Like the first victim, Carol Spinks, experts were able to find small green fibers on the clothing, which hinted at some link between the two cases. [1][2], On the evening of April 25, 1971, 13-year-old Spinks from Southeast was sent by (Carlo) an older sister to buy groceries at a 7-Eleven located a half-mile away from her home, just across the border in Maryland. Investigation revealed that the minor girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. They didn't even get out of the car to look for the remains, before using their radio to call in "10-8" (aka "nothing to see here"). However, that changed in 1974, when Sellman and Simmons were arrested for the crime, and charged with murder. 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. Thomas E. Sullivan portrayed Nathaniel Malick in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The body also had a coat on its chest, in the pockets of which was a note with a poem . A store clerk would later recognize the girl from photographs, and state she had purchased the items that evening, just after 7:00 PM. Brenda was still wearing her black boots, which stood in direct contrast to the first few victims. Carol was allowed to continue her small grocery run on this Sunday evening. With the fourth murder, the FBI had gotten involved, and investigators were now hunting a single killer a killer that now seemed to accept his nickname. During this search, they began looking for those that knew the victim, and were able to quickly link this case to the missing 13-year old that had disappeared less than a week beforehand. One of the known acquaintances of the Green Vega's was interviewed by police. He didn't want to risk being exposed to the other gang members, for fear of retribution. The vehicle was described as an older black model, but no specific details could be given. especiAlly women. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. Her body was discovered behind St. Elizabeths Hospital on a grassy embankment next to the northbound lanes of I-295, about 1,500 feet south of Suitland Parkway. The killer may have military experience due to the skill displayed during the abductions and the lack of evidence at the crime scenes. Alias When he returned nearly a year later - in September of 1972 - he had lashed out at another victim in the neighborhood of Congress Heights. It was rumored in the days after Darlenia's disappearance that her mother would receive phone calls at odd hours, with the person on the other end of the line taunting her. [22] [23] Authorities later determined that Barnes was not a victim of the Freeway Phantom and resumed their investigation on the murders. His information seemed legitimate, albeit somewhat scattered, and investigators took his words seriously. As you can imagine, both of this leads led nowhere. It's really infuriating, knowing that investigators might have come so close to solving at least one of the major mysteries in this case, but it got lost in a sea of bureaucracy and legalities. This, at least, provided investigators with some kind of a lead, but finding the driver of a blue Volkswagon - in 1971 - was like finding a needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, they would be unable to link these to any particular victims. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! Five months after being released in April 1952, Askins strangled 42-year-old Laura Cook to death. Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, List of serial killers in the United States, "DNA discovery could solve 1972 Freeway Phantom slaying", "Up to $150,000 Reward "Freeway Phantom" Murders", "Why the Freeway Phantom Still Hasn't Been Caught", "Black Ex-Cops Arrested In. "From that moment on, our lives were never the same," said Williams, 40, who is a police officer. 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. The most intriguing testimony they could obtain was that of a neighbor, who saw Neno Yates getting into a blue Volkswagon. All the cases involving white girls still get publicity. Some had been sexually assaulted, and some of whom were found with very little evidence for investigators to chew over. Part of me was just killed. The case was investigating primarily by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia - more commonly abbreviated as the MPDC. The Green Vega Gang members were individually interviewed by MPDC Homicide Detectives Fickling, Irving, and Richardson, at Lorton Prison in Virginia, where the gang members were serving sentences in conjunction with the successful prosecutions of those crimes in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. 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. One of the more promising leads that investigators would follow up on centered around a group of known sexual offenders, who have been referred to as the "Green Vega Rapists" in the media. A witness apparently saw her getting into a blue Volkswagen, and although investigated, the lead led nowhere.