TX TX - Virginia Carpenter, 21, Denton, 1948

[madamx]

Returning to this case, I haven't changed my mind. I still think the taxi driver is the best suspect.

I think so too.. especially since he tried raping some other woman years later.

 

[ekardh]

I think so too.. especially since he tried raping some other woman years later.

My only room for doubt is that apparently the nightwatchman saw Virginia getting into a convertible. However, I don't know the truth of this report or whether he was mistaken.

 

[Quoththeraven]

And in 1957, his wife, who was married to someone else by then, told Midland police she had lied when she said he was home that night by 10. Actually, according to the police files, she said he had come in at 2 or 3 a.m. the next morning.
And each year on June 1, when the Denton Record-Chronicle rehashed the unsolved case, Mr. Zachary traveled from Midland to Denton and bought a paper, his wife told the officers.
He became nervous, uneasy, and she believed he had something to do with the girl's disappearance. He was never charged.''

Edgar Ray Zachary, traveling 334 miles from Midland to Denton, TX to buy a newspaper each year on the anniversary of a murder that he was a suspect in strikes me as quite odd. According to the 2 Jan 1947, Waco News-Tribune and the 3 Nov 1957 San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times at Newspapers.com, the rape assault victim dropped charges against him.

Google Maps

Bond had been lowered from $25,000 to $16,000 to $5,000 and he bonded out at the time she dropped charges. The latter newspaper was the last time this case was reported on in any newspaper at Newspaper.com, so, we'll never know if the state ultimately dropped charges, too. The next we hear of him is at Find-a Grave in 1984.

Edgar Ray Zachary (1908-1984) - Find a Grave...

In researching the 1946 Texarkana Phantom Killer, it's highly unlikely he was involved in those beatings and shootings, as the first two victims (that lived) in those murders, stated he was young and dark-complected. In fact they disagreed with each other as to whether he was black or white. (The killer was wearing a hood with eye holes cut out).

Those beatings and killings happened
Feb 22-23 Fri-Sat
Mar 23-24 Sat Sun
Apr 13-14 Sat-Sun
May 3 Fri

Mary Virginia Carpenter disappeared on June 1, a Tuesday.

Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s - Newspapers.com

 

[madamx]

60 years ago...

The last post to this thread was over two years ago. I thought that I would bump it up as this year marks the 60th anniversary of Virginia Carpenter's disappearance. Perhaps there will be some news articles about it.


-------------------
Virginia Carpenter
Missing since June 1, 1948 from Denton, Denton County, Texas
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: about 1927
Age at Time of Disappearance: 21 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 120 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Long brown hair; brown eyes.
Clothing: She was wearing a striped chambray dress, a white hat and red platform shoes and bag.

Circumstances of Disappearance


Carpenter was last seen in Denton, Texas on June 1, 1948.

She left her home in Texarkana, Texas and took a train to Denton. She got off the train in Denton and took a taxi to the campus of what is now Texas Woman's University. She stepped out of the cab in front of Brackenridge Hall at the Texas State College for Women a little after 9 p.m. She gave the cab driver the ticket for her trunk and a dollar to fetch it the next day from the train station. She walked over to talk to two young men she appeared to know. ``Well, hi. What are you doing here?'' she asked them. The cab driver drove away.

The cab driver delivered her trunk the next morning. It sat on the porch for days. In 1948, police questioned Miss Carpenter's boyfriend for 12 hours the first time around and interviewed him more than a dozen times after that. He also passed a polygraph test. Police searched the cab driver, looking for scratches or bruises. They grilled the cabby numerous times. He was 45, with little education and a reputation for physical abuse. According to reports in the still-open Denton police files, the cabby was a ``bootlegger, part-time mechanic and automobile trader'' who beat his wife and kids.

And in 1957, his wife, who was married to someone else by then, told Midland police she had lied when she said he was home that night by 10. Actually, according to the police files, she said he had come in at 2 or 3 a.m. the next morning. And each year on June 1, when the Denton Record-Chronicle rehashed the unsolved case, he traveled from Midland to Denton and bought a paper, his wife told the officers. He became nervous, uneasy, and she believed he had something to do with the girl's disappearance. He was never charged.

