Police had long theorized that the killer had a tie to the Congress Heights neighborhood of Washington D.C. - where half of the victims had been abducted from - and here was Askins, who not only fit the bill, but worked at St. Elizabeth's Hospital where one of the bodies had been disposed of. Join Facebook to connect with Edward Sullivan and others you may know. The inmate being interviewed stipulated that he would provide the information only if he could remain unidentified, which was agreed upon. 13-year-oldCarol Denise Spinks body was discovered by the authorities six days later from the day she was reported missing on April 25, 1971. This linked it to the Carol Spinks and Brenda Crockett murders. 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. No physical evidence was obtained and Askins was not charged in connection with the Freeway Phantom killings. Were they the Phantom Freeway killer? 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. REAL CRIMINAL When Brenda Woodard's body had been found, her coat had been found draped over her body. This semen sample would remain untested for several decades, but needless to say that would come up much later. edward sullivan and tommie simmons edward sullivan and tommie simmons. 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). Former Washington police officers, Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons, were convicted of murdering Angela Denise Barnes, age 14. Dumping his victims next to the freeway However, one of the victims was too decomposed for authorities to rule out it out, and another was found with semen on her clothing - raising the possibility that five had been the victim of sexual assault. Darlenia Denise Johnson was a 16-year old girl that lived in Congress Heights - the same neighborhood that Carol Spinks and her family had been living in. Their mother, Allenteen - a strict disciplinarian - was heading out to visit a nearby relative. With the cooperating inmate no longer speaking, this lead quickly wilted. [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. He seemed to be an amiable man, who was known for his propensity to use the word "tantamount" - seemingly at random - but a further look at Askins revealed a bit of a sketchy past. FREEWAY PHANTOM' VICTIMS Carol Denise Spinks May 1, 1971 Nenomoshia Yates October 1, 1971 Teara Ann Bryant November 26, 1972 Diane Williams September 6, 1972 Brenda Denise Woodard November 16, 1971 Darlenia Denise Johnson July 19, 1971 Brenda Fay Crockett July 28, 1971 CAPTION: Teara Ann Bryant CAPTION: Brenda Denise Woodard CAPTION: Carol Denise Spinks CAPTION: Nenomoshia Yates CAPTION: Diane Williams CAPTION: Brenda Fay Crockett CAPTION: Darlenia Denise Johnson. This neighbor had thought nothing of it at the time, since one of her family's friends drove a similar car. 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. 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. Now, on the other side of town, another child found themselves walking along the side of the road as evening approached. Investigation revealed that the minor girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. She was found wearing the clothing she had disappeared in, but her shoes had been removed. 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. [5], The Phantom's final victim was claimed almost a year later, on September 5, 1972. Bertha recalls her sister crying on the other end of the phone, and sounding somewhat distracted. 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. Despite their differences in beliefs regarding this case, Trainum and Jenkins agree on a number of things regarding the Freeway Phantom. Less than three hours after her mysterious disappearance, the remains of Nenomoshia Yates would be found. "This is tantamount to insensititivity [sic] to people especially women. fisher funeral home portsmouth, va obituaries ABOUT US; IFR WORKWEAR. This time, the call would be answered by Brenda's mother's boyfriend, who had returned to the news of the first call. Detective Romaine Jenkins would later theorize that the kidnapper was someone that knew Brenda's mother, who wanted to make sure that they had not been spotted with Brenda. Jim Henson's Muppets made 25 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show between 1966 and 1971. "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. 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. [13], The Freeway Phantom case has seen a myriad of investigators and garnered much interest over the years. Union. Like several of the other victims, she was known for her incredibly tiny frame - standing just 4.5 feet tall and weighing around 75 pounds. 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. She felt responsible for the brutal murder of her little sister, and in return, would often end up walking the same route that Carol had simply hoping to be approached by the same mysterious man that had taken her sister. In the early 1970's, a mysterious killer targeted young black girls along the Washington Beltway. 