Susan Peterson, U.S. Navy Veteran (Photo: NY Daily News)
‘The second victim was found on a Sunday morning, on the same south Dallas road where Mary Pratt was dumped. Like Pratt, she was mostly naked. Like Pratt, she was a prostitute. Her name was Susan Peterson, age 27. She had been shot in the head, chest, and stomach. Her eyelids were closed.” Read more from Texas Monthlyhere.
Forensic Files:
Full Episode: A serial killer is prowling the streets of Dallas, targeting prostitutes. All the police know is that the killer has a bizarre signature. See No Evil, Forensic Files
Oxygen:
Rookie police officers Regina Smith and John Matthews gained intelligence from the sex workers on their beat. -Oxygen (February 7, 2019)
A prostitute in the Dallas spoke to police about a man who attempted to attack her, and his possible link to the string of other murders in the Dallas area. -Oxygen (February 11, 2019)
Elizabeth Peacock discovered Charles Albright’s victim had had her eyeballs cut out. -Oxygen (February 11, 2019)
Dallas Police find one of Charles Albright’s victims lying nude in the street, with a gunshot to the head. -Oxygen (February 11, 2019)
Dallas police discover three women murdered with their eyes surgically removed. Police believe they have a deranged doctor on the loose until two rookie cops find themselves on the trail of a man with a Psycho-esque mother, a talent for taxidermy, and a hatred for women. -Oxgen (February 12, 2019)
Serial killer, Charles Albright, removed the eyeballs of sex workers in Dallas,Texas. -Oxygen (February 14, 2019)
Dr. Michael Stone explains Charles Albright’s narcissistic behavior. -Oxygen (February 14, 2019)
Officer Regina Smith recounts the night she drove Charles Albright to the Dallas Homicide Division after he had murdered several sex workers in the Dallas area. -Oxygen (February 15, 2019)
Psychologist Dr. Michael Stone makes note that there are passages in the New Testament that talk about eyes in a special way. -Oxygen (February 15, 2019)
Serial Killer Charles Albright Documentaries:
Full Episode: Charles Albright is a convicted American serial killer, he is a diagnosed psychopath who was found guilty of killing a woman in 1991 by means of shooting her in the head and removing her eyeballs. -Serial Killer – Charles Albright | Documentary Galore
Full Episode: Charles Frederick Albright is an American serial killer and diagnosed psychopath from Dallas, Texas, who was convicted of killing one woman. -Serial Killer – Charles Albright – HD Documentary | Aristotle Documentary
Investigation Discovery:
Dallas has its dark side, but nothing compares the horror of a series of women found murdered with their eyeballs surgically removed. A pair beat cops use their street savvy to lead detectives to a sadistic killer and his bizarre motive. -The Eyeball Killer, Murder by Numbers (S2, E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
When a mother is killed, Lt Joe Kenda wonders if it’s a robbery gone wrong, until a slew of hateful messages surface. Then, patrols discover a body on a roadway after an evident hit-and-run, but the victim’s true cause of death turns the case on its head. -#1 Suspect, Homicide Hunter (S4,E9)
Lt. Joe Kenda was asked to investigate a dead body in the street in the early morning hours of September 3, 1985 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While on patrol, a police officer discovered the body in the middle of the street. The individual had been dragged by a vehicle for 20 to 30 feet. The coroner indicated that the wallet contained an ID. The dead man was 42-year-old Frances ‘Frank’ Kovaleski. He was a retired member of U.S. military. He lived in the general neighborhood. Police began canvassing the neighborhood but because this incident occurred in the middle of the night, no one saw or heard anything. Frank died of blunt force trauma and was stabbed twice; this was a homicide. No money was taken from Frank’s wallet so Kenda deduced Frank most likely was killed by someone he knew. Kenda went to Frank Kovaleski’s home and learned he had a roommate.
The roommate said Frank lived day to day, picked up odd jobs where he could, and fished a lot. He had a daughter in New York. The roommate said he hung out a lot with a guy named Mike Murphy. Mike was about 20 years younger than him. Officers were dispatched to Mike Murphy’s home and when they arrived, they found a car on the street with blood all over the side of it. Mike Murphy admitted it was his car and he was arrested. Kenda got a search warrant for Murphy’s home and interviewed his family. During an interrogation, Mike admitted knowing Frank but denied knowing anything about his death. But, Mike’s wife Sandra told investigators Mike was with Frank the night before he died. Mike’s mother Joyce said Mike got arrested for a DUI and was angry because Frank wouldn’t post a $40 bond to get him out of jail.
Investigators relayed this information to Lt. Kenda. Mike then confessed that he was with Frank but according to him, he was fine the last time he saw him. Based on the evidence, Kenda theorized the two probably went to a bar, got in a verbal altercation, and Mike stopped the car. Then Mike and Frank got out of the car and fought in the middle of the street. Mike probably wasn’t doing well during the fight so he stabbed Frank twice and left him still alive in the middle of the street. Mike got back into his car and and purposefully ran Frank over him, dragging him 20 to 30 feet and made sure he was dead. Mike Murphy was charged with first degree murder. Kenda noted that Mike Murphy never displayed remorse. Murphy was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of Frances Kovaleski.
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Leonard Lake is arrested near San Francisco, California, ending one of the rare cases of serial killers working together. Lake and Charles Ng were responsible for a series of particularly brutal crimes against young women in California and the Pacific Northwest during the mid-1980s. Read more from On This Day in Historyhere.
Oxygen premiered It Takes a Killer ‘Partners in Evil” and this episode highlighted the sadistic crimes committed by Marine veterans Charles Ng and Leonard Lake. In the early 1980s, the San Francisco bay area was under siege as more than twelve people vanished without a trace. Police would eventually learn that Ng and Lake were responsible for murdering them and so much more. What police uncovered during their investigation would prove invaluable in the prosecutor’s decision to pursue the death penalty. Charles Ng and Leonard Lake were psychopaths.
In December 1982, Army veteran Donald Lake, 32, was living with his mother in San Francisco, California. At their surprise, his brother Leonard Lake stopped by on a road trip up north and asked Donald to tag along. Donald was described as a very nice, gentle man but Leonard treated Donald terribly when they were growing up and even referred to him as a leech in conversations with his ex-wife Claralyn Balazs. Donald is never seen again and his mother Gloria is concerned so she reports him missing. Leonard Lake is nowhere to be found but he resurfaced on New Years Day in 1983 to rent a room in a house in Golden Gate Park.
