TX TX - Cheryl Henry, 22, & Andy Atkinson, 21, Houston, 21 Aug 1990

[jaejae]

They were never at a strip club that night. They were at a dancing/drinking establishment - Bayou Mama's. If they were followed that night it was likely from there.

Thanks for that information sorry I do not know all the details. I think the killer followed them still and the main point of course is it was a horrific crime which of course somewhat of an understatement.

 

[mocity]

Thanks for that information sorry I do not know all the details. I think the killer followed them still and the main point of course is it was a horrific crime which of course somewhat of an understatement.

No problem! Just updating with what I know. I truly thank you for you interest in Cheryl and Andy's case. Any new set of thoughts helps!

 

[Rocky1]

Mocity:
If you were to drive from the club to the cul-de-sac, would you drove past the so called "lovers lane" hang out to get to the cul-de-sac?
The reason I ask is, if the answer is no, and the cul-de-sac is far enough away where nobody could see the reflection of headlights turning in the cul-de-sac from the "hang out", this, to me, would another reason I think they were followed from the club, rather than someone waiting for them.

 

[jaejae]

No problem! Just updating with what I know. I truly thank you for you interest in Cheryl and Andy's case. Any new set of thoughts helps!

Thanks. I am still hopeful this case might finally be solved pretty soon. Whether people agree with all my theories or not I know a fair bit about cases like the Colonial Parkway Murders and Golden State Killer cases. In my opinion in this case which I have studied quite a lot as well I would look for connections with other unsolved double murders in the US like the Colonial Parkway Murders. You probably cannot do anymore to get the case solved than what you are doing at the moment. Keep going and good luck.

 

[Snoods]

This is from as previous partial post (#518, page 26) as to the exact location, and my thoughts as to whether someone was lying in wait.
Snipped:
I think Cheryl was stalked at the club too. I doubt he was waiting at the crime scene for her because Cheryl and Andy had only been together for a few weeks, and it's unlikely they had established a pattern of hanging at the scene. Where they were parked was not at the actual hang out, ( lovers lane) but down the road some, in a cul-de-sac. It was a wet mosquito infested night. According to the weather history, there were thunderstorms that night around 10 pm, before they left the club. I think they were followed from the club.

Correct me if I am wrong, but, I want to say the cul-de-sac where they were killed, and the "lovers lane hangout" are two separate locations?

I also agree they were followed from Bayou Mama’s. Was it just a coup for him that they ended up in an isolated area? He couldn’t possibly have known where they were going after they left the club, unless he knew them and/or talked to them at the club.

So what is to be made of the strip club connection? It is just too much of a coincidence for me.

 

[Snoods]

My thoughts from a previous post (#505, page 26) in regards to whether there was one person, or two.
Snipped:
Thinking out loud..
If both were taken from the car at the same time by one person, to me, it would make sense that both would have been led from the car to the tree, Andy would have been tied up and no longer a threat, and then Cheryl led away the 100 yards away.
So, if the dogs tracked her scent from the car, why didn't they find Andy till the next day? The dog should have led LE right past Andy first, before they found Cheryl.
If in fact, the dog started tracking from the car, that says there had to be two people involved. One took Andy one way, and the other took Cheryl the other way.

You make valid points. Could Cheryl have been tied up in the car and Andy led away first? ( I’m sorry to talk about your loved one so clinically, Mocity. I sincerely hate that you have to read this.)

I feel I need to read this thread from the beginning again to remember all the details.

I just don’t see a lone rapist wannabe military guy teaming up with someone to commit the atrocities Andy and Cheryl suffered. He was reveling in the power he had over those poor kids, it turns my stomach.

 

[Snoods]

Thanks. I am still hopeful this case might finally be solved pretty soon. Whether people agree with all my theories or not I know a fair bit about cases like the Colonial Parkway Murders and Golden State Killer cases. In my opinion in this case which I have studied quite a lot as well I would look for connections with other unsolved double murders in the US like the Colonial Parkway Murders. You probably cannot do anymore to get the case solved than what you are doing at the moment. Keep going and good luck.

I truly believe this will be solved and Cheryl and Andy’s murderer/s will be brought to justice.

 

[jaejae]

Good post I think you are right about the control the killer wanted to exert over the victims and the fact he was a military man. You are also right about how horrible the crime was. Struggle to find worse but there are many horrible ones on this site.