The year before her disappearance, five Texarkana teens were murdered by a person who has never been identified. The press dubbed him the ``Phantom Killer.'' Miss Carpenter and her family were friends with three of the five victims.

In May of 1998, police were given a tip by a man in his 70s who claimed to know who killed Ms. Carpenter and where she was buried. Police said the informant was close to some of the people who were allegedly involved in Ms. Carpenter’s disappearance. The sheriff said the two suspects in the murder are now dead.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Denton County Sheriff's Office
940-349-1600

Source Information:

Laredo Morning Times
Denton Record-Chronicle - 8/3/97
The Doe Network: Case File 1880DFTX

LINK:

1880DFTX - Mary Virginia Carpenter

“In May of 1998, police were given a tip by a man in his 70s who claimed to know who killed Ms. Carpenter and where she was buried. Police said the informant was close to some of the people who were allegedly involved in Ms. Carpenter’s disappearance. The sheriff said the two suspects in the murder are now dead. “

I was wondering if anything was ever made public about what the guy in 1998 said.

 

[madamx]

There are two listings for Edgar Zachary in the Social Security Death Index. Note that both have the same date of birth and date of death, but that there are two different Social Security Numbers and two different "last place of residence" listed.

Key:
Name Date of Birth Death Last Residence
Last Benefit SSN State of Issue

EDGAR ZACHARY 23 Feb 1908 Apr 1984 75074 (Plano, Collin, TX)
(none specified) 453-10-9665 Texas

EDGAR ZACHARY 23 Feb 1908 Apr 1984 75833 (Centerville, Leon, TX)
(none specified) 456-22-8812 Texas

That is weird

 

[madamx]

Edgar Ray Zachary, traveling 334 miles from Midland to Denton, TX to buy a newspaper each year on the anniversary of a murder that he was a suspect in strikes me as quite odd. According to the 2 Jan 1947, Waco News-Tribune and the 3 Nov 1957 San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times at Newspapers.com, the rape assault victim dropped charges against him.

Google Maps

Bond had been lowered from $25,000 to $16,000 to $5,000 and he bonded out at the time she dropped charges. The latter newspaper was the last time this case was reported on in any newspaper at Newspaper.com, so, we'll never know if the state ultimately dropped charges, too. The next we hear of him is at Find-a Grave in 1984.

Edgar Ray Zachary (1908-1984) - Find a Grave...

In researching the 1946 Texarkana Phantom Killer, it's highly unlikely he was involved in those beatings and shootings, as the first two victims (that lived) in those murders, stated he was young and dark-complected. In fact they disagreed with each other as to whether he was black or white. (The killer was wearing a hood with eye holes cut out).

Those beatings and killings happened
Feb 22-23 Fri-Sat
Mar 23-24 Sat Sun
Apr 13-14 Sat-Sun
May 3 Fri

Mary Virginia Carpenter disappeared on June 1, a Tuesday.

Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s - Newspapers.com

When did he try to rape that other woman?

 

[madamx]

[News Script: Zachary free]


Description
Script from the WBAP-TV station in Fort Worth, Texas, covering a news story about Edgar Ray Zachary going free from jail after his accuser decides not to prosecute for the original attempted rape charges filed against him.


Creation Information
WBAP-TV (Television station : Fort Worth, Tex.) November 1, 1957.

 

[madamx]

Bones were found around Denton County in 1949, 1958 and 1960, but they were declared to not be Miss Carpenter

Disappearance of Virginia Carpenter - Wikipedia

They found bones around Denton ( that is so vague) 3 separate years but they were not Hers. I wonder if they ever identified who the bones belonged to . Or if they hav remained unidentified all these years.

 

[Quoththeraven]

That is weird

I agree, especially when he has two different SS account numbers.