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. So he began scouring for anything that fit the bill and, surprisingly, found something. Unlike the rest of the Freeway Phantom victims, she had been shot in the head, but her case was linked to the others in the immediate aftermath. Yeah, that came back into play roughly 30 years later, in 2002, when Trainum submitted that piece of evidence for forensic testing. [1][2] It wasn't even a case she investigated at the time, but watched unfold from afar. ", "(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. best used midsize suv under $20 000; lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. Two days later, police discovered the body of Angela Denise Barnes, 14. While at home, anxious and slightly unaware of the situation's severity, the phone rang. 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. We know that Carol made it to the store - a 7-Eleven along Wheeler Road - because a clerk working that evening later told police that they sold the girl some items - TV dinners, bread, and some soda - before watching her leave. He replaced Joel Dabney Courtney, who portrayed Nathaniel Malick in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Why was this case never solved?, The Washington Post - Would the Freeway Phantom case already be solved if the victims werent black?, The Washington Post - The Freeway Phantom Revisited (Youtube video), Washington Examiner - DNA discovery could solve 1972 Freeway Phantom slaying, The Washington Post - Freeway Phantom Slayings Haunt Police, Families Six Young D.C. There was nothing about Carol Spinks that stood out: she seemed relatively normal, and she liked to fill up her time with friends and games - in particular, jumping rope and hula-hooping. [3] On her way home from the store, Spinks was abducted; her body was found six days later at 2:46 pm behind St. Elizabeths Hospital on a grassy embankment next to the northbound lanes of I-295, about 1,500 feet south of Suitland Parkway. It is her sister, Diane Williams, who -- like the other girls -- was murdered. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! Like any kid would, she answered it only to hear her sister on the other end of the line. Investigators would theorize that the phone calls made to Brenda's family were facilitated by the kidnapper, who wanted to feed false information to the police. The first of which was from Leon Williams, the father of Diane Williams - the sixth and final murder victim of the Freeway Phantom. Ph: (781) 272-0050 The usage of the word 'tantamount' had often stood out to investigators, and here was a prime suspect that seemed to use the word regularly - as verified by his coworkers, who said as much. Investigators hypothesized that the killer left her shoes because her name was inscribed on the pair. He denied any role in them, adding that he did not have "the depravity of mind required to commit any of the crimes."[28]. After all, Brenda had asked specifically "Did my mother see me?" and Montgomery Counties, the Maryland State Police, and the FBI itself. Investigation Discoverys People Magazine Investigates: The Freeway Phantom chronicles the crimes of a serial murderer self-proclaimed as the Freeway Phantom. Investigators analyzed the notes handwriting to determine that Brenda herself wrote the message, and the writing showed no signs of distress. meadowbrook country club estates; michael mullen obituary; pamela gluckin obituary new york; antonio tonyboy floirendo jr biography Perhaps she knew her abductor, and wasn't too far away from her family's home at the time of the call. . School was out for the summer, and she was occupying her time with her friends, her boyfriend, and her summer job: working as a counselor at a nearby rec center. In 1983, Harper and Helen B. Collins wrote and published a book called "The Mystery of the Freeway Phantom," which details the killings. 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. Both girls went missing just blocks away from one another, and both of their bodies were found just feet away from one another - likely dumped off of a road overlooking the grassy embankment they had been found in. In fact, Maryland police claimed there were no similarities between Angelas death and the murder of six other girls in D.C. While she remains hopeful the killings eventually will be solved, Jenkins believes the passage of time already has diminished the chances of closing the case. Alias Read More: Are Green Vega Rapists Freeway Phantom? [5], On July 8, 1971, Johnson, 16, from Congress Heights was abducted while on route to her summer job at Oxon Hill Recreation Center. Some people believe that the Phantom himself called in tips to mislead police and stall the investigation. Because of this decomposition, authorities had to remove the victim's fingers for fingerprinting to determine her identity. One of the known acquaintances of the Green Vega's was interviewed by police. A couple of beat cops would be sent out to investigate the scene, but made very little attempt to locate the body. Crockett was on the other line, crying. Maryland State Police have not admitted they have the evidence, but they also refuse to comment about it outright. By that time, FBI agents had been distracted and called off to assist with the ongoing Watergate scandal, and the attention of almost everyone was diverted elsewhere. In 2013, an employee at the Maryland Chief Medical Examiner's officer spoke (under the veil of anonymity), and stated that trying to find out any information about the Freeway Phantom case: It is unknown if the DNA sample from Diane Williams' clothing still exists, and if it can be tested. 