Four months later, Lake moved in with his buddy from his green beret days, Charles Gunnar of Morgan Hill. They had a lot in common as they both valued survival skills and the weaponry world. On May 22, 1983, Lake invited Gunnar to go on a road trip to Vegas or Tahoe for some much needed rest and relaxation after his divorce. Charles Gunnar decided to go in an effort to cope with his tough times; he left his two daughter’s with a babysitter. A couple days later, Charles Lake returned alone in Gunnar’s van and told the babysitter that Charles ran off with a woman. Charles Gunnar was never seen again.
On July 11, 1984, Donald Giulietti, 36, a radio personality from San Francisco, California was spending time in his apartment expecting a visitor. Donald was an openly gay man who lived with a man named Richard Carrazza. Giulietti placed a personal ad in a low key newspaper offering to give oral sex to straight men. That night a stranger knocked on the door and Giulietti assumed it was someone taking him up on his offer. As soon as Donald opens door, the man whips out pistol and shoots him in the head at close range. Carrazza runs from the back room into the study and finds Giulietti on the floor. Carrazza is immediately shot in the chest and left for dead. The shooter fled and Carrazza survived the attack. Richard Carazza called 911 and when the police questioned him, he was able to give a description of the shooter.
Richard Carrazza described being shot by a small Chinese man wearing prescription glasses. Police searched for an Asian suspect but came up empty. What no one knows is that the killer was already searching the classifieds for his next victim. On July 24, 1984 in San Francisco, California, Harvey Dubs, 29, was home with his wife Deborah, 33, and their 16 month old son Sean. Harvey worked for a printing company but on the side, he videotaped special events and rented out his equipment. There was an individual who responded to the ad and came to his home. The family was never seen again. The following morning, a neighbor went to check on them and found keys in the door and dirty dishes in the sink but no sign of the Dubs family.
When the police did house to house canvassing and questioned the neighbors, they reported seeing a small Asian man leaving the property. The suspect was seen carrying a large duffel bag and a large flight bag both stuffed full and he tossed the bags into the trunk of a car that was waiting. The Asian man gets into the front passenger seat of the car with the burly man with a beard and they speed away. Some witnesses in the neighborhood get a good description of the Asian man. No one could give a good description of the bearded man but an eye witness was able to draw a description of the Asian man.
In San Francisco, California on October 31, 1984, entrepreneur Paul Cosner, 39, was selling his 1980 Honda Prelude which he had recently advertised in the local newspaper. A burly bearded man took the car for a test drive and a couple days later called Paul to tell him that he would like to purchase the Honda from him. On November 2, 1984, Paul drove the car to meet the potential buyer and he was never seen again. When Cosner’s sister Sharon didn’t hear from him for 24 hours, she filed a missing person’s reports and a missing vehicle report. Sharon was relentless and maintained heavy pressure on the police but they really had no clues or suspects at this point.
In San Francisco on January 18, 1985, Cliff Peranteau, 24, was at a local bar tossing back a few drinks with a co-worker. Cliff worked at a moving company and he shared with friends that he was going to work on Saturday. Cliff never showed up for the job but apparently was seen partying on Sunday after a 49er’s super bowl victory. He’s last seen by a bartender after winning a $400 bet. The bartender said he appeared to be going off to celebrate with an Asian friend. He was never seen again.
Investigators would learn that Peranteau’s Asian friend was his colleague Charles Ng who had been at the moving company for about four months. Charles was described as an odd character that Cliff Peranteau normally tried to avoid. Charles Ng wasn’t well-liked at the moving company because he had poor boundaries and said inappropriate things to others. Two weeks after Cliff’s disappearance, his boss received a short typed letter apparently from Cliff informing him that he had a new job. The writer also requested that Cliff’s last check be sent to an address in northeastern California near Wilseyville. The note wasn’t that far fetched until another moving company employee, Jeff Gerald, 25, went missing on February 23, 1985. Jeff got an offer to work with Charles Ng on a small moving job on the side. Jeff went to do the job and this was the last time he was seen.
In San Francisco on April 12, 1985, Kathleen Allen, 18, and her boyfriend Michael Carroll, 23, were spending time in a motel room where they were temporarily living. At 10 pm at night, Michael tells Kathleen that he has to do something and would be back in the morning. Michael never returned. A few days later Kathleen received a horrifying phone call at work. The caller told her that her boyfriend Michael may have been involved in a shooting. She immediately told her boss that she had to leave. She was last seen meeting a bearded man in the parking lot of the Safeway where she worked. Kathleen got into the car and was never seen again.
In April 1985, four more people vanished without a trace. Robert Scott Stapley, 26, lived in San Francisco but frequently took road trips to Wilseyville, California to spend time with friends. Scott Stapley stayed with Lonnie Bond and his live-in girlfriend Brenda O’Connor, and their 18 month old son. Lonnie and Brenda loved living in their cabin in the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountains. The only thing they don’t like was their neighbor. He was a burly, bearded man who they felt was extremely obnoxious, rude, and demented. This neighbor constantly fired weapons on his property and Brenda felt really uncomfortable with him because he would not stop asking her to pose naked for him. On April 19, 1985, Scott Stapley was present when Lonnie decided to confront his neighbor. Lonnie decided to deal with the problem once and for all, and none of them were ever seen again.
In San Francisco, California on June 2, 1985, two men entered a lumber yard to buy some building supplies. A burly bearded man and an Asian man with glasses decided they wanted a vice but were not going to pay for it. The Asian man swiped the $75 vice, exited the store, and placed the stolen vice into the trunk of a Honda Prelude in the parking lot. But the Asian man didn’t realize that an off duty police officer spotted him with the stolen merchandise and called in his description. The off-duty police officer approached the Asian man but he took off and disappeared. The officer searched the vehicle and found the stolen vice and a back pack, which contained a pistol with a silencer in it. Just then a stocky bearded man exited the lumber yard and approached the Honda Prelude.
The burly bearded man told the police officer that his name was Scott Stapler (the name of the man who vanished two months prior). He told the officer not to worry about the vice because he paid for it. The officer reminded him there was a gun with a silencer in the trunk of the car and placed the burly, bearded man under arrest. He was taken to the police station for questioning. Back at the station, investigators learned that everything the man was telling them was a lie. A background check on the Honda Prelude revealed that it was registered to Paul Cosner, who went missing months before. Then they learned the license plates belonged to Lonnie Bond, another person who went missing. As the officer confronted the man with this new evidence, the big burly bearded man began to cry and admitted his real name was Leonard Lake. And that his accomplice was Charles Ng.
