Dumping his victims next to the freeway The police solved Angelas killing after they arrested two individuals named Edward Leon Sullivan and Tommie Bernard Simmons. In addition, he owned many photos of unknown girls and young women, and police even found a knife that had been used in another crime. He tried to be more forceful on the phone than Bertha had been, but received most of the same information from Brenda: that a white man had picked her up, and she was going to head home in a cab. Another exception of the modus operandi was the body of 14-year-old Angela Denise Barnes; her bullet-riddled body was found on an abandoned Maryland road in 1971. 1971-1972 D.C. Phantom Murder", "Six black girls were brutally murdered in the early '70s. As the decades have gone on with no answers, the number of participants in this group have continued to dwindle. Serial KillerSerial RapistAbductorPedophileEphebophile A 1975 memorandum order by D.C. Superior Court Judge Fred B. Ugast read: "On May 16th, Mr. Warren began to direct the government agents to the locations he had described to them regarding two Freeway deaths. Like the other murder victims, Neno had been strangled to death. Investigators hypothesized that the killer left her shoes because her name was inscribed on the pair. The other victims had had their shoes taken from them. Prosecutors at the time said there was no evidence linking the pair to the other slayings. That is the hope of the families of the other girls who were slain from 1971 to 1972 in a string of killings that stunned the city and sparked an unprecedented police homicide investigation. Experts believe that it might have only been a tragic coincidence that Angelas murder loosely mirrored the victims of the Freeway Phantom. Lewis Crockett, 39, was 14 when his 10-year-old sister, Brenda Fay Crockett, disappeared and was found dead a day later. insensititivity [sic] to people The serial killer dubbed the "Freeway Phantom" had strangled and stabbed five young black girls over the span of six months, before disappearing for the better part of a year. Now, on the other side of town, another child found themselves walking along the side of the road as evening approached. He would receive a life sentence, and ended up spending several decades inside a penitentiary. This did inspire plenty of tips - primarily through telephone hotlines and mail correspondence - but none of them would prove useful to investigators. It alleged that the Green Vega's - all of whom had been locked up for crimes of sexual violence - were responsible for more than 100 rapes in the region. 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. All of the known members of this gang had been locked up on charges relating to sexual violence at around the time that the Freeway Phantom crime spree came to an end, and had been incarcerated inside Virginia's Lorton Prison. If those girls had been white, they would have put more manpower on it, there's no doubt about that.". It was just destroyed.". Angela fitted seamlessly into the victim profile of the Freeway Phantom she was a minor, African American, and her body was found near an abandoned road. A witness apparently saw her getting into a blue Volkswagen, and although investigated, the lead led nowhere.[5]. 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. [5] Her body was found within three hours of her abduction, just off the shoulder of Pennsylvania Avenue in Prince George's County, Maryland. The case of the Freeway Phantom remains open in the MPDC Homicide Division, but it is considered a cold case with no active lines of investigation. 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. [5], Authorities quickly concluded that Crockett likely called her home at the behest of the killer, who fed her inaccurate information in order to buy the necessary time to perpetrate the crime, and to hamper the investigation. Among those individuals considered suspects were members of a gang known as the Green Vega Rapists. The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. However, by the time the 1980's had rolled around, the case was still unsolved. Their apathy would be noted on at least one more occasion. Trainum believes that the killed lived in Congress Heights, just south of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and had likely begun branching once he started to fear being seen or recognized. The next morning police found the 17-year-old's lifeless body in blue jeans and a gold sweater. 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. A vote in favor is a vote to end debate and move to a vote on the issue itself, while a vote against is a vote to prolong debate or to filibuster. While the Freeway Phantom was never directly mentioned or referenced, he appears to have been an inspiration for the following unsubs: Criminal Minds Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Regardless, both of these retired homicide detectives continue to stick to their guns. This semen sample would remain untested for several decades, but needless to say that would come up much later. All of these victims had a number of traits in common. In addition, Darlenia Johnson - just like Carol Spinks - had been found in the clothes she was wearing when she went missing, but was missing her shoes. West Point. 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. Right? [14][15] They also speculated that, given the absence of indications of duress in the writing, apart from evidence of dysgraphia, she may have known her kidnapper. An examination of Brenda's clothing would find two different hair samples: one of which, authorities stated, belonged to a Caucasian man. She, like the majority of people in Washington DC, also happens to be black. They may be living somewhere else, doing it again. She wasn't found with any shoes, but police didn't find that odd - after all, she had left her house without wearing shoes, as far as anyone knew. He would probably be masked and not want to show his victims his face. Askins remains one of the most popular suspects in the media, and many of the original detectives heavily favored him as the Freeway Phantom. However, in an unusual twist of fate, they were resting right next to her body, as if they had been gently placed there by the killer after he disposed of her body. Despite being just seven years old at the time, she continues to describe the day she learned of Brenda's death as the "most devastating" day of her life. Like any kid would, she answered it only to hear her sister on the other end of the line. So he began scouring for anything that fit the bill and, surprisingly, found something. Askins, who died at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland on April 30, 2010 at the age of 91,[27] remained in prison for two D.C.