MS MS - Canton, Man dead in burnt car owned by city councilman who was later determined to have faked own death, charged w manslaughter of UID - May 1983

[DS2021]

Who is Canton John Doe (1983)?

Madison County Coroner’s Office and Rankin County Coroner’s Office Team with Othram to Identify a 1983 Homicide Victim

dnasolves.com

On May 14, 1983, a burned-out vehicle was discovered in Canton, Mississippi, with the charred remains of an unidentified man inside. Initially, authorities believed the remains belonged to the car’s owner, Edward L. Cates, a former Jackson city commissioner. However, in a shocking twist, Cates was found alive in Georgia the following year.

Investigators determined that Cates had faked his own death in an attempt to escape mounting financial troubles. He was later charged with capital murder for the death of the unknown victim. In a plea deal, Cates admitted to manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he never revealed the identity of the man whose life he had allegedly taken. Madison County Sheriff Billy Noble confirmed that Cates refused to provide any information about the victim, leaving investigators without a name, a background, or a missing persons report to connect to the remains.

The unidentified man is believed to have been a white male between 35 and 55 years old. Due to the condition of his remains, little is known about his height, weight, or distinguishing features. With no way to identify him at the time, his case remained cold for more than four decades.

Now, in 2025, forensic scientists at Othram are using advanced forensic DNA testing to finally give this man his name back. By applying Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®, Othram will build a comprehensive DNA profile that can be used for forensic genetic genealogy to generate new investigative leads in the case. A DNASolves crowdfund has been established to cover the costs of this critical testing.

With your help, we can finally uncover his name and the truth about what happened to him. Please consider making a contribution to support the DNA testing that could solve this case. Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us one step closer to answers.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Interesting that he never made it to NAMUS

 

[victoriarobinson642]

621 | Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons

www.missinginms.msstate.edu

The only possible/plausible match I see is Douglas Atkinson, who lived in Long Beach, MS.

 

[MarziPanda]

Wow, that's wild. Almost like something from a film. Very unfortunate that Cates refused to give any information, but with him being the kind of guy who would murder someone to fake his own death, I'm not surprised.

I think Cates must have been confident that his victim would not be missed. A local average man with a family would be reported missing and the timing of the car fire would bring suspicion. That makes me think that this victim was either a loner (lived alone, no close family/friend connections) or was maybe homeless. Could also be that he was reported missing but the report wasn't taken seriously by LE.

I'm certain that Othram will be able to bring this man back to his family, fingers crossed for a quick solve.

 

[Angelcat13]

Wow, that's wild. Almost like something from a film. Very unfortunate that Cates refused to give any information, but with him being the kind of guy who would murder someone to fake his own death, I'm not surprised.

I think Cates must have been confident that his victim would not be missed. A local average man with a family would be reported missing and the timing of the car fire would bring suspicion. That makes me think that this victim was either a loner (lived alone, no close family/friend connections) or was maybe homeless. Could also be that he was reported missing but the report wasn't taken seriously by LE.

I'm certain that Othram will be able to bring this man back to his family, fingers crossed for a quick solve.

I wish that Cates had been REQUIRED to identify the victim as part of the plea deal. I wonder why this was not done?

 

[Bigditch]

I wish that Cates had been REQUIRED to identify the victim as part of the plea deal. I wonder why this was not done?

Agree. Not a helpful decision.

 

[dotr]

Who is Canton John Doe (1983)?

Madison County Coroner’s Office and Rankin County Coroner’s Office Team with Othram to Identify a 1983 Homicide Victim

dnasolves.com

 

[buffalogal]

I wish that Cates had been REQUIRED to identify the victim as part of the plea deal. I wonder why this was not done?