At one point during the investigation, Lake asked the detectives for a glass of water and a pen and paper to write a letter to his ex-wife. Police uncuffed him expecting a full confession. After he got done writing the letter to his ex-wife, he reached up under his collar where he sewed a cyanide pill into the fabric and quickly shoved it down his throat. He fell onto the floor gagging and seizing. He was rushed to the hospital where he slipped into a coma and died a few days later. In June 1985, Leonard Lake suddenly killed himself with a cyanide pill taking his secrets to the grave with him. But he did leave behind a clue when he gave up the name of his sidekick Charles Ng who was now on the run. Leonard Lake had been on the run since April 1982 when the FBI raided his place on a stolen weapons tip.
Police wanted to know who Leonard Lake was. They learned he was born in San Francisco, California and was bright yet sadistic. He developed an infinity for pornography early on in his life. He apparently took nude photos of his sisters when they were young and used them to extort sexual favors. He joined the US Marine Corps in 1965 at age 19 and served two terms in Vietnam. In Da Nang in 1970, Leonard had a complete mental breakdown and was sent back to the United States. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward for two months and then discharged from the Marines upon his release. Lake spent the next eight years in a hippie commune. In the late summer of 1980, Leonard met his wife Claralyn Balazs and they married in 1981. They both had a love of making pornographic videos of themselves and enjoyed kinky sex.
After Leonard’s death in 1985, Claralyn was the critical piece to help police break the case wide open. Police investigated Leonard Lake and did a complete forensic search of the Honda Prelude in his possession. They found blood spatter in the car, bullet holes in the headliner, IDs of missing persons, and an electric bill with Claralyn’s address. On June 3, 1985, police manage to track down Claralyn. Claralyn told detectives that she and Leonard divorced in November 1982 but maintained a close relationship. She also mentioned to the police that her family owned property in Wilseyville but no one had been living there recently. Police were curious and Claralyn agreed to take them to the property on June 4, 1985. The police found what they could only describe as a compound for killing.
The police found the drivers license of Mike Carroll who disappeared with his girlfriend Kathleen Allen in 1985. They also found possessions of others who were missing including the Dubs family. Police found videotapes of women being tortured, signs of men being killed, and outside in the yard, police came across a tool shed that acted as a false front. There they found a large bunker where tortures had occurred and where Leonard Lake kept his sex slaves. Detectives unearthed Leonard Lake’s hide out and learned that he had this planned since he was a teenager. Lake read a book at age 17 called The Collector which was about a man who had a sex slave named Miranda. Lake became obsessed with a clear plan called Operation Miranda. He wanted to enslave young girls and these fantasies became a reality when Charles Ng entered his life.
The police found overwhelming evidence of Lake and Ng’s barbarism inside in the bunker. There were videotapes of Leonard Lake building the bunker. One tape labeled the M Ladies showed Ng and Lake raping, torturing, and abusing a number of women. Law enforcement didn’t know who any of the M Ladies were until weeks later when they discovered a mass grave on the Wilseyville property. Police found approximately 45 pounds of human remains scattered about the yard. They found many of the human remains of the missing people; they had been killed, burned, tortured, and dismembered. Among the remains, investigators found the IDs of Brenda O’Connor and Kathleen Allen.
Police recognized Kathleen Allen from the M Ladies videotape. Kathleen was selected by Lake as the perfect M Lady and was kept prisoner in his bunker. He treated her as a complete slave in every way. He forced her to dress up, have sex on demand, and pose for him. It took investigators weeks to go through the crime scene and as they do they discover more and more bodies. Then on July 8, 1985 they find two males stacked on top of each other in a make shift grave. They were identified as Lonnie Bond and Scott Stapley. Investigators knew Charles Ng played an integral part in all this and they wanted to find him.
In June and July 1985, investigators learned that Marine veterans Charles Ng and Leonard Lake murdered multiple people and dug them in a mass grave at the property in Wilseyville, California. At this point in the investigation, Leonard Lake had committed suicide and Charles Ng was on the run. Charles Ng was born in Hong Kong. His father was a strict disciplinarian who literally beat him with a cane. Ng didn’t really show any interest in school and was expelled from a number of them. He was described as anti-social and had a history of fire setting and stealing. Ng eventually ended up at Notre Dame University on a student visa but dropped out after getting in a hit and run accident.
Charles Ng joined the US Marine Corps in October 1979 as a means to pay restitution for his hit and run crime in Indiana. Ng told recruiters he was born in Indiana and nobody bothered to check his citizenship status. Ng was trained as a gunner in the Marine Corps and immersed himself in martial arts. Ng was obsessed with violence and boasted that he was born to fight in hand-to-hand combat. Ng said he would kill anyone that was foolish enough to fight him. In October 1981, Ng was court martialed for stealing weaponry from an armory and went Absent without Leave (AWOL).
Ng found out that Leonard Lake, another Marine, was managing a hotel in northern California. He flew to California and in December 1981 moved in with Leonard and his wife Claralyn. Lake was fourteen years his senior and acted as a father figure. They both shared a mutual love of weapons and sexual deviance. Lake realized that Ng was the perfect person to help him make his sexual fantasies become reality.
On July 6, 1985 in Calgary, Canada, Charles Ng attempted to steal food from a department store and got caught. He shot a security guard in the hand and was captured immediately. Charles Ng was charged with attempted murder and theft, and was jailed in the Canadian system. On December 18, 1985, Charles Ng went to court and was found not guilty on the attempted murder charge but guilty of assault and robbery. He was entenced to 4.5 years in an Edmonton prison. US officials petitioned to have him extradited back to America to stand trial. His deportation was held up in court until 1991.
Charles Ng is finally extradited to California to face charges for the horrific crimes he and Lake committed there. Ng didn’t actually go to trial for another seven years. In Santa Ana, California on September 14, 1988, Charles Ng’s murder trial proceeded in the Orange County Superior Court. Prosecutors argued that Ng and Lake stalked and targeted their victims, stole their money, then tortured and killed them. The trial lasts for 8 months. Some of the most compelling evidence came from dozens of cartoons drawn by Ng. The cartoons depicted women being tortured and abused and people being burnt. But the M Ladies videotapes were the prosecutions most disturbing evidence.
