Into Oblivion: Everything You Know is Wrong

As the 20th century dwindled down, law enforcement forged into new territory to crime fighting by creating a "profile".  Various psychologically trained, experienced investigators in the FBI and other law agencies began applying new ways of thinking in trying to identify and out think predatory killers, termed in the 1970's as "serial killers."

 

As a result some truisms emerged.  These stereotypical statements were taken as gospel: most serial killers are white, of a certain age, certain socio-economic level and will prey on one gender or another, and always within their own racial or social comfort zones.

 

Thus, for the past forty years the strong belief that there were no women serial killers or ethnic serial killers.   If found, they must be an anomaly.  Yet, statistics about the personalities that can evolve into these types of killers indicate there are a lot of them in society. Thus, few possibilities of anomalies but rather a pattern undetected or under recognized.

 

Then, however, was Jake Bird arrested in 1947 for killing two women in Tacoma, Washington.  Various newspaper accounts of the time reflect an intelligent, even savvy, man in his 40's.  He implied and claimed connection to over 40 murders in a half-dozen states.  He favored using an axe but a knife worked as well.  His favorite target were white women usually in their 30's to 50's.

 

So - - one major prop is shuttled aside in this one case.  Rather than being an exception that proves the rule, it may be the exception that indicates the basic rule is flawed and too restrictive.  One of the guiding principles for early serial killers was a limited field of operation. Society was not as mobile and options were limited for them to act out their dark desires to kill.  As a result there would tend to be a similarity in selections of victims; the killer would tend to be in places where he felt invisible, safe or easily accepted without questions.   As society became more mobile, there tended to be a shift in the selection of victims and they were not as cookie cutter as mystery novels might imply. Issues of opportunity were enlarged with the ability to get away swiftly.  Most importantly, a killer who did not feel he fit into society anyway, who had developed skills to help him, or her, retain a low profile and move with ease through various realms of society, began to prey on a wider variety of victims.

 

So many states have long, long lists of missing persons or unidentified bodies going back decades.  In researching some of these, it is often clear that working under assumptions of motivation, victim selection and methodology, police were often hampered in connecting victims to a predator. 

 

Is it time to go back to the criminal investigation drawing board and start fresh with an assumption, "everything you know is wrong?"

THE LOUIS CASAWAY FAMILY: AX MURDERS OF 1911

In late March 1911 a most foul deed was done in San Antonio, Texas.   It would enter the story of  a horrific time in American history, a time when a murderer, or murderers, traveled the land targeting families and individuals for death by ax.

The Louis Casaway family was particularly tragic given the personal struggles of the family slaughtered.  

Louis Casaway was the local school janitor and an industrious individual well known as a man of honor and dignity. He had been involved in local politics.  His wife Elizabeth  had survived a disastrous first marriage and had started a new life with Louis.  At the time of their deaths there were born three children: Josephine S., Ruby B., and an infant.

What made this union unique in its time was the fact that, despite Texas laws forbidding such a union, Louis was a Black man and his wife a White woman.  Elizabeth Castalow had been married to a man named Layne some 20 years earlier. They divorced and she married Casaway. 

The are probably listed on the  1910 census of Bexar County, Texas in San Antonio's 6th Ward.  There, an Alfred L. Casaway (listed as a white male, 30 years old born in Louisiana) is listed. A wife name Elizabeth, white female, born Texas, aged around 36.  Her parents had both been born in Georgia.  They had gone to Mexico to be married (since it was against the law in Texas and most of the South) and been married twenty years.  Two children were listed: Josephine S. 7 years old, white, born Texas; Ruby B. 2 years old born Texas.

On the 1900 Census they are listed in San Antonio, Bexar Co., TX (election precinct 9).   He is "A.L. Cassaway" and she is "Lizzie".  They are listed as living at 109 Nesbit and are identified as Black.  He is shown as age 40 (1860) she is 35 (1865) and both say they were born in Texas.