-area abductions and rapes in the mid-70s, and had been contacted by both Davis and press regarding the Freeway Phantom slayings. wheN you cAtch me iF you cAn! On May 17th, he showed them the alleged locations dealing with Darlenia Johnson, although while showing them where her body was abandoned, he took them to the place where Brenda Crockett's body was found. Not only were the case files lost - they were altogether missing. All the cases involving white girls still get publicity. In addition to this . The classmate of Brenda's usually drove them whenever they hung out, but with his car in the shop temporarily, they had to take the city's buses home. [8] "A white man picked me up, and I'm heading home in a cab," Crockett told her sister, adding that she believed she was in Virginia before abruptly saying, "Bye" and hanging up. It was only know that the nickname "the Freeway Phantom" was given to the unknown killer, who had eluded investigators through the summer and now, into the fall. For the first few years of the investigation into the Freeway Phantom, police had linked Barnes' death to the unknown killer targeting young black girls in the D.C. region. She didn't blink. [13], The Freeway Phantom case has seen a myriad of investigators and garnered much interest over the years. There, she was sexually assaulted and beaten, before being freed by her kidnapper. Police were unable to uncover much evidence other than what I've just described, but noted that the victim had been strangled to death, just like the first two cases. She still regrets not going to the store with her older sister, believing that if they had been together, things might have ended differently. The investigation into the Freeway Phantom has long been considered a "cold case." 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. The investigation was conducted by a law enforcement task force that included Detectives from the MPDC Homicide and Sex Squads, investigators from Prince George's County and Montgomery County, Maryland,Maryland State Police, and theFederal Bureau of Investigation(FBI). 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. Sullivan and Simmons, two ex-cops, were arrested for the murder of Angela Denise Barnes. This was also felt by Patricia Williams, the sister of Diane. Perhaps he was a Vietnam veteran suffering with some untreated PTSD, or perhaps he was someone with a vicious grudge against law enforcement. The 12-year old girl lived with her father and stepmother in an apartment in Northeast, along Benning Road. Jan, 19, 2023; cemu android apk "I think what has happened is the community has forgotten, the police department has forgotten," Jenkins said. Robert Askins would be sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital shortly thereafter, until he was mentally fit enough to stand trial. Tommy Musgrove joined the MPDC in 1972, and eventually climbed up the ranks enough to head the entire homicide unit. She took it on in the mid-1980's, hoping to spark some kind of revival, but lacked the necessary resources and hours to do so. This is tantamount to my insensitivity to people, especially women. The other, they claimed, belonged to an African American man. They didn't believe him to have any real insider information, and remain doubtful that this gang of perverts was responsible for a serial murder spree. Barnes's slaying, originally thought to be linked to the Freeway Phantom killings, was later solved when two former police officers, Edward L. Sellman and Tommie B. Simmons, were convicted of her killing. 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. In 1980, the Washington Post wrote an article about the case, which included statements from two of the victims' family members. A search warrant was eventually obtained, and investigators dug through Askins' backyard. Ph: (781) 272-0050 Read. Male Trainum was able to recover many of the documents from the Maryland State Police - who had carefully stored the files - but had no idea what had been lost in the preceding decades. Tommy served on the USS INTREPID CVA-11 US Navy, four years MM3 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. It wasn't even a case she investigated at the time, but watched unfold from afar. They said they had arrest warrants for another 26 people. During their correspondence, Askins continued to deny having any part in the Freeway Phantom murders, stating that he did not have: " the depravity of mind required to commit any of the crimes.". Tom Sullivan in Ohio. The same coroner would state that she had been sexually assaulted before her death. In December of 1938 - when Askins was a much younger man - he had poisoned a sex worker in Washington D.C with potassium cyanide. "She had said she wanted to be a model," Harper, now 81, said of her niece. [21][2] With current evidence and any information of the case from when it happened, no leads produced sufficient evidence for prosecution. However, it's end was just as tragic as the first two abductions. Since he wasn't incarcerated at the time, I'll refrain from using his name, but he spoke to police and - over the span of a lengthy interview - was able to positively identify three of the murder victims from a photo lineup. Investigators hypothesized that the killer left her shoes because her name was inscribed on the pair. Hence their nickname, the "Green Vega's.". On July 8th, 1971, Darlenia said goodbye to her mother, and began walking to work. 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. Investigators were unable to link the existing evidence to any real suspects, and the witness statements they could gather were hardly helpful. Due to the brutality of the crimes the police suspected the offender to be a psychopath. "This is tantamount to insensititivity [sic] to people especially women. Considr comme le premier tueur en srie de Washington, D.C., ce meurtrier qui n'a pas encore t identifi tait responsable du meurtre d'au moins 6 filles mineures Washington, D.C. d'avril 1971 septembre 1972. The body was found by a 16-year old hitchhiker, that had stumbled upon it through mere happenstance. During her time as a homicide detective, Jenkins mainly investigated the deaths of children and babies. In return, they could pick up a soda for themselves. After kissing her boyfriend goodbye, Diane Williams was last seen boarding a city bus, directed towards her family's home in Halley Terrace. In 1983, Harper and Helen B. 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