The M Ladies videotapes showed women who were tortured and sexually abused. Ng took the stand in his own defense and blamed everything on Lake. He denies any knowledge of the murders. He eventually admitted to being involved in the abduction of some of the women, and some of the rapes and tortures, but did not admit to killing anyone. In late February 1999, Charles Ng was convicted on 11 of 12 counts of murder. Four months later, he was sentenced to death. Investigators agree that both Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were both psychopaths but Leonard was the more dominant and goal oriented of the two. Ng went along with Lake’s plan because it allowed him to carry out his torturous and sexually deviant behaviors.
ID Go: When an off-duty police officer in San Francisco happens upon a minor theft at a lumberyard one Sunday afternoon, he unwittingly jumpstarts an investigation into one of California’s deadliest, most depraved serial killers: Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. -Dungeon of Dread, Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil (S1,E1)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Manley Hotsprings, Alaska is in the middle of nowhere and at the end of the road. In 1984, Manley had a population of maybe 50. Fairbanks was the closest city and roughly a five hour drive or 150 miles away. In the spring of 1984, the residents of Manley were anxiously awaiting for spring. When the rivers start flowing, transportation on the river became available and that’s important to the Manley Springs community. On May 17, 1984, Vietnam veteran Larry Joe McVey, 37, and Dale Madajski, 24, went to the boat landing about a quarter mile out of town. Later that afternoon when the men failed to return, the wives began to wonder what was keeping them. They drove to the landing and found Joe’s boat still on the trailer. They knew something was wrong because the pair left their beer in the truck. One of the wives also noticed another local’s car at the landing. Albert Hagen Jr., 27, was visiting his parents in Manley and went to the river that morning after he cleared out some brush from their land. Given the unusually warm weather, maybe the three of them went somewhere together…
But by noon the next day, there was no sign of the three men. That afternoon friends and family of the missing gathered together out of concern. They were terrified something horrible happened to their loved ones. They realized others in Manley had vanished too. The families were worried about the Kleins because no one had heard from them. They were last seen riding their four wheeler to the landing. Their four-wheeler was parked at the landing but they were not there. Community members assumed they went to their property up river. The family left town on occasion but always asked someone to take care of their dog while they were gone. Frantic, several of the towns people went to the Kleins to check in on them, and they found the dog. They knocked on their door and nobody answered. Meanwhile, others headed to the boat launch in hopes the missing had returned. And while there, they noticed an unattended vehicle, that of a stranger who had arrived in Manley Springs only a few days earlier.
The stranger had been in town for a few days so everyone got used to him; he set up camp at the landing. It wasn’t unusual to see him at the landing or in town. But the newcomer was among the many who were missing. Six people were missing, nearly 1/10 of the town was unaccounted for, and the alarm bells were going off. Meanwhile, folks in Manley had no idea what happened down river in the tiny town of Hopkinsville. Roger Culp had called the place home for years but no one had seen or heard from Roger in more than a week. Roger’s neighbor also noticed their moose hide was missing from the line at her cabin. She was immediately suspicious that Michael Silka had taken it. She went to his cabin to confront him. While she was there, she noticed a funny mound of snow at his place. She found another mound of fresh snow behind the cabin too. Silka was nowhere to be found. She questioned neighbors about his whereabouts but nobody saw him. The neighbor left and returned to the cabin again and this time she saw blood.
The neighbor ran back to her cabin to get her husband because she knew something was wrong. When they arrived at Silka’s cabin, their first thought was he probably killed an animal but they were uneasy about why he would hide it. They took another look in Michael’s cabin; this time he answered the door. He said he took the moose hide with the understanding that they gave it to him and he said he would return it. Later that day, authorities checked out Silka’s cabin but there was no response. They found blood and fresh mounds of snow too, When they investigated the mounds, they found the moose hide. They knocked on Silka’s door once more and this time he answered; he had been there all along. Silka said he shot a moose and the hide dripped blood. The police didn’t find anything suspicious and assumed the case was closed and left. It was not uncommon for people to go missing in Alaska but this many missing in one little Alaska town was alarming. Six people disappeared in Manley and residents were going to look for them.
They found Michael Silka’s vehicle at the landing and turned his license number over to police; they thought he was suspect. The police learned Silka, 25, was the same man who raised eyebrows in nearby Hopkinsville. In Hopkinsville, Roger Culp was missing. Police searched the community after a resident saw blood in the snow. A week later, another resident told the police about a scary incident they had with Michael Silka. Roger and Michael had words and Roger followed Silka back to his cabin, then the resident heard gun shots. There was no 911 where she lived so she locked herself in her cabin. Armed with the new information, police wanted to talk to Michael Silka again. When the police arrived at his cabin, he was gone and his car was gone. The police spent two days combing the area around Silka’s cabin and found patches of blood. A lab confirmed it was human blood. The police didn’t have a body but they wanted to speak with Silka. They were going to start with a conversation with him about the missing Roger Culp.
State of Alaska Map
The community suspected Michael Silka had evil intentions and it was going to be hours before a team of Alaska State Troopers would show up. In the early morning hours of May 19, 1984, Alaska State Troopers arrive at Manley by helicopter and auto. The troopers set up a roadblock at the only road that left town. When the helicopter took off and landed, it stirred up the snow and pools of blood began to emerge. They also found some 44 caliber shells. They knew this was the crime scene. Near the river bank troopers found the Klein’s four wheeler hidden in the brush and Joe’s hat. They also found drag marks to the water’s edge. At this point, they don’t know if the missing are dead or if Silka was holding them hostage. They took to the sky and ground to search for Silka. Shortly after they started searching, the troopers unexpectedly stumbled upon a woman at the river’s edge waving for help. She told them her husband had gone to town and didn’t return home; she last saw her husband Fred Burk, 27, two days ago.
Over a dozen Alaska State Troopers armed with weapons and combat gear converged on Manley Hot Springs. But they had no idea the suspected killer they were seeking was a former military man. After running his plates, they learned Michael Silka joined the Army after he graduated from high school in Illinois. He did a tour of duty at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. Before making his way to Manley, he spent a few months holed up in a remote Canadian town. He lived in a hotel room, used cash for everything, and stayed to himself. People noticed he carried a number of shotguns in his vehicle. Silka had minor criminal offenses for fire arms in his past. He loved fire arms but came from a place guns were frowned upon. His dream was to move to Manley Hot Springs to live off the land. The troopers learned he had trouble with law enforcement all the way from Illinois, to Canada, and in Alaska. As troopers set out to find Michael Silka, they were keenly aware they were up against a dangerous set of circumstances. They were dealing with a dangerous suspect who used the brush as cover.
