OH OH - William 'Bill' Comeans, 14, Columbus, 7 Jan 1980 - #1

[rosemadderlake]

I am not sure that children were named, I was under the impression that the letters were adressed to the parents.
The persons who were named, were female in the age bracket of 7 to 50 years. It is easy to know the first names of your neighbors of the same generation.

LE have declared that AJT is NOT A SUSPECT in the death of BC.
When reading what we are told about the notes, it is easily understood that they were interpreted as threats at the time.
However, once you know that they were written by someone on the verge of a mental breakdown (she spent three weeks in the University Hospital after Halloween) you can also read those notes as very frightened about evil that might happen even if this was only happening in her confused mind.

If she was playing a cat-and-mouse game, she wasn't very good at it. Whoever left the first series of notes in the lockers did a lot better.

Thanks to GoingByMyGut for collecting all these facts!

There were a few articles in the media link that mentioned children were named.

Threat Letters Believed Written By Same Person
The Columbus Dispatch - October 31, 1980

Originally Posted by pdxmama
Key points:
• Detective believed letters were written by the same BC's murderer. Letters were received by families who also lived on Maple Dr.
• Handwriting analysis was done and determined all were written by same person.
• Some neighborhood children were specifically named in the letters.
• 19 letters were received by 8 families between July 21st and "last Tuesday"
• Delivered in groups (multiple houses at once) and delivered personally (did not use US Mail)

bbm: ‘Verge of a mental breakdown’ is a broad term for a whole set of specifics-but yes, a murder might set someone on the verge, over the edge in a demented way. I read her attorney offered no explanation (to the public). My sense is not much more than that is known.

 

[ZaZara]

The problem I have with the idea of the polygraph being used as a scare tactic is that it was not conducted by local LE. From the timeline (BBM):

10/22/79, Monday Second Assault (Attempted Murder?)

Four days later, Bill takes a polygraph test at Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio.
​

JMO, but I don't think they would take a scare tactic to that level.

I don't think it was a scare tactic or only a scare tactic. I think they were also dead serious about a possible major crime.

The at Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio has it's own page on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Bureau_of_Criminal_Identification_and_Investigation

Investigation Division

The Investigation Division provide assistance to local law enforcement agencies in Ohio with the investigation of criminal activity. The services of the Investigative Division include: Environmental Law Enforcement and Training, Narcotics Enforcement, and Major Crimes Investigation. The Major Crimes Investigation department includes Crime Scene units, Criminal Intelligence units, Polygraph units, Computer Crimes units, and Special Investigations units.[3]

.

IME, no matter how frustrated LE and the family were by Bills story, LE were serious in their investigation.

I would like to know more about their - temporary - conclusion of accidental suicide and what elements of proof (or the absence of proof of something else) this was based upon. Since the investigation is ongoing, lots of information is not available to the public, but maybe something was told at the time.

 

[ZaZara]

There were a few articles in the media link that mentioned children were named.

Threat Letters Believed Written By Same Person
The Columbus Dispatch - October 31, 1980

Originally Posted by pdxmama
Key points:
• Detective believed letters were written by the same BC's murderer. Letters were received by families who also lived on Maple Dr.
• Handwriting analysis was done and determined all were written by same person.
• Some neighborhood children were specifically named in the letters.
• 19 letters were received by 8 families between July 21st and "last Tuesday"
• Delivered in groups (multiple houses at once) and delivered personally (did not use US Mail)

bbm: ‘Verge of a mental breakdown’ is a broad term for a whole set of specifics-but yes, a murder might set someone on the verge, over the edge in a demented way. I read her attorney offered no explanation (to the public). My sense is not much more than that is known.

What caught my attention is that AJT claimed that two men had tried to pull her into a truck or something. That is no different from the theories that we are trying to develop in 2014, namely How Did BC Get To The Location Were He Was Found?
34 Years ago, the neighbors must have asked themselves the same questions. If a mind goes into overdrive, the person no longer sees the difference between thoughts, fears and reality. I think this is what happened with AJT.

I don't know any more than is known either, but I do know some families where a parent has mental problems. It is hard for all of them. The parent does not always remember what happened during an episode, but they still have to live with the consequences.
So basically, I'm with LE on this one.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I don't have enough information to dismiss AJT from the suspect list. Mentally ill or not, anyone who could write such heinous notes is capable of criminal acts, IMO.
I absolutely believe she knows more than what she told.

 

[hot cawfeee]

Wow-- this looks like some case!!!

Fast quick question or two----were the belts new or used?? If used they would have wear use patterns-help for a physical identification of waist size at the very least.

And does anyone have or know/remember the content of the notes Bill had sent??