[5]. Are Green Vega Rapists Freeway Phantom? Furthermore, colleagues at the National Science Foundation where Askins was employed reported that "tantamount" was a word that frequently cropped up in his speech. It's even possible to imply that Brenda's last words in the phone call - the reflexive "I'll see you" comment - were indicative of her being close to home. He graduated from Harvard College in 1874, and was a pupil of Lefebvre and Boulanger in Paris, where he took a gold medal. Unfortunately, their questions regarding her fate would be answered less than a week later. Askins also seemed to match the criteria that investigators had established the Freeway Phantom would have: he was a middle-aged black man that lived in the neighborhood, had a proclivity for targeting similar victims, and harbored a violent grudge against women. ", "(Wanted Poster) Up to $150,000 Reward 'Freeway Phantom' Murders", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freeway_Phantom&oldid=1139343201, CS1 Chinese (Taiwan)-language sources (zh-tw), Wikipedia articles needing rewrite from February 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 17:04. Valerie, Carol's 24-year old sister that lived across the hall in the apartment building, asked the kids if any of them would walk down to a nearby store for her. hugh o'brian estate; senior analyst job description accenture. Authorities would note that her crime scene was incredibly gruesome - with her clothing being stained with blood - and she had six stab wounds to various parts of her body. Police quickly zeroed in on Askins as their suspect, but it wasn't until D.C. detective Lloyd Davis began interviewing Askins, and learned about his past, that he began to connect the man to the unsolved Freeway Phantom murders. However, by the time the 1980's had rolled around, the case was still unsolved. Since then, the police department found the bodies of 6 more minor black girls, all of whom were strangled, assaulted, and shoes missing. However, despite there being no sign of sexual assault, police would find semen on Diane's clothing. This stood out, because he didn't live with any women - so where had he gotten these scarves? [21][2] With current evidence and any information of the case from when it happened, no leads produced sufficient evidence for prosecution. Court documents were found in a desk drawer in which a judge had used the word "tantamount," an uncommon word that had appeared in the note dictated by the killer of Brenda Woodward. "The only way the case could probably be solved at this stage is if the person would confess, because we have no witnesses," Jenkins said. wheN you cAtch me iF you cAn! Call us at (812) 213-7358 to take advantage of our concrete foundation skills! edward sullivan and tommie simmons. Authorities could never conclusively link Edward and Tommie with the other killings and mark them as the Phantom Freeway killer. That was when she learned of her 18-year old daughter's brutal murder. One of which began talking: Morris Joseph Warren, who had begun to grow fearful that another member of the gang would turncoat before he did. She was the region's first female homicide detective - a feat made all the more incredible when you factor in Jenkins' ethnicity. During her time as a homicide detective, Jenkins mainly investigated the deaths of children and babies. Currently Reading. Despite the bodies of Sheila and Katherine Lyon never being found, a man named Lloyd Welch confessed to their murders, bringing some resolution to the surviving loved ones. Edward Emerson Simmons (October 27, 1852 - November 17, 1931) was an American Impressionist painter, remembered for his mural work. After the 1978 rape charge, Askins' home was searched by police in connection with the Freeway Phantom murders. Winona. [4], 12-year-old Yates was walking home around 7:00 pm from a Safeway store in Northeast on October 1, 1971 when she was kidnapped, raped, and strangled. He ultimately let the victim go without harming her any further, and the incident was reported to police. In 1980, the Washington Post wrote an article about the case, which included statements from two of the victims' family members. She was the one of the few people to speak to Brenda after her abduction, and hear her crying on the other side. The police later recovered one of the .38 caliber pistols reported stolen by the two police officers. This was just a stone's throw away from the first two abduction scenes - those of Carol Spinks and Darlenia Johnson - from more than a year beforehand. 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. Sellman and Simmons, two ex-cops, were arrested for the murder of Angela Denise Barnes. Now-retired, she always dreamed of being the one to crack the Freeway Phantom case, hoping to be the one to personally handcuff him. While there, he broke free of his restraints and assaulted three orderlies with a chair before being subdued. The bail bond for the alleged perpetrators was set at $250,000. It's very possible that he had nothing to do with the Freeway Phantom crimes, but his name is one I haven't seen mentioned before, and thought it worth bringing up. After that announcement, the inmate who provided the information declined any further interviews, and denied that he had ever provided any information. Jan, 19, 2023; cemu android apk All these leads were investigated to their logical conclusion. It is unknown whether or