 

[Snoods]

Good post I think you are right about the control the killer wanted to exert over the victims and the fact he was a military man. You are also right about how horrible the crime was. Struggle to find worse but there are many horrible ones on this site.

It’s just so “it could have been me” type of crime. Who hasn’t parked with someone when you were young, enjoying the excitement and beginning of young love? They were both stunning looking, smart, young, and were living an invincible life, like we all did.

 

[Rocky1]

I also agree they were followed from Bayou Mama’s. Was it just a coup for him that they ended up in an isolated area? He couldn’t possibly have known where they were going after they left the club, unless he knew them and/or talked to them at the club.

So what is to be made of the strip club connection? It is just too much of a coincidence for me.

I believe there is a connection to the strip club. This is why.
There were more than a few woman that disappeared from the area surrounding a few strip clubs that have been discussed, although not positively connected.
The $20.00 bill that was found at the crime scene to means one of two things. Either it was a symbol of tipping at a strip club, although Cheryl worked as a waitress at the strip club, ( but not at the time of the murder) or whoever did this, thought Cheryl/Andy ripped him off for $20.00 at Bayou Mama's, and that upset him.( motive) I was wondering if Cheryl and Andy and her Sister sat at the bar rather than a table at Bayou Mama's. If they did, imo, someone may have left change on the bar and someone other than them could have grabbed it, and he thought it was Cheryl, or Andy. The only flaw in the latter thought is unless he paid with a $50, or $100 bill, I see no reason why he'd have a $20 laying on the bar.
Another thought...
One thing that would help is if we knew if the pilot boyfriend of the woman that was raped hung out at the strip club where his girlfriend worked. The rapist knew who he was, and I believe if the bf did hang there, the rapist may have sat next to him at the club, struck up a conversation, and gathered the information on when he was leaving for his flight etc.

 

[Rocky1]

Good post I think you are right about the control the killer wanted to exert over the victims and the fact he was a military man. You are also right about how horrible the crime was. Struggle to find worse but there are many horrible ones on this site.

Although he did have a military stance, I'm not convinced he was a "military man." I haven't ruled out a rogue cop either. Security Guard? Not in any way pointing fingers, but did they check out the Security Guard that found the abandoned car?
I'm thinking outside the box, because there have been many detectives that have been assigned this case, and IMO all it may take is something small that was overlooked to solve this.
(I.E. Stephanie Lazarus)

 

[Snoods]

I believe there is a connection to the strip club. This is why.
There were more than a few woman that disappeared from the area surrounding a few strip clubs that have been discussed, although not positively connected.
The $20.00 bill that was found at the crime scene to means one of two things. Either it was a symbol of tipping at a strip club, although Cheryl worked as a waitress at the strip club, ( but not at the time of the murder) or whoever did this, thought Cheryl/Andy ripped him off for $20.00 at Bayou Mama's, and that upset him.( motive) I was wondering if Cheryl and Andy and her Sister sat at the bar rather than a table at Bayou Mama's. If they did, imo, someone may have left change on the bar and someone other than them could have grabbed it, and he thought it was Cheryl, or Andy. The only flaw in the latter thought is unless he paid with a $50, or $100 bill, I see no reason why he'd have a $20 laying on the bar.
Another thought...
One thing that would help is if we knew if the pilot boyfriend of the woman that was raped hung out at the strip club where his girlfriend worked. The rapist knew who he was, and I believe if the bf did hang there, the rapist may have sat next to him at the club, struck up a conversation, and gathered the information on when he was leaving for his flight etc.

I agree with points you bring up, in particular the $20 bill.

I need to get to sleep, work tomorrow, but I would like to kick around your theories tomorrow night, when I’m not sleep deprived.

Plus I want to reread the thread again.

 

[Snoods]

Although he did have a military stance, I'm not convinced he was a "military man." I haven't ruled out a rogue cop either. Security Guard? Not in any way pointing fingers, but did they check out the Security Guard that found the abandoned car?
I'm thinking outside the box, because there have been many detectives that have been assigned this case, and IMO all it may take is something small that was overlooked to solve this.
(I.E. Stephanie Lazarus)

Hence “military wannabe”. They like to feel empowered while dominating their victims.