The troopers scour the area and suddenly the pilot spotted a man in a flat bottom boat towing a canoe. The pilot recognized Michael Silka. He also observed an arsenal of weapons in the boat. Armed with M-16s, the troopers orchestrated a plan. They used two helicopters to keep him surrounded but Silka got out of the boat on the edge of the river bank. He immediately picked up a weapon and began shooting at the troopers. Silka had the upper hand so the helicopter pulled back. He shot at the helicopter quite a few times and positioned himself for a gun battle. The troopers were not going to act unless acted upon. But Silka strategically positioned himself by taking cover in the thick brush as he shot at the helicopter again. As the helicopter was backing away, they realized they had been hit and that Trooper Troy Duncan, 34, was shot. Seconds later, another trooper started shooting back with a M-16 in fully auto. Silka was hit five times and died instantly. They then turned their attention to their comrade but he was already gone.
Trooper Duncan was the fourth trooper to die in the line of duty in Alaska. In the days after the carnage, the residents set out to find the missing. Divers attempted to look in the river but the silt pulled them down to the bottom. It was impossible to find them if they were in the river. Investigators contended that Silka got in an argument with Joe and Dale down at the boat dock and the argument most likely led to Silka using his gun to settle the score. He lost his temper and shot them. The other residents showed up when he was dragging the bodies to the river. He had to keep killing people to get rid of the evidence. Fred Burk had the unfortunate experience of running into Silka too. Michael shot him so he could take his boat. Thankfully by the end of the summer, the river had given up the bodies of Joe, Dale, Lyman Klein, 31, and Fred Burk. All of them had been shot in the head. Lyman’s pregnant wife Joyce and their son Marshall were never found and the bodies of Albert Hagan Jr. and Roger Culp never surfaced either.
The total number of Silka’s victims may never be known. In the days before Silka was making his way to Manley, Fred Burk and his mother-in-law saw the drifter’s vehicle parked some 30 miles outside of town. They noticed three people in the front seat, one they later identified as Silka. They observed that the two people with him look petrified. To this day, no one knows what happened to those two people or who they were. At the request of his father, Michael Silka was buried in the National Cemetery in Sitka, Alaska. He was an honorably discharged soldier and had that right. But what’s even more ironic about that is the State Trooper Training Academy is right next door to the cemetery. A retired Alaska State Trooper said they had to unmark the grave for whatever reason.
This week we focus on a heinous & horrific crime as well as the killing spree committed by a wandering “mountain man”. Get ready for scary mysteries Twisted Two’s. -Michael Silka, Scary Mysteries Podcast (July 4, 2018)
Investigation Discovery:
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska is a remote mountain hide-a-way known for simplicity and solitude. But, that innocent existence is shattered when a newcomer goes on rampage and guns down residents one by one, ultimately taking out one tenth of the town. -Frozen Carnage, Ice Cold Killers (S1,E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Robert Hansen was a mild-mannered family man with a passion for hunting. A master at his trade, Hansen sought a more challenging prey – his fellow human. Hansen kidnapped women, set them loose in the Alaskan wilderness, and hunted them down for sport. -Hunting Humans, Ice Cold Killers (S1, E1)
Serial killer and Army Reserves veteran Robert C. Hansen confessed to the murder of 17 women and the kidnapping and rape of another 30 women in Alaska. But the authorities believe there are many more victims and their cases are still open. Hansen was officially charged with the abduction and rape of Cindy Paulson and the murders of Joanna Messina, Sherry Morrow, Paula Goulding, and the unidentified body known as “Eklutna Annie.” On February 28, 1984, Robert Hansen was sentenced to 461 years plus life in prison with no parole. Hansen led the police to 17 grave sites he marked on a map but only 12 of his victims bodies were recovered. Robert Hansen’s health was declining for over a year when he died of natural causes on August 21, 2014 at the age of 75.
In 1982, two off-duty police officers were hunting for wild game. As darkness fell and they headed home, they made a gruesome discovery. They knew enough to back away and dispatched the Alaska State Troopers to the scene. The crime scene investigators unearthed the partial bones of a woman buried in a shallow grave. They also found bones scattered around the surrounding area. In Alaska, wild game won’t hesitate to drag off the evidence. They also found a 223 caliber bullet casing. The victim was bound and blind folded at the time of death, and she was shot three times. She was identified as Sherry Morrow; Sherry was drawn to Alaska for the easy money. She worked as an exotic dancer in a seedy area of Anchorage known as ‘Fourth Avenue’. Police looked to see if anyone else in that community had disappeared under similar circumstances. Before the discovery of Sherry’s body, none of the missing persons reports were linked or suggestive of murder. Morrow’s case inspired police to take a look at the cold case files.
Two years before Morrow’s body was found, construction workers found the partial remains of a woman buried in a shallow grave; her body was desecrated by wild life and her bones were scattered. Police couldn’t make an identification and dubbed their Jane Doe “Eklutna Annie”. Nobody ever came forward with information about Annie. Police were concerned they were dealing with a brutal killer so they started canvassing the area where the dancers spent their time. Sherry’s co-workers feared the worst because a number of women had gone missing and they were never heard from again. Over the next several years, five more dancers went missing. Police suspected Sherry and Annie’s cases were connected. They were all victims from the beginning because everyone preyed on these girls, including the bar owners and pimps. Several dancers reported seeing the same man and provided police with a physical description. Police learned of a third body found in a gravel pit near where Eklutna Annie’s body was found.
The victim was identified as Joanna Messina. She was a canary worker who was last seen leaving the dock with her dog and a red haired man her co-workers couldn’t identify. Messina was shot and killed with a 22, not a 223. Two more women vanished and were never seen or heard from again. The blindfolds at the crime scenes told the police a lot about the killer. He was a sexual sadist who wanted complete control. He derived pleasure from his victim’s fear and pain and disposed of their bodies in isolated areas in Alaska. Nine months later, a truck driver found a frantic hand-cuffed woman running in the road; someone with a gun ducked out of site. The trucker took her to a nearby hotel where she was safe and called the Anchorage police. The police found a 17-year-old woman still in handcuffs and in shock. She told the officers she was a topless dancer down on 4th Avenue; she said she was propositioned by a red haired man in his 40s the night before. She confessed that she accepted the stranger’s offer.
