In the middle of July 1971, an employee of the D.C. Department of Highways and Traffic began experiencing car troubles. January 19, 2023 . This was, truthfully, based off of statistical analysis at the time - which did show that killers tend to target their own racial demographic, more often than not - but had come after months of inactivity and perceived apathy. When investigators announced that the Freeway Phantom killer was most likely a black individual, this animosity towards the local police force began to turn into widespread distrust. D.C. Phantom Murder", "Six black girls were brutally murdered in the early '70s. After that announcement, the inmate who provided the information declined any further interviews, and denied that he had ever provided any information. As you can imagine, this was as frustrating to the victims' loved ones as it was to the investigators. But Jenkins, who said she reopened the case in 1987 after it had sat dormant for years, also linked the killing of Teara Ann Bryant, 18, to the Freeway Phantom case. Free-way Phantom!" More than two months had passed since the 13-year old had gone missing and her remains were found, and the story was a blip on the radar for 16-year old Darlenia. They said they had arrest warrants for another 26 people. At the time, they assumed it had come from her boyfriend - whom she had visited just before going missing - even though the boyfriend insisted they didn't have any kind of sexual activity that night. The search for Brenda Crockett was - thankfully - not a long way. [5] About two hours later (around 9:20 pm) the Crocketts' phone rang and was answered by her 7-year-old sister, who had waited at home while her family searched the neighborhood. Brenda then told her younger sister that she was in Virginia, before the call came to an abrupt end. A search of Robert Askin's vehicle the next month ended up raising some more alarms, when police found two buttons and a gold earring underneath his back seat. Infuriated, this caller called their boss and let them know about the police inactivity. In the fall of 1971, she began taking night classes at Cardozo High School, hoping to improve her working skills (such as typing). It was surmised that the body had only been decomposing for 2-3 days, despite her body being found close to a week after her abduction. The other, they claimed, belonged to an African American man. Like the first four victims, Woodard had been strangled but it appeared that her end had been a much more violent one. I don't believe that police followed the leads they had. All but one are still considered victims of the "Freeway Phantom Murderer. So he began scouring for anything that fit the bill and, surprisingly, found something. This neighbor had thought nothing of it at the time, since one of her family's friends drove a similar car. It wasn't until September of 1972 that investigators would declare him active once again. In the first murder attributed to this spree - that of Carol Spinks - it was discovered that she had been held captive for some time before her death. The details of this confession were leaked to the press by P.G. Brenda Faye Crockett was a 10-year old girl that lived with her family in Northwest, about a block away from Cardozo High School. edward sullivan and tommie simmons. FRee-wAy PhanTom[13], Based on handwriting samples, authorities surmised that the note, written on paper cut from the victim's school notebook, had been dictated to and handwritten by Woodard. This was the rhetoric that seemed to follow around the case in the early years of the investigation: that the police weren't doing enough to catch the killer. Carol was allowed to continue her small grocery run on this Sunday evening. "It's in the past, plus personnel in the police department has changed. 6+ killed Brenda got off to catch a transfer, and said goodbye to her classmate. These members included men such as Morris Joseph Warren, Paul Fletcher, John Davis, and Paul Brooks - whose exploits you can find in detailed newspaper archives. Likewise, Lewis Crockett - Brenda's father - states that he was never able to emotionally recover from the death of his daughter. Just one of eight children, Carol had an identical twin sister named Carolyn. It appeared to be in her own handwriting, written in pencil, and seemed to be written on a piece of paper that had been torn out from her notebook. This linked it to the Carol Spinks and Brenda Crockett murders. He might have received some kind of psychiatric treatment to help deal with negative emotions, like depression and anger towards women. Following this alleged sexual assault, the man had then driven the victim away from the scene, telling her at one point: "Have you ever heard of the Baltimore-Washington Expressway Phantom? He also owns a car or truck, which he would drive the distances between the stores where the victims were abducted. Touted as Washington, D.C.'s first serial killer, this yet-to-be-identified murderer was responsible for the killing of at least 6 minor girls in Washington, D.C. from April 1971 through September 1972. This time, the call would be answered by Brenda's mother's boyfriend, who had returned to the news of the first call. of Victims The bail bond for the alleged perpetrators was set at $250,000. The perpetrator might have served in the Army during the Vietnam War and may have been responsible for some war crimes such as rape and murder during massacres. Jenkins believes that the killer was either in the military, or lived some kind of transient lifestyle. Furthermore, colleagues at the National Science Foundation where Askins was employed reported that "tantamount" was a word that frequently cropped up in his speech. Four victims had their bodies left in Prince George's County, Maryland, while another two were disposed of inside Washington D.C. Investigators believed that this might have been done intentionally, with the killer trying to muddy the waters of the investigation by overlapping jurisdictions. These were the type of cases that her male colleagues tried to avoid. During this encounter, the man also told the victim that he had recently returned from Vietnam, was lonely, and was sick of no one understanding him. The Ed Sullivan Show: With Ed Sullivan, Johnny Wayne, Frank Shuster, Ralph Paul. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister. Coroner reports of the Freeway Phantom's victims tell us that the victims were brutally raped with penetration up to 9 inches deep, with both anal and vaginal assaults taking place. She was sent to buy groceries at a 7-Eleven located a half-mile away from her home by her older sister, but she never returned. Despite claiming he intended the cyanide for himself, planning suicide, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty years to life. This was a vote on "cloture" in the Senate, which means to end debate so that an up-or-down vote can be taken. Jury Convicts Man Accused in Green Vega Rapes, Talk Murder With Me - The Freeway Phantom Murders, Baltimore Afro American - Is he the Freeway Phantom (October 21st, 1972 issue), Indiana Evening Gazette - Washington, D.C. Police Seek Clues To Freeway Phantom (November 19th, 1971 issue), Santa Ana Register - 5-Man Gang Tied To Rapes, Killings (July 9th, 1975 issue), Two ex-cops from Washington held for Freeway Phantom murder of girl', Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). The inmate being interviewed stipulated that he would provide the information only if he could remain unidentified, which was agreed upon. All were black. Romaine Jenkins, the retired homicide detective that I detailed in this episode's introduction, has maintained a lifelong obsession with the case. He was also a former patient, that had been sent to the hospital in lieu of a prison. It was a word that had been used in his prior legal paperwork, during his murder trial from the 1950's and subsequent release, but had also been included in the Freeway Phantom's note. Barnes, 14, was at one point thought to be a victim of the serial killings. One of the known victims didn't have green fibers, and because of the investigation's scarce reporting, I have struggled to determine who the outlier is or was. He was afraid that more details of his cooperation would be leaked to the media, and he refused to give any more statements. "She had the shape and the beauty to be that. An aspiring model, she had just started her senior year at Ballou High School in Washington D.C. Coroners would later note that the strangulation was excessive, with the girl's esophagus having been broken. When he returned nearly a year later - in September of 1972 - he had lashed out at another victim in the neighborhood of Congress Heights. Brenda Denise Woodard was an 18-year old, that lived with her family in Baltimore, Maryland, along Maryland Avenue. Serial KillerSerial RapistAbductorPedophileEphebophile It was believed that these had come from a vehicle or a carpet/rug of some kind, but would provide police a very minuscule lead as the investigation began to stretch out over several weeks. Brenda's 7-year old sister, Bertha, had remained at-home while the rest of her family was out scouring the neighborhood. She hopped on the next bus, and that is when her trail went cold. [20], Common practice at the time was that case files at MPDC Detective Divisions were retained by the detectives assigned to the case. "These were probably the first serial cases in the District of Columbia that one can recall," said Romaine Jenkins, a retired D.C. police homicide detective who helped investigate the killings. He would receive a life sentence, and ended up spending several decades inside a penitentiary. The Freeway Phantom case has seen a myriad of investigators and garnered much interest over the years. [16] She was last seen boarding a bus at 11:20 pm near his house. Like any kid would, she answered it only to hear her sister on the other end of the line. However, following the murder of Brenda Woodard, the so-called "Freeway Phantom" would disappear for close to an entire year. They started a task force, which included more than 100 detectives and federal agents and had involvement from the following law enforcement agencies: the MPDC Homicide Division and Sex Squads, detectives from Maryland's P.G. This semen sample would remain untested for several decades, but needless to say that would come up much later. One of the issues I haven't really touched on so far is the topic of race. The case was investigating primarily by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia - more commonly abbreviated as the MPDC. The Sullivans: With Paul Cronin, Steven Tandy, Reg Gorman, Vikki Hammond. But he began working his way backwards, hoping to recreated the investigation that had long since remained inactive. Edward Sullivan et Tommie Simmons Freeway Phantom taient-ils ? Investigators and websleuths alike have wondered if Brenda Woodard might have been targeted by a separate killer, who tried to place the blame for her death at the burgeoning "Freeway Phantom" by having the victim write a note saying as much. In the most unusual development in the case thus far, investigators discovered what seemed to be a taunt from the culprit - which was found at the scene. They would be called back later on, but by that time, the case had grown stagnant. In addition to the stab wounds, investigators considered it bizarre that the victim was found with her shoes. In December of 1938 - when Askins was a much younger man - he had poisoned a sex worker in Washington D.C with potassium cyanide. That was when she learned of her 18-year old daughter's brutal murder. edward sullivan and tommie simmons. However, in all of these cases, one kept Romaine Jenkins up at night. The Freeway Phantom is a self imposed nickname for an unidentified serial killer who was active in Washington, D.C. from April 1971 through September 1972. Now, she continues to ponder over the case, which still haunts her. He walked her to a bus stop nearby, along Martin Luther King Avenue. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as: names, dates, place of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. These were odd correlations that likely had no importance, but were of interest to the media at the time. There, she was sexually assaulted and beaten, before being freed by her kidnapper. "From that moment on, our lives were never the same," said Williams, 40, who is a police officer. She, however, had been 18 years old, and likely much more aware of what was happening to her. Nenomoshia Yates had been sent by her family to a Safeway grocery store, which was just down the street from their apartment - literally less than a block away. Perhaps she knew her abductor, and wasn't too far away from her family's home at the time of the call. The other, which Detective Romaine Jenkins believes might be related, was the murder of Teara Ann Bryant, who was killed in November of 1972 - two months after the last known Freeway Phantom murder. So, Detective Trainum then took back the evidence, and re-submitted it to the Maryland State Police. A couple of beat cops would be sent out to investigate the scene, but made very little attempt to locate the body. This was less than two miles away from Diane's home. Even though most of the evidence had been poorly-preserved - if it was preserved at all, and wasn't just missing - Trainum hoped that advancements in DNA technology would allow for a closer look at the Freeway Phantom killer. Read. To police, this explained the defensive wounds on her hands, and the stab wounds themselves. Despite more than 25 D.C. police officer being handed over to the investigative effort at one point, this sentiment is shared by at least one high-ranking police officer - who worked for the department at the time of the murders. All suspects are charged with state drug offenses and were cited and released with future dates to appear in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Courts across the state. There were long gaps between the crimes (sometimes as long as 2.5 months between each), but five young women had been killed over the span of 1971. A reward exists for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of people or persons responsible, totaling $150,000 as of this year. She remained permanently scarred after the death of her sister, and later became a Washington D.C. police officer as a result. It's the story of six black girls, who were all abducted and brutally murdered over the span of a year-and-a-half. It wasn't until the following day that her absence was truly noted, and suspicions began to be raised about her whereabouts. The following day - September 6th, 1972 - the body of Diane Williams was discovered by a trucker along Interstate 295. . Twenty of those appearances were included on a DVD titled Muppets Magic from the Ed Sullivan Show in 2003. Signature [22] Members of this gang were collectively responsible for numerous Washington D.C. and surrounding Maryland vicinity rapes and abductions that occurred near the Washington Beltway. She was asking for some groceries - all of which could be picked up from a 7-Eleven convenience store just down the street. As a result, the Freeway Phantom case files have been lost, along with the associated notes, and all investigators assigned as primary or task force have either long retired, or are deceased. The body was recovered, and was eventually identified as Darlenia Denise Johnson - a missing 16-year old that had disappeared from the neighborhood earlier that month. This hints at some kind of urgency, such as the killer being rushed. Nonetheless, doubt continues to linger over the case, and the potential involvement of the Green Vega Rapists. However, other detectives that have handled or examined the case in the years since have pointed out that most of the information Morris Warren provided was all stuff he could have gotten from news coverage of the murders. Criminal profiling was still in its infancy, but the FBI was eager to help solve this case, which they had labeled the work of a "repeat offender.". Why was this case never solved? They had done the brunt of the early investigation, such as speaking to key witnesses and canvassing the neighborhoods of the abductions, but were unable to advance the case in any major way. They dedicated many more man-hours to political scandals and dealing with Vietnam protests - and to the loved ones left without any answers - it seemed like detectives cared very little about six dead black girls. This was roughly a month after the last crime attributed to the Freeway Phantom, and Groom - who lived in Northwest Baltimore - had just been arrested for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a young woman. Their boss then decided to make a call to a friend of theirs - Charles Baden, a police sergeant in Washington D.C. Baden, was wasn't even on-duty that day, was able to make his way to the scene, where he finally got the police involved. They operated in Washington, D.C., between April 1971 and September 1972 and claimed at least six victims. Now, the victim was found just hours after going missing. All the nation's press and media, when reporting upon the story, began referring to the killer as such. In 1974, two more names were entered into the suspect fray: Edward Sellman - sometimes referred to as Edward Sullivan in reporting of the case - and Tommie Simmons. On December 30, only two days later, he stabbed to death another prostitute, 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, at the same location. The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. 7 The Alphabet Killer Photo Credit: calafellvalo / Flickr Like the case of Dr. If he was as young as investigators believe, he would now be entering his twilight years - of retirement age, at least, or quickly approaching it. Because the body of Diane Williams - the sixth and final victim - had been found near the D.C.-Maryland border, Maryland State Police had initially handled the investigation. He didn't want to be left in the dust, but agreed to speak to investigators only if they kept his name out of it. In March, 1977, a 58-year-old computer technician, Robert Elwood Askins, was charged with abducting and raping a 24-year-old woman inside his Washington, D.C. home. [23] Logical investigation and intimate knowledge of the modus operandi of the Green Vega Gang brought them to the forefront. However, in the half-mile distance between the 7-Eleven convenience store and her family's apartment, Carol Spinks disappeared. The service, which comes 25 years to the month after Diane Williams's slaying, will be held at 2 p.m. at the Howard University School of Divinity. Williams was discovered by a trucker along Interstate 295., plus personnel the! 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