 

[hot cawfeee]

The children mentioned in the letters----what did they have in common? Played on same sports teams, Girl Scouts, youth group, parents worked together or were club members??

 

[Pink Panther]

Personally, I think that the murderer is someone your family knew well. Someone that made Bill THINK that your family, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn't believe him. When the police didn't believe him because of the polygraph, that only reinforced the murderer's lie.

I agree. The family knew this person very well. If still alive, they still know him. I think Bill couldn't express what happened to him because it was unbearably unbelievable even to him. I think he couldn't communicate what had happened to him because he feared for his family. This person was geographically very close to the family. Mrs. Tope (her husband or children) are very suspect. Perhaps her letters were her way of trying to draw attention to what she suspected/knew?

The family (siblings) may be discounting people because of relationships that they had with whoever committed this crime - which may be exactly why Bill could not say what had happened. I think he was sexually molested and subsequently killed by someone very, very close.

moo

 

[rosesfromangels]

I agree. The family knew this person very well. If still alive, they still know him. I think Bill couldn't express what happened to him because it was unbearably unbelievable even to him. I think he couldn't communicate what had happened to him because he feared for his family. This person was geographically very close to the family. Mrs. Tope (her husband or children) are very suspect. Perhaps her letters were her way of trying to draw attention to what she suspected/knew?

The family (siblings) may be discounting people because of relationships that they had with whoever committed this crime - which may be exactly why Bill could not say what had happened. I think he was sexually molested and subsequently killed by someone very, very close.

moo

100% agree
BULLSEYE!

 

[Betty P]

The problem I have with the idea of the polygraph being used as a scare tactic is that it was not conducted by local LE. From the timeline (BBM):

10/22/79, Monday Second Assault (Attempted Murder?)

Four days later, Bill takes a polygraph test at Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio.
​

JMO, but I don't think they would take a scare tactic to that level.

Another thing to keep in mind, Columbus is the state capitol of Ohio. Local police and prosecutors had fairly close relationships with the state AG office, BCI and state offices of the FBI. Moreso than LE in any other Ohio city, local Columbus PD have easy access to all the assistance, expertise and resources of state and federal LE and prosecutors. Its something to consider when questioning what Columbus PD did or didn't do to investigate this case.

 

[Pink Panther]

Katco/Bob - Your brother was 14! I know it's difficult but perhaps instead of looking outside of the circle, it's time to look within? Very close. Someone that might be uncomfortably close? An immediate relative or very close family friend? I've read most posts here and can't believe that a smart 14 year-old boy would not give any clues as to what happened to him otherwise.

Dig deep and close.

moo

 

[pdxmama]

But what made them suspect suicide? It seems to me it would be hard for Bill to strangle himself without hanging. How could he keep the pressure up while unconscious?

Ah, MCDRAW, I have asked that same question a million times. I wish I had an answer for you. It absolutely makes no sense to me that they came to that conclusion but, for whatever reason, they did and I think it colored their entire investigation.

 

[pdxmama]

Wow-- this looks like some case!!!

Fast quick question or two----were the belts new or used?? If used they would have wear use patterns-help for a physical identification of waist size at the very least.

And does anyone have or know/remember the content of the notes Bill had sent??

Hi hot cawfee! Are you referring to the belts that the notes were attached to that were found on neighbors cars/ porches, etc.? If so, they were determined to have been put there by the note writer herself, the neigbor that we refer to as AJT. She was convicted of writing the notes as a hoax and fined by the court.

The notes found in BC's locker at school and notes that his friends received at school as well as the note found at the first attack scene are the only ones thought to have been written by BC's killer.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Hi hot cawfee! Are you referring to the belts that the notes were attached to that were found on neighbors cars/ porches, etc.? If so, they were determined to have been put there by the note writer herself, the neigbor that we refer to as AJT. She was convicted of writing the notes as a hoax and fined by the court.

The notes found in BC's locker at school and notes that his friends received at school as well as the note found at the first attack scene are the only ones thought to have been written by BC's killer.

Which casts even more interest on this teacher who said Bill was asking questions about passing out. Im not buying it. Did this teacher pass a poly?

 

[GoingByMyGut]

The problem I have with the idea of the polygraph being used as a scare tactic is that it was not conducted by local LE. From the timeline (BBM):

10/22/79, Monday Second Assault (Attempted Murder?)

Four days later, Bill takes a polygraph test at Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio.
​

JMO, but I don't think they would take a scare tactic to that level.

