TRUE CRIME REPORT

The Freeway Phantom Killer

The Freeway Phantom Killer was the name given to an unidentified serial killer that was active back in the 1970s. He killed 6 young African American girls in the Washington, D.C. area. This killer has still not been identified.

The Freeway Phantom killings began in April 1971. On the evening of April 25, 1971, a 13 year old girl named Carol Denise Spinks was sent to pick up groceries from the 7-Eleven that was half a mile away from her home and just across the border of Maryland. Carol made it to the store and actually ran into her mother on her way there, but on her way back home, she was kidnapped. She was found 6 days later in the afternoon behind St. Elizabeth’s Hospital near the northbound lanes of I-295. Carols’ autopsy showed that she was physically and sexually assaulted and her cause of death was strangulation. She was fully dressed, except she didn’t have shoes and there were small green fibers found near her body.

The next victim was 16 year old Darlenia Denise Johnson. On July 8, 1971, Darlenia was on her way to her summer job at Oxon Hill Recreation Center from her home in Congress Heights when she was kidnapped. A witness stated that a little after she was abducted, Darlenia was spotted in an old black car driven by an African American man. 11 days after she was kidnapped, Darlenia’s body was found just 15 feet away from where Carol was found. Her body was also found fully clothed without shoes. Because of her state of decomposition, investigators could not determine Darlenia’s cause of death or if she was sexually assaulted. There was some evidence that suggested that she may have been strangled though.

A week prior to the discovery of Darlenia, police were already anonymously told where she was located. The person gave details that only the killer would know.

After Darlenia, 10 year old Brenda Faye Crockett did not return home after she was sent to the store by her mother on July 27, 1971. At around 9:20 P.M., 2 hours after Brenda didn’t return, her family’s home phone rang. Brenda’s 7 year old sister answered and it was Brenda on the other line saying that a white man had picked her up and that she was coming home in a cab before saying bye. She also stated that she thought she was in Virginia before hanging up. A little while later, the phone rang again and it was Brenda again. This time, Brenda’s mother’s boyfriend picked up the phone and Brenda told him what she said before. She also asked if her mother had seen her and indicated she was alone with the man that took her. Her mother’s boyfriend told her to put the man on the phone. Loud footsteps were then heard in the background and Brenda said, “I’ll see you.” before hanging up. It was believed that Brenda’s killer made her make these phone calls to give her family false information and give himself time to carry out his crime.

The next day at about 5:50 A.M., a hitchhiker found Brenda’s body on U.S. Route 50 near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Her body was found shoeless like the other girls, and she had been raped and strangled with a scarf knotted around her neck.

The next victim of the Freeway Phantom was 12 year old Nenomoshia Yates. She was on her way home from the Safeway grocery store at about 7:00 P.M. A grocery clerk recalls scanning her items and her leaving the store. The same items she bought were found scattered near the store. Just 3 hours after she went missing, Nenomoshia’s body was found off the shoulder of Pennsylvania Avenue in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Like the other girls, her body was shoeless and was found with green fibers. After this murder, the killer became known as the Freeway Phantom.

On November 15, 1971, 18 year old Brenda Denise Woodward left after having dinner with a classmate and got on a bus on her way home from Baltimore to Maryland at around 11:30 P.M. A police officer discovered her body about 6 hours later. Brenda was stabbed and strangled and she was left in an area near Prince George’s County Hospital along an access ramp to Route 202. Unlike most of the Freeway Phantom victims, Brenda was wearing her shoes. Her coat was placed over her body and in one of the pockets, there was a note from the killer that investigators assume he forced Brenda to write, which read:

It was also assumed that Brenda may have known her kidnapper.

The final victim of the Freeway Phantom was 17 year old Diane Denise Williams. On September 5, 1972, after cooking dinner for her family, Diane went to visit her boyfriend. She was last seen getting on a bus near her boyfriend’s house at around 11:20 P.M. A few hours later, Diane’s body was found along I-295. She was strangled and her body was found without shoes and with green fibers, just like the other victims.

Throughout the investigation, the police got many tips, but many of these tips did not go anywhere. Many of the case files are incomplete, so information about the case became limited over time.

Map of the locations of the victims’ bodies

There were several suspects in the Freeway Phantom case. These include the Green Vega Rapists, Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons, and Robert Askins. The Green Vega Rapists were a gang prominent for many sexual assaults in the area that the girls lived in. One of the gang members did gesture that another member had been involved, but this was later recanted by said gang member. Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons were two ex-cops who were both arrested in July of 1971 for the murder of a 14 year old girl named Angela Denise Barnes, who was thought to be a victim of the Freeway Phantom killer. Lastly, in March 1977, Robert Askins was arrested for raping a 24 year old woman in Washington, D.C., and upon investigation, it was found that he had been previously charged with multiple murders. After his home was searched in 1978, a note with the word “tantamount” was found , which a judge thought was an uncommon word to use. Despite these suspects, none of them led to the identity of the Freeway Phantom Killer.

There are several things that I wanted to point out about these murders that connects them. These young women were all obviously found along freeways in the same area. Almost all of them were sexually assaulted, strangled, shoeless, and had green fibers near their bodies. They were all young African American girls and many of them had “Denise” in their names. Because of these things in common and how close the girls were all found, I feel as though the killer lived nearby and had possibly stalked his victims before killing them. The girls may have even recognized or known the man.