According to the Collin County, Texas Marriage Index at Ancestry.com, Edgar Zachary was married to Eunice Martin in 1926.

Name: Edgar Zachary
Gender: Male
Spouse: Eunice Martin
Spouse Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 1926
Marriage Place: Collin, Texas, USA

Both the 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census also shows him married to that same person. (1940censuszachary.jpg)

While still married to her he went to Ryan County, Oklahoma on 15 Sep 1939 at age 31 with an 18 year old who was from Pilot Point, Texas and got married. See attached (zacharyhammons.jpg) marriage certificate.

Then his wife Eunice divorces him (divorcezachary.jpg) according to the 23 Oct 1939 Denton Record-Chronicle newspaper at Newspapers.com.

But, then, the below attached marriage certificate (zacharymartinmarriage.jpg) shows E. R. Zachary and Mrs. Eunice L. Zachary getting remarried 5 Apr 1940.

What ever happened to the 18 year old?

 

[Quoththeraven]

When did he try to rape that other woman?

1957.

2 Jan 1947, Waco News-Tribune should be 2 Jan 1957, Waco News-Tribune

 

[Richard]

I agree, especially when he has two different SS account numbers.

According to the Collin County, Texas Marriage Index at Ancestry.com, Edgar Zachary was married to Eunice Martin in 1926.

Name: Edgar Zachary
Gender: Male
Spouse: Eunice Martin
Spouse Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 1926
Marriage Place: Collin, Texas, USA

Both the 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census also shows him married to that same person. (1940censuszachary.jpg)

While still married to her he went to Ryan County, Oklahoma on 15 Sep 1939 at age 31 with an 18 year old who was from Pilot Point, Texas and got married. See attached (zacharyhammons.jpg) marriage certificate.

Then his wife Eunice divorces him (divorcezachary.jpg) according to the 23 Oct 1939 Denton Record-Chronicle newspaper at Newspapers.com.

But, then, the below attached marriage certificate (zacharymartinmarriage.jpg) shows E. R. Zachary and Mrs. Eunice L. Zachary getting remarried 5 Apr 1940.

What ever happened to the 18 year old?

Edgar and Eunice Zachary are buried together in Allen, Texas:



Eunice Luella Martin Zachary
BIRTH 6 Oct 1908
DEATH 29 Jun 1982 (aged 73)
Collin County, Texas, USA
BURIAL
Ridgeview Memorial Park
Allen, Collin County, Texas, USA

LINK:

Eunice Luella Martin Zachary (1908-1982) - Find a...

 

[madamx]

I agree, especially when he has two different SS account numbers.

According to the Collin County, Texas Marriage Index at Ancestry.com, Edgar Zachary was married to Eunice Martin in 1926.

Name: Edgar Zachary
Gender: Male
Spouse: Eunice Martin
Spouse Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 1926
Marriage Place: Collin, Texas, USA

Both the 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census also shows him married to that same person. (1940censuszachary.jpg)

While still married to her he went to Ryan County, Oklahoma on 15 Sep 1939 at age 31 with an 18 year old who was from Pilot Point, Texas and got married. See attached (zacharyhammons.jpg) marriage certificate.

Then his wife Eunice divorces him (divorcezachary.jpg) according to the 23 Oct 1939 Denton Record-Chronicle newspaper at Newspapers.com.

But, then, the below attached marriage certificate (zacharymartinmarriage.jpg) shows E. R. Zachary and Mrs. Eunice L. Zachary getting remarried 5 Apr 1940.

What ever happened to the 18 year old?

Wow this is interesting.. I wonder what happened to the 18 year old girl he married in Oklahoma??

This Zachary guy needs a timeline.. I wonder if there are any other women that crossed his path that were never heard from again?