Another thing to keep in mind, Columbus is the state capitol of Ohio. Local police and prosecutors had fairly close relationships with the state AG office, BCI and state offices of the FBI. Moreso than LE in any other Ohio city, local Columbus PD have easy access to all the assistance, expertise and resources of state and federal LE and prosecutors. Its something to consider when questioning what Columbus PD did or didn't do to investigate this case.

That's a good point, Betty -- and a good alternative explanation for how quick the FCSO was to use outside resources. A quick clarification re the BBM: By "local Columbus PD" I am assuming you mean all local PDs in the Columbus area -- not specifically the Columbus PD -- since the FCSO was investigating this case -- right? I am not sure those relationships protect a local department from developing (or perpetuating) a negative institutional climate, but it does help with how unusually quickly they (or at least one detective) reached out to BCI, FBI, and NYC.

 

[rosemadderlake]

-Bringing the content of the notes (bolded & underlined) forward from GBMG’s timeline for comparison.

Someone knew where Bill was day and night. Someone knew who his friends were. Someone knew who the neighbors and their children were. It is not known who delivered the notes to the lockers. But the author of second set of notes is known. Did she know specifically the content of the notes delivered at school before Bill was murdered? Was the content of the school notes ever published before Bill’s murder? The second set of notes: had to have been delivered in the middle of the night and were purposefully staged with belts, tied to porches, taped to cars.

IMO: When the second set of notes was written off as a hoax I think a good attorney had been retained by AJT, and the mental illness card was played to the max to thwart off any further inquiry, and this is where the investigation may have run aground. IIRC: Police said we charged her on the only thing we could, a misdemeanor. And that was that.

My question is was there any new information discovered about Bill’s murder between the Hoax/Misdemeanor in 1980 and 2014?


9/5/1979, Wednesday First Assault (Attempted Murder?)
8:30 PM
• Bill is on his way home from a friend's house and cuts through the woods behind Prairie-Lincoln Elementary School, at 4900 Amesbury Way.
• Bill is on a trail 50 yards into the woods behind the school.
• Bill is knocked from his bike by “two unknown men” who approach from behind.
• They tie a plastic garbage bag over Bill’s head and wrap a bicycle inner tube around his neck.
• Bill nearly loses consciousness but frees himself.
• Bill returns home with bruises on his neck.
• Police find inner tube, plastic bag, and BC’s bike at scene, plus note that says “He was warned.”
• Bill later files an assault report with Sherriff’s deputies, and police find Bill's bike bag, inner tube, and note at the scene.
• Bill is unable to describe his assailants.


September & October 1979 Threatening Notes Rec’d at School
• Throughout the fall, Bill finds 3-4 threatening notes in his school locker, which he gives detectives.
• Some are typed, some are written, and some are cut from pieces of magazines.
• Bill’s best friend and a girl friend each also received a note in their lockers. These messages, typed in red ink, say “Blood will spill,” “It’s your turn,” and “Bill has three mths. left. ps. make the best of it.”
• At least one note is found at Westland HS after BC’s death. It says, "You're next" and is signed with a red "S." (A source says this is according to BC's parents, as deputies would not confirm such a note was found.)
• LE compares Bill’s handwriting to the handwriting on the notes.

7/21 - 10/31/80 Neighbors on Maple Drive receive threatening letters/notes
• 13-19 letters (sources are mixed on the exact number) are received by eight families living w/in 200 yards of one another on Maple Dr. (or within 200 yards of the Comeans home)
• Families on Maple Drive who receive the notes include: Armstrong, Baker, Blain, Comeans, Kidwell, Stormont, Tope, and Watts
• Families receive identical notes on same days.
• In July they start to arrive at two-week intervals.
• Some are mailed, others hand-delivered at night (several sources say tied to porches and cars with leather belts; one source says taped; one source says leather straps).
• First to be delivered in person arrive 9/9/80.
• Sometimes arrival is 4 days apart, other times 33 days apart.
• Handwriting is described two ways:
• “crudely printed messages”
• “neatly penciled on pieces of cut envelope.”
• Handwriting analysis reveals all are written by same person. (Unclear whether comparison include pre-death notes.)
• Messages are “very brief in three or four words or in poorly constructed sentences.”
• Messages reported in press:
• Parents should guard their children carefully, signed X.
• “Time is short”
• “[Name] is next” (seven neighborhood females, aged 7-50, were specifically named across in these notes)
• “All have been warned”
• “Death in October”
• “U R Next”
• “It’s time.” (left the night before Halloween)
• Police believe the letter writer may be BC’s killer.
• On Nov. 2, LE calls the letter writer a “terrorist” and go to Syracuse to get a psychological profile done on the letter writer.