Once inside the man’s car, she said the man pulled a gun on her. He kidnapped her, handcuffed her, and told her if she cooperated and did what he wanted, she wouldn’t be harmed. He took her to a middle class house in Muldoon. He held her hostage in a basement filled with mounted heads of animals. He brutalized her for hours. He chained her to beam in the basement and repeatedly sexually assaulted her. She told the police he was going to fly her to his cabin in the woods, promising to release her if she cooperated. Once at the airport, the kidnapper shoved her in a small plane and began loading supplies. The second he turned his back, she made her escape. Hoping to corroborate her account, investigators took her to the airfield to find the plane. She identified a plane owned by Robert Hansen; he was a 50 year-old avid hunter and local business man. Hansen owned a well established bakery, had lot of friends, and went to church. By all accounts, he was an upstanding member of the community.
When questioned by police, Hansen was outraged and insisted the dancer was lying to extort money from him. He also questioned whether it was even possible to rape a prostitute. He claimed he had an alibi and told investigators his wife and children were in Europe and he spent the night playing poker with friends. When questioned, the two men substantiated his story. Hansen allowed authorities to search his home but they didn’t find evidence of what the victim described. She also refused to take a polygraph and this made the police wonder if she fabricated the story. It was a “he said, she said” case because they had no evidence. Citing a lack of evidence, the prosecutor dropped the case. Three months later, Alaska State Troopers discovered the partially decomposed remains of another woman in a shallow grave. She was identified as a missing dancer from the Fourth Avenue district. Investigators found a blindfold buried among the remains. An autopsy revealed Paula Goulding had also been shot by a 223 caliber bullet.
Initially, the police didn’t link the cases but the use of the 223 caliber bullet helped them realize they were dealing with a serial killer who was targeting exotic dancers in Anchorage. Troopers contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assistance; agents created a behavioral profile of the serial killer. The killer believed he was invincible because he picked the perfect victims. He chose the dancers on Fourth Ave because he thought no one would care if they were missing. They started looking into Robert Hansen’s past. They learned he was abused as a child and had very low self-esteem. He was always considered small and had few friends; he was often ridiculed by his peers. After graduating from high school, Hansen enlisted in the Army Reserve and went to basic training at Fort Dix. He later received advanced training as a military police officer at Fort Knox. While enlisted in the Army, he was known to frequent prostitutes. He told fellow soldiers, he found them dissatisfying and yearned to take control of the situation.
Despite his strict up bringing and disciplined military structure, the profilers learned Hansen had a number of run-ins with the law. He served time for arson and theft but he appeared to have long since left that life behind. In 1967, he married and moved to Alaska. He was a functioning member of society. They believe his low self-esteem would drive him to live in a place like Alaska. His former neighbor told investigators he loved the thrill of the hunt; and he was always looking for the bigger hunt. He was an avid trophy hunter. Hansen’s weak point was women because he was unsuccessful with them. He hunted where most of the victims were found. “Perhaps Hansen tired of game and turned to more interesting prey like humans.” Humans create a much greater challenge to the hunter. Police deduced he most likely had trophies from his hunts for humans. The killer was a sexual sadist, proficient, and more successful over time. Authorities threatened the two men who alibied him with jail time if they didn’t come clean about the night the dancer was abducted.
Both friends quickly broke down and said they were covering for him because they thought he was a legitimate guy. They believed him when he said he thought the dancers were trying to extort him. The police asked Hansen to come down to the station and executed a search warrant. An officer searched the attic and in the rafters he found a bag of jewelry. And nestled with his bag of trophies, they found IDs belonging to the victims and newspaper clippings. Authorities also found a trophy map with locations of where he killed his victims. Hansen tracked his kills. The most critical find was a 223 caliber mini 14 rifle. The rifle was sent to the crime lab for further analysis. The 223 matched perfectly with the round they found in Eklutna. Robert Hansen was charged with assault and kidnapping. Despite his pleas of innocence, the evidence was mounting against him. The District Attorney agreed to charge Hansen with four murders: Sherry Morrow, Eklutna Annie, Joanna Messina, and Paula Goulding. Hansen accepted a plea deal. Police believe he chose prostitutes because they represent the evil in humans.
Robert Hansen chose prostitutes because they will go anywhere for anything and when they disappear, no one cares. He admitted he controlled the game from the point of abduction. He was the predator and they were they prey. He killed Eklutna Annie first. Then he abducted Sherry Morrow. He took most of his victims to his remote cabin and brutalized them for hours before he stripped them naked, blindfolded them and then released them in the woods. He turned them loose, gave them a head start, and hunted them down. He was a trophy hunter. He then collected things off the girls so he could re-live the events. Robert Hansen’s killing spree lasted twelve years in Alaska. Hansen confessed to 17 killings but it is believed he had many more victims. He eventually lead police to 15 gravesites unknown to investigators. Unfortunately, investigators only recovered 7 bodies likely due to the veracious animal activity in the Alaskan wilderness. Robert Hansen was sentenced to 461 years plus life in prison with no chance of parole.
A Killer Among Us: Inside the Hunt for an Alaska Serial Killer (June 11, 2017, KTUU-Channel 2, Anchorage, Alaska)
The Frozen Ground Movie (2012)
THE FROZEN GROUND Official Trailer (2013)
The Frozen Ground – Clip 3 | Lionsgate
The Frozen Ground (2012) – Chained Scene (1/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – The Lucky One Scene (2/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – Pole Dancing Scene (3/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – Hunting Her Scene (4/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – On the Run Scene (5/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – Shock at the Strip Club Scene (6/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – The Interrogation Scene (7/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – From Bad to Worse Scene (8/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – He’s Coming Scene (9/10) | Movieclips
The Frozen Ground (2012) – Truth Comes Out Scene (10/10) | Movieclips
Based on a true story. An Alaskan State Trooper (Nicholas Cage) must partner with a near victim and the only witness to escape the clutches of the serial killer in order to bring the murderer to justice. -The Frozen Ground
Frozen Ground – Examining the Frozen Ground
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Air Force Sergeant James Goodyear, 37, died on September 16, 1971 in Orlando, Florida. Sergeant Goodyear died just three months after completing a year long tour of duty in Vietnam. He left behind his wife Judy Buenoano Goodyear and her son Michael Buenoano. Judy received $28,000 in military life insurance benefits and military death benefits to help support the family. When her son Michael turned eighteen, he joined the US Army. On his way to his post in Georgia, he stopped in to visit his mother Judy, she fed him, and afterwards he became ill. The illness led to a crippling condition that left him paralyzed in his lower extremities and he was subsequently discharged from the Army as a Private. Michael was disabled and Judy was taking care of him. On May 13, 1980 Judy took Michael for a canoe ride. Judy reported to local authorities that her canoe capsized and her son Michael had drowned. She collected $125,000 in military life insurance benefits for her son’s death.
