They could be four seperate killers, or two, or possibly one.

FREEWAY PHANTOM NOTE COMPARED TO 1974 ZODIAC "EXORCIST" LETTER

One odd BUT PERHAPS TELLING point - both writers do their "iti" almost the same way, more like a :+:

"Free - Way Phantom"---------------------Zodiac "A Citizen"

More comps of Freeway Phantom and Zodiac

I don't know, there are differences to be sure, but enough similarities - Freeway Phantom & Zodiac, both say "catch me", both start with "This is", the "i t i" as " : + : " element, the "W", the "S", the low crossed "t", I can't totally dismiss it just yet.

I still can't make any big claims for this. As I said in my opening post, there is very little here that would make you think it was Zodiac. The MO, the targets, the locale, are all very different. If it was Zodiac it seems he was trying to change and distort his natural writing, but some similarities still came through. Because there are the similarities we noted. Perhaps if Zodiac felt CA was too hot, he might want to change locale, change MO and change targets?

The Zodiac Red Phantom letter was mailed on July 8, 1974, the 3rd anniversary of the death of a Freeway Phantom victim.

Morf observed "that P & H look pretty close, as does the spacing between the P & H."