Stephanie Lazarus, yikes. She was scary, but she had a relationship with the husband of the victim.

 

[jaejae]

Although he did have a military stance, I'm not convinced he was a "military man." I haven't ruled out a rogue cop either. Security Guard? Not in any way pointing fingers, but did they check out the Security Guard that found the abandoned car?
I'm thinking outside the box, because there have been many detectives that have been assigned this case, and IMO all it may take is something small that was overlooked to solve this.
(I.E. Stephanie Lazarus)

I think you are right about the connections to the strip clubs. You may be right about the rogue cop but I think since the identification of the Golden State Killer perhaps people have gone down the killer cop/rogue cop route too much as there are not that many of them about. You never know though. I favour military man with his military bearing. I believe the Colonial Parkway Murders may be related to this case and I favour military man in these cases too. I have a suspect that served ten years in the military in these cases and may have also served in Vietnam. Good thoughts

 

[Rocky1]

I think you are right about the connections to the strip clubs. You may be right about the rogue cop but I think since the identification of the Golden State Killer perhaps people have gone down the killer cop/rogue cop route too much as there are not that many of them about. You never know though. I favour military man with his military bearing. I believe the Colonial Parkway Murders may be related to this case and I favour military man in these cases too. I have a suspect that served ten years in the military in these cases and may have also served in Vietnam. Good thoughts

You may be right. Remember though.... although it may be easy to get the age of a person wrong, if I remember right, this guy was in his mid 20's to 30 years old. If he was in Vietnam, the very youngest he would have been at the time of the crime would be 35.

 

[jaejae]

You may be right. Remember though.... although it may be easy to get the age of a person wrong, if I remember right, this guy was in his mid 20's to 30 years old. If he was in Vietnam, the very youngest he would have been at the time of the crime would be 35.

Good point and when I first looked at the case with him in mind the witness descriptions of his age does not totally fit. My suspect would have been thirty seven or thirty eight years old in 1990. He also does not look that much like composite sketch to me but he does behave just like the attacker in the DNA linked rape. He also had a twisted and evil sense of humour. But hopefully we or more importantly the victims relatives may get some answers. Although what I will say is I feel the answer may not be a nice one but it is not a nice case of course.

 

[mocity]

Mocity:
If you were to drive from the club to the cul-de-sac, would you drove past the so called "lovers lane" hang out to get to the cul-de-sac?
The reason I ask is, if the answer is no, and the cul-de-sac is far enough away where nobody could see the reflection of headlights turning in the cul-de-sac from the "hang out", this, to me, would another reason I think they were followed from the club, rather than someone waiting for them.

The area was between two streets so it would depend on which direction they came from. If they turned off of Briar Forest then they would pass the cul-de-sac on the way to the "hang out". If they came from Eldridge the wouldn't. I don't think you would have been able to see the car or headlights unless you drove by them.

 

[mocity]

Although he did have a military stance, I'm not convinced he was a "military man." I haven't ruled out a rogue cop either. Security Guard? Not in any way pointing fingers, but did they check out the Security Guard that found the abandoned car?
I'm thinking outside the box, because there have been many detectives that have been assigned this case, and IMO all it may take is something small that was overlooked to solve this.
(I.E. Stephanie Lazarus)

Hi Rocky,

Yes they did check out the security guard. He was a security guard at the Sysco office building that was close by. He found the car and her purse. I believe my parents were called first by guard. He was checked out and cleared. It is my understanding he has since passed away and didn't fit the age range.

 

[Snoods]

This isn't directly related to Cheryl and Andy's murders, but it relates to the fact that many of us may die of old age before familial DNA is ever run on their murderer.

Gregory Montgomery raped an 11-year-old girl in Harris County, TX in 1989, 29 year ago. Her rape kit was done that day.

Montgomery has been in prison since 1992 for other crimes, including two other rapes. So his DNA has been in the system since at least CODIS was implemented, in 1998.

This 11 year old's rape kit DNA wasn't entered into the system until 2013, 15 years after her rape could have been solved and 15 years in which this victim could have lived in peace, knowing her rapist was behind bars. An 11 year old girl. WTF!!

https://www.chron.com/houston/artic...st-arrested-29-years-after-crime-13359451.php

 

[margarita25]

I can not stress enough how much I want to see an arrest in this case.

Hugs @mocity