I do too, but he did have a Constitutional right to remain silent, coupled with the fact that from all accounts he was given kid glove treatment. The prosecutor at the time said he wished he had "more evidence": as though finding a burned body in the car of a man who had "disappeared" to another state and taken up living under an assumed name would not have been sufficient evidence to convict him. There's also the possibility that he didn't know who it was; he could have been just an unlucky stranger he came across walking on an empty stretch of road, or someone he met just before he murdered him. The coroner couldn't say exactly how he died, only that he was alive before the fire. ruling out the idea that Ed had procured a cadaver from somewhere, and leaving the horrific thought that he might have still been alive when the fire was set. From the injuries, it sounds like he'd been hit by a car, breaking his leg, multiple ribs, and his back. The missing teeth could have been knocked out in the collision. I would like to know how Ed left the scene of the crime? He wouldn't have hitchhiked, because he couldn't take a chance he'd be recognized. Was the man driving his own car, and after he'd been run down, stuffed into the Civic (breaking two more ribs in the process) and murdered Ed just drove away in the victim's vehicle? I expect he would have gotten rid of it quickly, but not just abandoned on the side of the road because someone might have gone looking for the owner. He could have just walked off, but again, there's the risk of being recognized. Just lots of questions that it seems no one thought to ask at the time. I hope they can identify him, God knows he deserves that.

 

[HopeRains]

I vaguely recall a similar case out of Virginia, I believe, about the same time frame as well.

 

[Angelcat13]

I vaguely recall a similar case out of Virginia, I believe, about the same time frame as well.

Could you be thinking of this case - the murder of Lisa Marto by her husband, Lawrence Gaudenzi? Gaudenzi disappeared after police began to focus on him during the investigation into Lisa’s disappearance. He then disappeared and was later found living in Virginia using the identity of someone else.

There is a thread here for Lisa Marto Gaudenzi (though I refuse to include his last name in connection with hers). She was a high school friend of mine.

“After fleeing Caroline County, Lawrence had assumed the identity of Randy Evans, a Richmond homeless man who has not been seen since 1998.”

Husband confesses to hiding wife's body in drum of acid

The family of a Caroline County woman will get some closure after she went missing in 1995.

www.12onyourside.com

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Wow, that's wild. Almost like something from a film.

It's virtually identical to the 1931 case of the Blazing Car Murder in the UK. The victim in that case remains unidentified, but it's thought he was probably a tramp looking for work. There were a lot of traumatised and unemployed ex-servicemen on the roads of the UK at the time.

Alfred Rouse - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As it happens, tissue samples from the victim are available. The DNA options open to LE here have so far not produced a match, but he sounds like a good candidate for genetic genealogy when it finally comes to the UK.

 

[MarziPanda]

It's virtually identical to the 1931 case of the Blazing Car Murder in the UK. The victim in that case remains unidentified, but it's thought he was probably a tramp looking for work. There were a lot of traumatised and unemployed ex-servicemen on the roads of the UK at the time.

Alfred Rouse - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As it happens, tissue samples from the victim are available. The DNA options open to LE here have so far not produced a match, but he sounds like a good candidate for genetic genealogy when it finally comes to the UK.

Interesting, I'd not heard of that. I wonder if Cates read up about that case and was inspired.

 

[HopeRains]

I'll have to go back and look. I specifically remember it being a man who faked his death by killing another man, placing him a burning car (was not able to truly positive ID then). Was in Virginia I'm pretty sure, and somewhere there is info on it - I think for many years the person in the car was unidentified. Not sure if this is the case connected with Lisa Marto.

 

[Angelcat13]

I'll have to go back and look. I specifically remember it being a man who faked his death by killing another man, placing him a burning car (was not able to truly positive ID then). Was in Virginia I'm pretty sure, and somewhere there is info on it - I think for many years the person in the car was unidentified. Not sure if this is the case connected with Lisa Marto.

I don’t think that it’s the same case. I thought I remembered that Lawrence Gaudenzi was always considered “Missing”, not “Deceased” (even if mistakenly).

 

[MarziPanda]

Interestingly enough, I went to the National Justice Museum in Nottingham (England) last week, and they have a tissue sample from the Rouse case on display! Thought it was a weird coincidence since I just read about the case.

I think it's a shame that the UK's rules around genetic genealogy will prevent the Rouse victim from being identified, when the much more recent Cates case will probably be solved with relative ease with genetic genealogy. GG is the future. There need not ever be a Doe ever again. Makes me sad that my country is so behind.