One of the theories of their awful death was they were victims of the strange death cult accused of killing other families in Louisiana and Texas. All were families of mixed racial profiles, what was called "Mulatto".  Law officers did quickly surmise the killer, or killers, used the rail lines to enter a community and leave undetected. 

Did the unfortunate Casaway family become targets because they had gone against segregated social structures?  Was a bizarre cult really killing mixed race families in some strange attempt to purify the community? Was a mass killer traveling the rails of the south, hopping off to slaughter before slinking back into the darkness of the long bloody night?  

Most authorities did look at the concept of a white killer but soon ruled that out due to the location of many of the crimes.   A white man would have been seen noted, and remembered.

The truth may never be known.  What is known is that a family was slaughtered, "in a crime, absolutely inhuman in its conception and atrocious in its execution" in the dark of an early spring night. (Chicago Defender, April 8, 1911).  We remember Louis, Elizabeth and their three innocent children - may they rest in peace.

What Lies Beneath

A previous entry covered a Dark Spring in Oklahoma City.  A portion of the area's older homes were, at that time, destined for demolition in just a few years. That spring, they were still home to some people, although some houses were vacant and decaying by the minute.  Grisly, and still unsolved murders, erupted that dismal spring creating fear for many.  Today, the area is a green and tree filled area dotted by state and corporate buildings.

A short account of the events :

The first body parts showed up in April 1, 1976, in an abandoned house at 325 NE 8th in Oklahoma City, utility workers exploring an abandoned house found the head and body parts of a 18 year old Cathy Lyn Shackelford. At the time, however, she was unidentified and was labeled a 'Jane Dow'.   


Fast forward to April 19, 1979 when several grisly discoveries are made between mid-April and the first of May. All around the 300 block NE 10th and 200 block NE 7th in Oklahoma City.  The  second known victim was named Arley Bell Killian. 


A strange gap of seven  years followed before another find was made.  On March 6, 1986, the body of   23 year old  Tina Sanders was located at 507 N. Lindsay.  A fourth has been suggested but unverified.


There are interesting similarities which might provide links to similar crimes and bring closure to this cold case. 


All the women were Native American, they either lived on the streets and/or worked as prostitutes, and were all probably killed within the same one mile radius where their bodies were found. The killings were in the spring, they were not rushed, and due to the ease with which the body parts were created and discarded, the killer had to have been familiar with his surroundings (the Stiles Circle - Lincoln Terrace neighborhood; now generally covered by the Centennial Expressway and the OU Health Science buildings and related structures).  Each body had an incision in the lower lip, massive body mutilation and dismemberment, and certain parts of the bodies were never found.

RAILROADS, VIOLENCE, AND GRUESOME DEATH

WELLINGTON, KS., Nov. 22---Last evening, Levi Meeker, his wife and 8-year-old daughter were found dead on the Southern Kansas railroad track by his son. It is supposed they were struck while crossing the track in a wagon by a passenger train.(reported in the Wisconsin State Journal ~ November 23, 1888). 

In my book, WHEN DEATH RODE THE RAILS: STRANGE DEATHS IN OKLAHOMA, 1900-1920, I explored cases like this. I had found some suspicious cases in northern Texas and theorized there might be more in surrounding states.


Exactly how did a steam locomotive - stealthy they were not - sneak up to kill this family? No one on the wagon (pulled by one or more horses, walking or at most trotting) was aware of the oncoming train? None could hold the team and run it across the tracks in time?   One source indicates express passenger trains on that line were to travel at between 25-35 and mail trains 15 mph.     Were they, like some in Oklahoma, killed and then placed there to cover the crime? Are there similar deaths along that particular line?

DARK SPRING - Unsolved OKC Murders

Spring times are supposed to be about life and renewal and second chances.  Once upon time in central Oklahoma City the spring was dark and filled with visions to cause nightmares.

The first body parts showed up in April 1, 1976, in an abandoned house at 325 NE 8th in Oklahoma City, utility workers exploring an abandoned house found the head and body parts of a 18 year old Cathy Lyn Shackelford. At the time, however, she was unidentified and was labeled a 'Jane Dow'.   