In June 1983, Judy was suspected in the car bombing of her fiancé John Gentry of Pensacola, Florida. She stood to gain $500,000 in life insurance money for this death. Judy Buenoano was first convicted of the attempted murder of John Gentry. As a result of her involvement in the attempted murder of John, investigators looked into the ‘accidental deaths’ of her husband James Goodyear and her son Michael. They exhumed John’s body a decade later and an autopsy revealed he had been poisoned with arsenic. Testimony revealed long-term arsenic poisoning had actually caused her son Michael’s disability. And when Judy drowned him, he was wearing an extra 15 pounds of weighted braces. Judy reportedly admitted to being involved in the 1978 death of her boyfriend Bobby Joe Morris as well. She received $50,000 in life insurance benefits for his death. Judy Buenoano was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death. She was executed by the electric chair in Florida on March 30, 1998. Judy Buenoano was motivated by money, profit, and greed.
Brothers Larry and Danny Ranes grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They were the product of a divorce after their father abandoned them and left one day to start a new relationship with a woman in Florida. In high school, Larry and Danny dated the same girl, Paula. She went back and forth between the two brothers. She really liked Larry and Danny really liked her but after graduation, Larry enlisted in the Army in 1962. One night, Larry got drunk and because one of his buddies stole his chips, he flipped out on all his friends. It was reported that he ran after them with a knife, was hauled off by the military police, and spent the rest of his stint in the brig until he was discharged. When he got home, he had nowhere to go and no sense of direction; he felt disgraced. Paula was now dating his brother Danny so he started dating someone else, an older woman. He eventually proposed to her but she rejected him. He was devastated and felt completely aimless and done with life.
Gary Smock, 34, was found tied up and murdered in his vehicle on the side of the road in Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 30, 1964. Gary’s wife reported him missing and while she was at the police station, she learn that his car has been spotted on the side of the road and he was dead. He had been tied up, robbed, and shot in the head with a 22 caliber. Detectives begin their investigation by piecing together the last hours of Gary’s life. That same morning, a group of fisherman found Charles Snyder, a gas station attendant who had been shot in Elkhart, Indiana. It appeared to be another robbery/homicide. Investigators wondered if the two murders were connected considering the motive was robbery and a 22 caliber was used in both crimes. On April 6, 1964 Vernon LeBenne, 23, was found robbed and shot at a Battle Creek, Michigan gas station he worked at part-time. Vernon was an active duty Air Force member stationed at the Fort Custer Training Center in Michigan. When he was found the next day, he was still alive but in a coma; he died twelve hours later. The police were never able to question him but were concerned all three murders were connected.
Five days later, Larry Ranes called the police claiming that he wanted to commit suicide. Police arrived at his home and found him alive. He was taken to the police station, questioned, and admitted to killing Gary Smock and Charles Snyder. Larry admitted killing Gary because he was upset that he was making noise in the trunk of his own car. He then admitted to driving to Elkhart and robbing and killing a gas station attendant Charles Synder. Ironically, he was waved through a police roadblock with Gary’s body in his trunk. The police didn’t suspect him because he was cool, calm and collected. Larry also admitted to killing airman Vernon LeBenne. Initially he declined a defense attorney so the prosecution ordered a psychiatric evaluation. He told the psychiatrist that he never thought his life would amount to much especially after getting discharged from the military. He had no sense of direction. He admitted feeling worthless and that it sent him into a bad place. He tried to take his own life before and was sent to a hospital for two weeks but he felt that nobody paid attention to his needs.
In September 1964, Larry was charged with Gary Smock’s murder. The defense claimed he was temporarily insane at the time of the crime. They claimed that he was taking his resentment’s towards his abusive, alcoholic dad who abandoned him out on Gary Smock. The jury didn’t buy it and he was found guilty of murder in 1964 and sentenced to life in prison. Meanwhile with Larry out of the picture, Danny married his high school sweetheart Paula. They had two children but Paula still daydreamed about Larry and wrote to him while he was in prison. Danny eventually found the love letters between his brother and wife and the two of them begin fighting regularly; Danny left the marriage. Danny decided to move to Wyoming and while there, he committed a crime. He abducted a couple of teenagers, released them and then turned himself in. It is believed that he secretly hoped Paula would like him more now that he committed a crime like his brother Larry. Paula and Danny tried the relationship again and had a third child but it didn’t work. After divorcing Paula, Danny committed another crime and was arrested for felonious assault of a child.
In 1971, seven years after Larry’s murder conviction, he appealed his case and was granted a re-trial. Meanwhile Danny is released from prison in 1972 for his felony crimes and moved back to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Danny learned Larry was back in the papers because of his re-trial and within a month, he committed another crime. A man reported his wife and child were missing and the next day a woman reported that she found a baby walking around unsupervised covered in blood. The police found his mother Patricia Howk stabbed to death in the woods; she had been murdered but there were no suspects. A few months later, some citizens found a car in the woods with two dead decomposed bodies inside: Linda Clark and Claudia Bidstrup from Chicago, Illinois. They were on their way to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Police were concerned that these two murders were connected to Patricia Howk. Finally, Kalamazoo Police received a tip that helped them solve the cases. Brent Koster informed investigators that he was an accomplice to the violent rapes and murders of Linda Clark and Claudia Bidstrup with Danny Ranes.
Brent Koster testified that Danny bragged about killing Patricia Howk. He claimed he admitted to attacking her as she was getting in her car. Patricia fought back so he stabbed her in the back and twisted the knife until she was dead. On July 6, 1972, Linda Clark and Claudia Bidstrip pulled into the gas station where Danny Ranes was working. Danny pretended to check their oil but instead took one of the spark plug wires out. The car wouldn’t start so he told them to pull around the back of the gas station. After they were isolated, the pair pulled knives on them and took turns raping them. They murdered them a few hours later and dumped their bodies near the Kalamazoo River. Brent Koster agreed to a plea deal in exchange for his full cooperation and during this exchange admitted to one more murder. The two picked up, raped, and murdered Patricia Fearnow who was hitchhiking on the campus of Western Michigan University. Brent Koster was sentenced to life for the second degree murder of Linda Clark. Danny Ranes changed his ‘not guilty’ plea to ‘no contest’ and received two additional life sentences for the murders of Linda Clark and Claudia Bidstrup. And finally Larry Ranes’ insanity defense fell apart and he pleaded guilty to the murder of Gary Smock and was sentenced to life.