 

[ekardh]

With cases like this, there is often a lot of misinformation reported in the press. If the nightwatchman's story was another error, then it keeps Zachary squarely in the frame for Virginia's disappearance. Perhaps Zachary saw the guys with the convertible and based his narrative on that, and dumped the trunk outside because he didn't want to risk taking it to her dorm. Why would Virginia ask him to leave it on the street the next day? The scenario does seem to write itself: Zachary ends up alone with a pretty young woman in the middle of the night, he makes unwanted advances on her and it escalates to foul play. It doesn't help his cause that he was arrested for attempted rape nine years later, but that in and of itself does not prove he murdered Virginia.

Conversely, it's possible that Zachary's ex-wife was lying about the false alibi. She might have been trying to get back at him after a bitter breakup. Other points in his favour would be that he passed multiple polygraph tests, and the lead investigator at the time didn't think Zachary did it. The last known sighting (according to Zachary) of Virginia was in the company of two young men, and I understand there was an unverified sighting of Virginia in a convertible with two guys. The tipoff in 1998 also implicated two men, although the search drew a blank.

Personally, I don't see any connection to the Texarkana Moonlight Murders. Would the assumption be that the serial killer happened to travel to TSCW and crossed paths with Virginia, even though her plans were disrupted that night? Also, the phantom killer didn't abduct any of his previous victims or attempt to hide their bodies.

Also, could someone please confirm the rough distance from TSCW to Denton train station? I didn't have much luck on Google Maps.

 

[archenemy toenail]

Edgar and Eunice Zachary are buried together in Allen, Texas:



Eunice Luella Martin Zachary
BIRTH 6 Oct 1908
DEATH 29 Jun 1982 (aged 73)
Collin County, Texas, USA
BURIAL
Ridgeview Memorial Park
Allen, Collin County, Texas, USA

LINK:

Eunice Luella Martin Zachary (1908-1982) - Find a...

Thats interesting given that it was reported that she was married to someone else and living in Midland when she told police that she’d given him a false alibi for the night Virginia disappeared. So did she divorce the Midland guy, marry Zachary for a third time, and then they returned to the Dallas/Fort Worth area together? Or are there two men with the same name?

 

[madamx]

Thats interesting given that it was reported that she was married to someone else and living in Midland when she told police that she’d given him a false alibi for the night Virginia disappeared. So did she divorce the Midland guy, marry Zachary for a third time, and then they returned to the Dallas/Fort Worth area together? Or are there two men with the same name?

Oh that is weird!

 

[Quoththeraven]

Also, could someone please confirm the rough distance from TSCW to Denton train station? I didn't have much luck on Google Maps.

Virginia Carpenter was dropped off in front of Brackenridge Hall. It was located on the corner of Bell Avenue and Hennen St. (currently N Bell Ave. & Administration Dr.) Brackenridge Hall, named for Mary Eleanor Brackenridge, was the second on-campus residence. It accommodated 147 students in 73 rooms, had a basement dining room that could serve 500 people, and a roof garden with stage that could seat 1400 people. It was a straight shot up Bell Avenue from Denton's Texas & Pacific (T&P) Depot to Brackenridge Hall. About a mile.

According to Edgar Zachary's draft card (edgardraft.jpg) in 1940, he was living at 309 Bell Ave. in Denton and was occupied as a self-employed trucker at the time. (see bellave.jpg)

I'm not certain whether he was living there in 1948, when Virginia Carpenter disappeared, nor whether he lived at S Bell or N Bell Ave., but he did live between the campus and the depot in 1940. I posted a photo of the depot and Brackenridge Hall below.

 

[ekardh]

Virginia Carpenter was dropped off in front of Brackenridge Hall. It was located on the corner of Bell Avenue and Hennen St. (currently N Bell Ave. & Administration Dr.) Brackenridge Hall, named for Mary Eleanor Brackenridge, was the second on-campus residence. It accommodated 147 students in 73 rooms, had a basement dining room that could serve 500 people, and a roof garden with stage that could seat 1400 people. It was a straight shot up Bell Avenue from Denton's Texas & Pacific (T&P) Depot to Brackenridge Hall. About a mile.