Fast forward to April 19, 1979 when several grisly discoveries are made between mid-April and the first of May. All around the 300 block NE 10th and 200 block NE 7th in Oklahoma City.  The  second known victim was named Arley Bell Killian.

A strange gap of seven  years followed before another find was made.  On March 6, 1986, the body of   23 year old  Tina Sanders was located at 507 N. Lindsay.  A fourth has been suggested but unverified.

There are interesting similarities which might provide links to similar crimes and bring closure to this cold case. All the women were Native American, they either lived on the streets and/or worked as prostitutes, and were all probably killed within the same one mile radius where their bodies were found. The killings were in the spring, they were not rushed, and due to the ease with which the body parts were created and discarded, the killer had to have been familiar with his surroundings (the Stiles Circle - Lincoln Terrace neighborhood; now generally covered by the Centennial Expressway and the OU Health Science buildings and related structures).  Each body had an incision in the lower lip, massive body mutilation and dismemberment, and certain parts of the bodies were never found.

The chronology of the murders -1976, 1979 and 1986 - indicate there may have been a pattern at work.  Another killing (5) might have occurred in 1982-1983.  Just as possible, however,  the killer could have been in jail, in the military, or out of state on some job during the seven year break.  It is likely other killings, as of yet to be found,  may be fit that pattern.(Oklahoma Cold Cases) It would be atypical for such a killer to have such a long 'cooling off' period but not impossible.

Some suggest that another body was found April 22, 1995 and pulled from missing head, hands and feet, from a shallow grave 50 miles west of the city.   Authorities were said to note 'similarities' in the manner of the dismemberment. (Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes, 2009,p. 291) The time period is shortly after the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City and that story was the major news for several days and no report was found to confirm that suggestion.

In 1993, the combined efforts of Andra Medina, Sgt. Norma Adams, Norman forensic sculpture Betty Pat Gatliff, and well known Oklahoma based anthropologist , Dr. Clyde Snow brought closure to the first Jane Doe.  DNA identified her as Shackleford ("DNA Tests Identify '76 Slaying Victim". Steve Lackmeyer, Oklahoman, Nov. 30, 1993, pg.1).

There were also some 'interesting' bodies in eastern Oklahoma, not for from the I-40 corridor in Shamrock 1975, Wellston 1985 and Broken Arrow 1989. Also possibly other locations in 1985 and the early 90's.    Body parts or dismembered bodies of young women who apparently went missing unnoticed and unidentified.  The 1960's through the 1990's were especially violent with serial killers springing out of their dank worlds to grab headlines through gory acts: Kemper, Bundy, Rader and so many others.

What happened to the killer? Where did he go?  One notorious killer confessed to some of these deaths but the confessions are considered by most as suspect, the last minute greedy attempt by a sociopath to get attention.  If that is true, then chilling questions remain. When the region was razed by bulldozers and new building rose over the bloody grounds, what secrets were lost?  Are there other victims  out there - somewhere? Victims of this monster who stalked the streets to prey- at leisure -  on women struggling just to survive?

AXE MURDERS OF AUSTIN

Did Jack the Ripper get his start in Texas? Some researchers have suggested just that. The crimes, called at the time the Servant Girl Annihilator or Austin Axe Murderer, was a serial killer or killers who terrorized Austin, Texas between 1884 and 1885. Who he was and why he killed (other simply being evil) are unknown. Author Alistair MacLean once opinioned that men were either mad or bad when they did some deeds. No confusion as to the sources of human depravity for him.

The motive of this killers operations differed greatly from "Jack": he raped, stabbed or axed his victims. Just months later, the killings begin in White Chapel in London City. Like, the later English killer the Austin killer disappears and the killings stop leaving many to ponder if a killer, once his blood lust has been aroused and given an outlet, can he really stop? Like the BTK murderer of more recent times in Kansas it may go underground - but is never too far buried it cannot be brought once more into the spotlight.

HAVE AXE - WILLING TO TRAVEL

From the soon to be released..."When Death Rode the Rails"(c) by Marilyn A. Hudson.