For one family in Michigan, winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing. But when one competition heats up, they end up doing the unthinkable. The small, Midwestern town the family calls home will come face to face with multiple rounds of pure evil. -Investigation Discovery
Maria Ridulph, 7, disappeared on December 3, 1957 in Sycamore, Illinois. She was found stabbed to death a few months later. Air Force veteran John Tessier (aka Jack McCullough) of Seattle, Washington, 17 at the time, was convicted in 2012 of the kidnapping and murder of Maria and sentenced to life in prison. It was the oldest cold case in the country to be solved but soon that victory would be lost and conviction overturned on appeal. A prosecutor found evidence that supported McCullough’s long-held alibi that he had been 40 miles away at the time of the disappearance. As a matter of fact, the former Captain was enlisting in the Air Force and left for active duty service a few days later. A certificate of innocence was issued and Jack McCullough was set free on April 15, 2016. Despite the past sexual abuse of minors allegations, which McCullough doesn’t deny, he wants to clear his name of the homicide. McCullough is suing the State of Illinois for wrongful conviction. The case remains unsolved to this day.
Anjette Lyles, Macon, Georgia (photo courtesy of Soapboxie)
In 1947, Anjette Lyles and WWII Army veteran Ben Lyles ran a successful restaurant in Macon, Georgia. Anjette’s shining personality and beautiful face kept the customers coming back. One judge remembered his experience at the restaurant and claimed she was just a nice person. One day, Ben decides he’s had enough and sells the family restaurant. He said he was sick of it and Anjette was angry because she wanted to keep the restaurant; they also had just gave birth to another child. Ben wouldn’t relent and he would come to regret that decision. At first, Anjette practiced black magic and wished for harm to come to Ben. Then she stepped it up and started using a form of ant poisoning she conveniently put in Ben’s food. Ben Lyles was sick with rheumatic fever since his time in the service but once he sold the restaurant, he rapidly deteriorated. Ben was experiencing bleeding from the nose and mouth, swelling of the eyes, weeping skin lesions, and acute liver failure. Nobody could figure out what was wrong. Ben’s death was painful and the baffled doctors decided it was encephalitis. Ben Lyles died on January 25, 1952.
The pair argued bitterly over [Ben selling the restaurant], and the arguments only got worse when the Veteran’s Administration decided to cut Ben’s pension to a tenth of what it was as they’d decided he was now fit to work. As if to prove the VA wrong, in December of 1951 Ben Lyles fell ill. The doctors were confused. It wasn’t a recurrence of his rheumatic fever, and in fact they weren’t quite sure what it was that was wrong with him. He had nosebleeds and convulsions, and had to be hospitalised. When he went into a coma in January the doctors decided it was encephalitis, but by then it was too late for effective treatment. He never regained consciousness and died on the 25th of January. –HeadStuff
With the life insurance payout and the proceeds from the sale of the restaurant, Anjette bought back the restaurant and it became even more popular. She met Joe ‘Buddy’ Gabbert in the restaurant; he was a pilot from Texas. As soon as Joe met Anjette, he was captivated by her and courted her very energetically. They were married in just a few months. But Joe would quickly learn his new wife is not as she seems. Within three months of walking down the aisle, Joe Gabbert was dead on December 2, 1955. At this point, it is clear that Anjette was a sociopath with no feelings of empathy or love for anyone. Before she was 30, Anjette was widowed twice because the secret to her misfortune was arsenic poisoning. Her first husband Ben died shortly after selling the family restaurant; her second husband Joe died of a mysterious illness shortly after they were married. But instead of mourning, Anjette was happy and thriving in her restaurant. With another life insurance payout, this time Anjette bought herself a new home. But then a complication arose when her mother-in-law, Julia Lyles, announced she wanted to move in with her.
Julia indeed moved in with her but Anjette found a way to eliminate her problem and make even more money. Anjette learned that Julia had lots of money in savings. She attempted to change Julia’s will but one judge would not touch it because he needed to witness Julia sign the document and he knew it wasn’t Julia’s signature. Anjette forged her mother-in-law’s will and began to speed up her demise. When Julia fell ill and was hospitalized, Anjette brought her favorite foods for her and all the nurses thought she was so nice. Instead, Anjette was feeding Julia arsenic poisoning while she was laying in the hospital bed. Julia Lyles died on September 29, 1957. Anjette learned the best way to handle family problems was to simply get rid of them, by murdering. After Anjette’s mother-in-law was dead, she started turning on her daughter Marcia because she was an accessory Anjette didn’t want anymore. Marcia died of another unexplained illness on April 5, 1958 and it was reported that Anjette stood in the corner of the hospital room laughing while she was in pain. The doctors at the time could find reasons for the deaths of her two husbands but not this healthy little girl.
This time the police wanted an autopsy of Marcia Lyles and the autopsy results revealed that Marcia died of arsenic poisoning. After learning this information, the police exhumed both Ben Lyle’s and Joe Gabbert’s bodies and again they found traces of arsenic. Anjette’s secrets were finally revealed; she was a serial killer with no mercy. People were stunned to learned Anjette poisoned both her husbands and her daughter Marcia. It was described as a complete shock as the community always knew the kind, happy, helpful Anjette in the restaurant. Anjette Lyles was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death in 1958. But she appealed on the grounds of insanity and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Anjette was spared execution and lived out her life in an asylum. She died in 1977 of a heart attack at age 55. And in the end, a lot of people didn’t believe she was evil; they just figured she had some kind of mental quirk. Former FBI Profiler Candice DeLong shared her assessment of the case: “Anjette was a very high functioning, dedicated, driven, successful business women. That is not the definition of a paranoid schizophrenic.”
Anjette Lyles | Macon, Georgia | City Confidential [Full Episode]
Investigation Discovery:
Preview:Anjette Lyles felt the best way to deal with her problematic home life was to poison the people around her. -Secrets and Lies, Deadly Women (S4, E11)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 