According to Edgar Zachary's draft card (edgardraft.jpg) in 1940, he was living at 309 Bell Ave. in Denton and was occupied as a self-employed trucker at the time. (see bellave.jpg)

I'm not certain whether he was living there in 1948, when Virginia Carpenter disappeared, nor whether he lived at S Bell or N Bell Ave., but he did live between the campus and the depot in 1940. I posted a photo of the depot and Brackenridge Hall below.

Thank you for the detailed answer.

Correct me if I'm wrong, we're looking at around a 5 minute drive each way from there to the train station?

That's a shorter journey than I imagined. If Zachary was guilty, it makes you wonder how far he drove with Virginia's body in the car before he chose a disposal site. I can see there are a few wooded areas nearby. I'm not sure how many of them were searched. You'd think that he wouldn't want to risk driving around for long, in case he got stopped for whatever reason.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Thank you for the detailed answer.

Correct me if I'm wrong, we're looking at around a 5 minute drive each way from there to the train station?

That's a shorter journey than I imagined. If Zachary was guilty, it makes you wonder how far he drove with Virginia's body in the car before he chose a disposal site. I can see there are a few wooded areas nearby. I'm not sure how many of them were searched. You'd think that he wouldn't want to risk driving around for long, in case he got stopped for whatever reason.

25 miles per hour gives you time per mile of 2.4 minutes (I think), assuming that was the speed limit on Bell Ave and in town. The distance was only a mile.

As far as your query as to "how far he drove with Virginia's body in the car before he chose a disposal site", he had several days to do that since she wasn't discovered missing until the 3rd.

Back at the train depot. it was not definitely established whether Virginia did go into the depot to ask about her forgotten bag or not. The cabbie says Virginia went into the station but soon returned, saying she couldn't get the trunk then, anyway.

Police found out that there was no reason why she could not have picked up her bag (trunk) that night.

(Maybe this didn't even happen? It's the cabbie's story. The trunk sat on the curb until the 3rd when somebody took it inside. Why did the cabbie leave it on the curb instead of taking it in as was the usual practice? Why did he not return to the cab stand that night (the 1st) but instead called in about 10 pm and said he would make no more runs that night? Why did his wife lie to the police and tell them he was home at 10 that night when in fact he didn't come home until the AM?

If you review my post #69, he ran out on her in Sep 1939, married a young girl and she remarries him in April of 1950, 8 months later. (Something odd about all that. She appears to be easily manipulated) And I found nothing in the records as to whether he ever divorced that young girl.

TX - TX - Virginia Carpenter, 21, Denton, 1948

If the cabbie drove back with Virginia to the depot after dropping off the other female passenger at the dormitory then how could that other female passenger verify his story as related in the newspaper ? (cabbiestory2a)

As far as the cabbie's story about the two boys standing by a yellow convertible, he stated when they got back from the depot the second time, he said he heard Virginia say, Well, what are you all doing over here?"

Over here, as opposed to being from some other location in Denton? Would she have meant 'over here' from Texarkana, 215 miles, 3 hours away from Denton, where she was from? I doubt it. This was her first time in Denton, she didn't know anyone there.

In light of all those unverified stories and a false alibi, plus, that he, at 31, traveled 100 miles to a different county in a different state, married a girl, age 18, also from Texas. Then several years later, while he was still married to his wife and mother of his three kids, he kidnaps another young married woman, using a ruse, then beats her with a pistol and attempts to rape her at gunpoint, sets off lots of warning bells.

 

[Quoththeraven]

In light of all those unverified stories and a false alibi, plus, that he, at 31, traveled 100 miles to a different county in a different state, married a girl, age 18, also from Texas. Then several years later, while he was still married to his wife and mother of his three kids, he kidnaps another young married woman, using a ruse, then beats her with a pistol and attempts to rape her at gunpoint, sets off lots of warning bells.

I'm adding this...

 

[Richard]

Police were still looking for Virginia Carpenter nine years after her disappearance.

Now, some 74 years, she is still missing and the case remains unsolved.