The Axe Man Cometh

There was a time when every home had one staple tool used to chop wood, kill a rooster for Sunday dinner, or several other tasks. The axe was so useful and used by every member of a household: men, women, and even children. That such an instrument might be used in murders was not a surprise - murders often use what is handy, weapons of opportunity or convenience. Husbands went after wives and wives attacked husbands with a emphasis on single victim attacks. In some cases youth went after parental figures. Sometimes, a stranger came to town and struck in the shadows of night leaving blood and tragedy behind them before leaving once more.

The Crimes
What is more noticeable was that between 1909 and 1919 there were numerous axe murders of families or groups. These occurred across the country. Some were solved, some were merely officially closed by finding a local scapegoat, whole some remain a mystery to this day. To further confuse the issue an ax could be welded as easily by a woman or youth as a grown man. All were family units, killed in their sleep, with a blunt object such as a hammer, axe, pick, etc. or a sharp object such as an axe or a knife.

Although these could all be unrelated, except as copycat style crimes, the possibility remains that there could have been more crimes of a serial nature going in early 20th century America than previously supposed.

If all these incidences were the work of one killer, the person obviously had issues with families and families where there was some potential or perceived problem as seen in the number of wives living apart from husbands, mothers living apart from fathers, etc. The killer may have seen, even in healthy families, some dysfunction he had to eradicate. He may have even seen himself as fulfilling some mission. In at least two cases, there is the hint that it was the woman who was the recipient of the most severe attack supporting the theory the killer may have been substituting someone else for his victim. Was he lashing out at a substitute for some woman in his life? Was he killing the children to ‘protect’ them in some perverted reasoning?

Note, that many of these just might be the work of one man. A serial killer might go one for decades, uncaught, as has been proved many times over around the globe. The crime scenes were so contaminated by sight seers and investigators that valuable clues linking a perpetrator were lost almost before the story hit the news wire.
It would be interesting to determine how many of these cases saw the woman as the primary, or first, victim? How many had items thrown over clocks, telephones, and windows? How many left notes or had letters sent to the town reciting scriptures? These may all be the signature calling cards of the person responsible for these ghastly murders.