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. ", "I remember the night that she didn't come home," Williams said, "how hard it was for me to go to sleep.". Another witness would state that they had seen Johnson driving around with an older African-American male, in the time period after her supposed abduction. 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. "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. Both would eventually be convicted for the crime, and sentenced to lengthy stays in prison. Infuriated, this caller called their boss and let them know about the police inactivity. edward sullivan and tommie simmons; edward sullivan and tommie simmons. 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. 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. She, like the majority of people in Washington DC, also happens to be black. 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. Occasionally, she flipped through a thick manila folder containing smiling portraits of eight black girls forever frozen in time. . [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. That was when she learned of her 18-year old daughter's brutal murder. edward sullivan and tommie simmons. 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. These were odd correlations that likely had no importance, but were of interest to the media at the time. A search warrant was eventually obtained, and investigators dug through Askins' backyard. 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. Investigators hypothesized that the killer left her shoes because her name was inscribed on the pair. At least one witness would claim having seen her with her boyfriend that afternoon, but that boyfriend's mother refused to let police speak to her son. If that is the case, it perhaps explains the next development in the story. As you can imagine, this was as frustrating to the victims' loved ones as it was to the investigators. It was just about half-a-mile away from home across the state border, in Maryland's Prince George's County (also known as "PG County" to locals). Angela Denise Barnes was a 14-year old that disappeared on July 12th, 1971, just days after Darlenia Johnson had gone missing. With the temperature rising, on July 19th, 1971, one of the original callers that had found the body decided to return to the scene, to see if the matter had been dealt with. Span of crimes Both Ms. Johnson and Ms. Crockett were victims of the so-called Freeway Phantom homicides.". Nonetheless, doubt continues to linger over the case, and the potential involvement of the Green Vega Rapists. The Phantom also most likely lives in the Washington area, as he seems to have knowledge of the region, especially the local stores. Note: The note left in Woodward's pocket claimed that the Phantom killed additional victims. Of those effected by the Freeway Phantom crime spree, none were hit harder than the loved ones - whose children and siblings were taken by the unknown killer, and their lives ended way too prematurely. A police department spokesman said the cases have been assigned to the cold case squad, which will review the files periodically and investigate any new leads actively. Immediately, the case showed some prominent similarities to that of Carol Spinks, another teenager that had been murdered a few months prior. Both were ex-cops that were arrested in relation to the 1971 murder of Angela Barnes. As it was with all of the other murdered girls, she simply did her best to stay in-the-loop, and watched the investigation unfold from afar. Upon his arrest, Askins declared to police that he was a "woman hater" and was placed under mental observation at Washington, D.C.'s Gallinger Hospital. [17] A few hours later, her strangled body was discovered dumped alongside I-295, just south of the District line. Police would eventually rule her out entirely, when they solved the case and arrested two ex-police officers for the crime - who were both later convicted. Touted as Washington, D.C.s first serial killer, this yet-to-be-identified murderer was responsible for killing at least six minor girls in Washington, D.C., from April 1971 to September 1972. She reluctantly agreed, only to discover that the the man had no intentions of taking her to her destination. That signature information was correct. Three of the victims had been sexually assaulted, including one that was sodomized. However, in all of these cases, one kept Romaine Jenkins up at night. It was a short walk that she had made dozens of times before. Barnes, 14, was at one point thought to be a victim of the serial killings. In the early morning of November 16th, 1971 - just hours after Brenda Woodard was last seen by her classmate - Cheverly city police officer David Norman happened to be driving in the region near Prince George's County Hospital. So, Trainum took back the evidence, and submitted it to the FBI forensic database where the same thing happened. He graduated from Harvard College in 1874, and was a pupil of Lefebvre and Boulanger in Paris, where he took a gold medal. Approximately six hours later, a police officer discovered her body, which had been stabbed multiple times and strangled, in a grassy area near Prince George's County Hospital, along an access ramp to Route 202 from the BaltimoreWashington Parkway. Edward sullivan and tommie simmons edward sullivan and tommie simmons, were convicted of murdering Denise... But needless to say that would come up much later linger over case... 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