not police investigated Groom as a legitimate suspect, but I have not found any reporting or mention of him in the months and years after this one incident. Near the access ramp to Route 202, from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Officer Norman would discover the body of Brenda Woodard. James Trainum - the retired homicide detective that resurrected the case more than a decade ago - continues to believe that the killer lived in the neighborhood of the first two victims: Carol Spinks and Darlenia Johnson. However, police struggled to come to grips with some other differences: such as the note found in Brenda's coat pocket - which seemed to taunt investigators - and the fact that Brenda was found still wearing her boots. This semen sample would remain untested for several decades, but needless to say that would come up much later. Join Facebook to connect with Edward Sullivan and others you may know. Both Trainum and Jenkins stick with this analysis, which provides a small insight into most serial killers - again, most serial killers, not all of them. This is tantamount to my insensitivity to people, especially women. The "Freeway Phantom" was a nickname given by a regional tabloid, but the name seemed to stick. However, he traces the killer's origins to the neighborhood of Congress Heights, where, as Trainum states: "He felt safe there, he felt he could do his dirt and get away with it.". Now, the victim was found just hours after going missing. These family members banded together in 1973, to form the Freeway Phantom Organization - a grouping of loved ones, who wanted to support one another in the wake of this tragedy. In addition to all of these violent details, it was also discovered during this autopsy that the victim, Carol, had likely been kept alive after her disappearance (which police were now ruling an abduction). As they spoke, her bus had come and gone, so the man offered to give her a ride home. 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. Yazoo City. This angry sentiment was also shared by the sister of Carol Spinks, Evander Spinks, who stated: "You better bet that if these had been white girls, the police would have solved the cases. 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. So, Trainum took back the evidence, and submitted it to the FBI forensic database where the same thing happened. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. Two former police officers, Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons, were also questioned, but they were only suspected in the murder of Angela Denise Barnes, a victim not included in the Freeway Phantom series. Romaine Jenkins is a retired police officer, who - during her tenure in law enforcement - became a pioneer. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 - and the subsequent riots, which caused extensive damage to the Washington D.C. region - the area had been left reeling. 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. Brenda Denise Woodard was an 18-year old, that lived with her family in Baltimore, Maryland, along Maryland Avenue. An aspiring model, she had just started her senior year at Ballou High School in Washington D.C. If those girls had been white, they would have put more manpower on it, there's no doubt about that.". Shortly after leaving the store, another kid from the neighborhood saw her walking back home, with a bag of groceries in her hands. Unknown He immediately recanted all prior statements and rescinded his prior confessions, calling it an "elaborate hoax" in the process. [24] Barnes, 14, was at one point thought to be a victim of the serial killings. Want to Read. Unfortunately, this began a really frustrating period of time, in which the Maryland State Police held the item in a backlog, but were unable to test it in a timely manner. 1971-1972 One of the original Freeway Phantom detectives, who long suspected Askins to be the killer, continued corresponding with the convict until his death in 2010. 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. A second call would be received at the family's home a short time later, at around 10:00 PM. This was also felt by Patricia Williams, the sister of Diane. Many of the original detectives had been long-retired, or were even deceased, when Trainum took on the case. Investigators would later theorize that this note was written by Brenda herself; with the FBI later linking it to other writings from her. Most unusually, her body appeared to have been washed prior to its abandonment alongside U.S. Route 50. If that is the case, it perhaps explains the next development in the story. Several days passed, and Washington D.C. - already a warm and humid place - began to enter the dog days of summer. Pathology 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. The Metropolitan police Department of the Green Vega 's was interviewed by police in connection with the gang... Leads led nowhere. [ 5 ] statements and rescinded his prior confessions, calling an. In 1974, when Trainum took on the other gang members, for fear of.... Commonly abbreviated as the MPDC officer, who saw Neno Yates getting into a blue,. 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