• In November of 1901, the Wilcox family of Los Angeles was 'knifed horribly' while they slept. (“Horrible Crime”, Oklahoman, Nov. 29, 1901, pg. 1).
• In Nov. 1904 an entire family was shot and the house burned in Auburn, Ca (Oklahoman, Nov. 12, 1904, pg. 1).
• In March 1905, San Rafael, CA a man “Murdered His Entire Family”, Oklahoman, May 25, 105, pg. 7).
• In October 1909, James McMahon confessed to killing the Van Royen family in Kansas City. (“I Killed Them” Yells Murderer”, Oklahoman, Oct. 27, 1909, pg.11).
• In November of 1909 in Bluefield, W. Va. a family was killed and the house burned down to try to cover the deed. (“Charred Bodies of Four found in Ruins of House.” Oklahoman, Nov.2, 1909, pg. 10).
• December 1909, Cleveland, OH woman Josephine Mangero and her two children fatally stabbed. (“Mother and two children Slain”. Oklahoman, Dec.5,1909, pg. 1.).
• In 1909-1911, the New Orleans and Teas areas saw the murders of numerous families. It was assumed a sacrificial cult or sect was responsible and one young woman ‘confessed’ to such (“How the Cruel and Gruesome Murder of Africa’s Serpent Worship Have Been revived in Louisiana,” Oklahoman, Feb.18, 1912, pg. 38). Such stories were often printed to stir things up among the fearful whites and to create environments where mob rule could function without too much complaint. The scope of these stories, despite the attempts to marginalize the killings as a racial issue, indicate a killer was prowling the area and using the rails to move about.
• In December 1910, Savannah, Georgia a race war almost ensued after the deaths of Mrs. Elizabeth Gribble, Mrs. Carrie Ohlander, and Mrs. Maggie Hunter. The local police rounded up over a hundred local African Americans to be 'questioned'. (“Woman Slain by Fiendish Negro.” Oklahoman, Dec.12, 1909, pg. 18).
• In January 1911, Rayne, LA a mother and her four children were killed.+
• In Spring 1911, Lafayette, LA the Norbett Randall family was killed.+
• In September 1911, Colorado Springs, Co. People in several neighboring houses were discovered dead with crushed heads while they slept. Victims were a H.C.Wayne, his wife and child; a Mrs. A. J. Burnham, two children (including a one year old).*
• In October 1911, in Monmouth, IL a William E. Dawson, his wife, and daughter were killed.
• In October 1911, in Ellsworth, Kansas a William Showman, wife, and three children were killed as they slept.* (“Showman Family of Five Murdered.” Ellsworth Reporter, Oct.11, 1911).
• In 1912, Crowly, LA a family was killed as they slept. + (+=Some assume these LA and TX murders to be racially motivated as they are all African-American family units. Some included 'Mulatto' or mixed race children which further complicates and confuses the matter. The simple truth might also be that these families were convenient kills providing a prey separated from the major part of the society by racial prejudice thus making them targets of ease. Others suggest some obscure church of sacrifice was involved yet the evidence appears weak to non-existent for this line of reasoning.)
• In 1912, Lake Charles, LA, a family was killed as they slept.+
• In April 1912, San Antonio (Police suspected the man was using the Southern Pacific Railroad since November 1911. It was suggested if the theory of the killer using the rails was correct he would next hit there and he did).
• In February, 1912, in Beaumont, Texas a family was killed. +
• In June 1912, in Paola, Kansas a Rollin Hudson and wife were murdered. (“Murder Came in the Night”, Western Spirit, June 14,1912).
• In June 1912, in Vilasca, Iowa, eight were murdered as they slept. Victims: J.B. Moore and wife, four children, and two local girls, guests of his children.* (“Recent Ax Murders”, Oklahoman, July, 14, 1912, pg. 1). Many suspects .
• In December 1912, two women were killed in Columbia, Missouri. (“Horrible Murder Committed”, Columbia Herald, Dec.20, 1912).
• In 1913, in Muskogee, Oklahoma several lone people were murdered by an axe welding killer (“Second Hatchet Murder Mystery Stirs Muskogee”, Oklahoman, Nov. 29, 1913,pg. 1).
• In July 6, 1914, Blue Island (Chicago), IL a family was butchered as they slept. Victims: Jacob Neslesla, wife, daughter, and an infant grandchild.* (“Axe of Assassin Deals Death to Sleeping Family,” Oklahoman, July 7, 1914.)
-In Nov. 1917, Virginia, Minnesota, man, wife and boarder killed with ax and knife.
• In 1919, New Orleans, more axe murders thought to be the work of gangs but also as likely a serial killer. Perhaps even the same killer?
• In 1920 in Turtle Lake, N.D. eight are killed on the Jacob Wolf farm. (“Police Seek Clues in Dakota Murder”, Oklahoman, April 25, pg. 2, and April 26, 1920, pg. 33).
• In January of 1922, a mother and son are killed in Chicago. (Oklahoman, Jan. 23, 1922, pg.12.)
• In November 1928, Omaha was stricken by a 'hatchet slayer' kills three. (Oklahoman, Nov. 21, 1928).

As the Texas and Louisiana authorities noted, the killer(s) were never far from a railroad line in all of these murders. In fact, in several cases the trail died at a rail line indicating a killer might have hopped a train to escape. Several books, Serial Killers: The Methods and Madness of Monsters (Peter Vronksy) and Still at Large: A Case book of 20th Century Serial Killers (Michael Nicotan) mention these Louisiana and Texas slayings.

It should be remembered that all we know about serial killers and their conduct, motives, and methods is fairly recently learned. What was said to be ironclad just 10 years ago is already being tweaked based on new research showing that the hard and fast "rules" of criminal profiling have been extremely useful but they have to be subject to revisions based on new data.