OH OH - Homer Potts, 26, Feb 1987, Byesville, & Lela Potts, 25 Oct 1988, Byesville

[thrasher_banks]

On February 26, 1987 around 1pm, Homer Potts and his wife Lela heard a knock at their front door. When Homer answered the door, there was a white male in his mid twenties with a scruffy beard demanding money. When Homer refused to give him any money, he stabbed Homer in the chest. Homer ran from his attacker and managed to get to a dinner bell behind the house in an attempt to alert the neighbors. He was then stabbed three more times in the chest before collapsing by the back door. Lela was then stabbed once by the man before he fled. When police arrived, Lela had managed to drag Homer inside the back porch area. The man was never identified.

20 months later, Lela was found in the same house stabbed 17 times with various weapons with a screwdriver driven through her temple. The investigators theorized that the murders were related and that Lela was possibly killed to hide the killers identity. Both cases remain unsolved today. There has been speculation that a man named Timothy G Terrell and another male were involved in these murders. Terrell was charged with the murder of Cindy Cozad in Dayton, Ohio in June of 1995 and remains imprisoned today. There has also been speculation that Terrell was involved in a slew of sex worker murders throughout the late 80s and 90s, several murders in Akron around the same time, and possibly the murder of Robin Stone in 1991. Terrell had access to a semi truck during his time in Guernsey County and could have been involved in highway slayings (Dr. No, Stargazer, Dragon). When he was arrested in Dayton, there were items of women clothing found among his belongings along with letters written by his alleged accomplice in the Potts murders that detailed torturing and murdering a sheriff, DA, Judge, among others. The letters included grisly details about what they planned to do to these individuals. I will withhold their names for privacy reasons.

The kicker is that Terrell lived with me and my mother when he was arrested for the murder of Cindy Cozad in 1995. These events are detailed in the podcast titled Lords of Death. I have attached the original news articles about the Potts murders and a photo of Terrell. If you have any additional information about these cases, please post below.

Here is a blog about the Potts murders written by a local: My Unsolved Murders; and Yours? - Straight Dope Message Board

 

[teedie2]

duplicate

 

[teedie2]

That was a heckuva first post!

Lived with you?!?!?!? Y'all must have been in total shock. Honestly, this is one of the scariest things I've read on here. So glad he didn't decide to get rid of you and your mom. Maybe some day he will admit to killing this poor, elderly couple. When you've survived all else that life throws at you and make it into your 70's, it's just not fair die the way they did. I do not question God or his plan for our lives, but it's sad. Death is sad, when you get right down to it. An old person or young, a baby, we all lose something when death comes.

Glad you and your mom were spared.

 

[samsmom]

I love that Gray Hughes covers older cases.
Here’s a YT of this case. He covered it today.

 

[Johnn]

What happened to the podcast?

 

[spiritseeker31]

I am a descendant of the Potts family of Byesville/Senecaville. I was just digging further into my family tree and happen to see the newspaper article on this. I've never heard this talked about at our reunions. I'll have to ask my great aunt about this case. I wonder why Gray Hug made the video private.

 

[spiritseeker31]

Lela survived the first attack. 20 months later in October of 1988 she was stabbed in her house...again! This time killing her.