 

[rosemadderlake]

Hi hot cawfee! Are you referring to the belts that the notes were attached to that were found on neighbors cars/ porches, etc.? If so, they were determined to have been put there by the note writer herself, the neigbor that we refer to as AJT. She was convicted of writing the notes as a hoax and fined by the court.

The notes found in BC's locker at school and notes that his friends received at school as well as the note found at the first attack scene are the only ones thought to have been written by BC's killer.

Which casts even more interest on this teacher who said Bill was asking questions about passing out. Im not buying it. Did this teacher pass a poly?

bbms:
If the teacher was interviewed after the murder, did LE interpret this as confirmation of a suicide attempt which was how it read when published in the paper? And that was that?

I wonder about the full context of that interview. On the flip side, I wonder if the teacher was the one person Bill tried to reach out to?

 

[GoingByMyGut]

The children mentioned in the letters----what did they have in common? Played on same sports teams, Girl Scouts, youth group, parents worked together or were club members??

Hi, hot cawfee

I may be missing the obvious, but I'm having a hard time seeing where you're going with this question. The kids were not victims of a crime ... I guess you're thinking (if you haven't finished reading the thread yet) that the note writer might be someone involved with these kids somehow, say as a scout leader or coach? Maybe you don't realize the neighbor was found to have done it?

Anyway, just to follow the thought, as I understand it, one thing the children all have in common is living in this neighborhood. Because the notes all went to people living within 200 yards of either each other or the Cs (depending on the account you read), I believe those who were named lived in the houses the notes were sent to. It's not specifically stated as such, but no geography outside that description is ever mentioned in the news accounts. JMO

Of course, the other thing they have in common is being strung together in the mind of an unstable woman. While acc. to the media accounts, AJT never publicly gave a reason for writing the notes, she somehow left the Cs with the impression that she executed the hoax to draw attention to their case -- did she say this? I don't know. But up until the time she was revealed as the note writer, Mrs. C thought of her as a friend. (Afterward, Mrs. C is quoted saying of her, “She was a good friend, but I don’t even want to look at her.”)

It has always troubled me that there is a similarity between the note "left" at the scene of the first attack ("He was warned.") and one of the hoax notes (“All have been warned”). But it's the point of a hoax to imitate the the original, right? If the Cs were getting so little satisfaction from LE (e.g., being told while waiting for the cororoner to make a decision on cause of death that LE thought Bill committed suicide), it makes sense to me that they would bring their neighbor friends in on what they were going through. They may not have seen any harm in revealing the content of the locker notes once Bill died, and they may have seen the notes as evidence of an attacker (i.e., a defense against suicide). Thus, while we don't know for sure, AJT may have been privy to the content of the school notes and could actually have based her notes on the originals.

Also, I don't think AJT herself was physically capable of the attacks against Bill, so the only plausbile connection to her, IMO, is that she was covering for someone else in her family (pure speculation). And if that were true, her goal would have been to confuse, to throw suspicion in some random direction, right? That's the main reason I can't put a lot of weight on the content of the notes sent between July and October of 1980.

I think it's clear that we have nothing more than suspicion to base a connection to AJT on, so I myself can't rule her out or in. It's possible ... but no more possible -- IMO -- than any other house in the neighborhood.

 

[rosesfromangels]

GBMG - great post, interesting points. I'm still laser focused on this note writer and her family. I think your speculation that she might have been covering for another family member is a very interesting, and probable one

What else do we know about that family; what has been publicly shared and can be discussed in this forum? Again, it is my staunch opinion that anyone that could write such horrid notes under such circumstances is capable of other nefarious acts. What happened to this family? Any criminal acts in the years that have followed?

 

[rosemadderlake]

GBMG - great post, interesting points. I'm still laser focused on this note writer and her family. I think your speculation that she might have been covering for another family member is a very interesting, and probable one

What else do we know about that family; what has been publicly shared and can be discussed in this forum? Again, it is my staunch opinion that anyone that could write such horrid notes under such circumstances is capable of other nefarious acts. What happened to this family? Any criminal acts in the years that have followed?

bbm: Agreed, I have wondered could she have been that threatening inside the home? -Deliberate and threatening like the terrorist she was on the neighborhood?

If no explanation was offered to the public, wonder if Bill's family ever got an explanation (even if illogical) beyond "mental case"?

Wonder what the psychological profile of the note writer done in Syracuse revealed?

 

[rosemadderlake]

Because there was no struggle when Bill was murdered, It seems there would most likely have to be two people to kill him without a struggle.

I absolutely believe that a woman of a certain size and strength, especially heightened by the adrenalin could have committed this murder, if capable of it in the first place. -And the previous attacks as well.