I also theorize that maybe the same men that killed Angela Denise Barnes may possibly know another man who was also involved and the 3 were all responsible for these killings. Like many of the Freeway Phantom victims, Angela’s middle name was also “Denise” and her murder occurred in the same area and during the same time as the Freeway Phantom killings. Perhaps this third party was also a cop. This is just my theory.

Who could be the Freeway Phantom killer? Is it really one killer or are there multiple killers involved? These are questions that will hopefully be answered in the near future to get the answers to the Freeway Phantom murders and bring the victims justice.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_Phantom

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22626145/cops-angela-denise-barnes-murder-2/

https://people.com/crime/freeway-phantom-unsolved-case-washington-dc-murders-haunts-families/

The Murder of Tammy Jo Alexander

Tammy Jo Alexander was the name of a 16 year old girl from Florida who was murdered back in 1979. She became known as the Caledonia Jane Doe as her body was found in Caledonia, New York, and she remained unidentified until 2015. Her murder remains unsolved.

Tammy Jo Alexander was born on November 2, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia to her parents Barbara Jenkins and Joe Alexander. She also had a half sister on her mother’s side named Pamela Dyson. Tammy’s parents later split up and they later began living in Brooksville, Florida. After their mother became addicted to medication she was taking, she became suicidal and emotionally volatile, the two sisters found comfort in each other. Pamela eventually left this home situation to go live with her paternal grandmother at about 11 years old. When she left, Pamela assumed that Tammy later escaped and found a new life as well, but she continued living with her mother and stepfather for time after.

Tammy Jo (left) and her sister Pamela (right)

Going into her teenage years, Tammy began working at a truck stop as a waitress along side her mother. She also began running away from home with one of her close friends Laurel Nowell. Laurel stated that the two once hitchhiked all the way to California together. When they arrived, Laurel called her parents, who then bought plane tickets for the girls to come back home.

In early 1979, Tammy ran away from her home in Brooksville, Florida again and began working at a prison ministry in Georgia. While working here, she would call and leave voicemails for her boyfriend who was still living in Florida. Her boyfriend states that in these calls, Tammy sounded happy and did not seem to be in danger. Tammy eventually leaves the prison ministry in the summer and was not heard from after that. It is believed that Tammy either hitchhiked back to Florida or out west after this.

Either the beginning of October or November of 1979, Tammy ends up somewhere in Upstate New York. On November 9, 1979, Tammy is seen at a diner in Lima, New York alongside an older man. The waitress who served them states that Tammy did not appear distressed or in any danger. Other people at the restaurant have also backed up the claim that Tammy was spotted there. Tammy was later killed sometime after leaving the diner with the unknown man.

On the morning of November 10, 1979, a farmer discovered the body of a young woman in his cornfield in Caledonia, New York. Based on her injuries, it was determined that the young woman was shot in the back of the head and then dragged into the cornfield where she was shot in the back. Her pockets were inside out, indicating that personal items were removed, including her identification. Due to heavy rainfall the night before, evidence, such as DNA, was washed away from the crime scene.

The young woman was said to have brown eyes and light brown shoulder length hair, which appeared to look like it had been dyed from blonde to brown. Her toenails were also polished a coral color. It was also noted that she had visible tan lines, indicating that she had previously lived somewhere that had a lot of sunlight exposure. Pollen found on the young woman’s jacket was tested and it was determined that the woman had previously been in the states of California, Arizona, and Florida.

Despite this information, the young woman could not be identified. She was later called The Caledonia Jane Doe or Cali Doe, and that remained her named for over 35 years.

Facial reconstruction of Tammy Jo Alexander

In the 2010s, Tammy’s old friend Laurel began trying to find Tammy through social media, but she could not find her. Laurel then gets in contact with Tammy’s half sister Pamela to learn of her whereabouts, but Pamela tells her that she hadn’t been in contact with Tammy since she moved away when she was 11. Tammy and Pamela’s mother Barbara passed away on January 17, 1998 and in her obituary, it was stated that Tammy was deceased, which many of her family had assumed.

In August 2014, Laurel and Pamela went to the Hernando County Sheriffs office and learned that no missing persons report had been filed for Tammy, so they filed one. An artist named Carl Koppelman later became invested in the case of the Caledonia Jane Doe. He sketched a very accurate facial reconstruction of the Caledonia Jane Doe. Carl later saw the missing persons report filed for Tammy in 2014 and realized that Tammy and the Jane Doe had a striking resemblance.

In 2015, after DNA samples were successfully taken from Caledonia Jane Doe’s body, it was tested and compared to that of Pamela Dyson’s and it was a match. Tammy Jo Alexander was finally identified on January 26, 2015.

On November 2, 2020, what would have been Tammy’s 57th birthday, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office released audio recordings from voicemails that Tammy had left her boyfriend in the summer of 1979. These were released in hopes that someone would recognized Tammy’s voice and remember seeing her or her killer. A sketch of Tammy’s presumed killer was released to the public as well. He is described to be a white male between 5’8″ or 5’9″ wearing black wire-rimmed glasses. He was also said to be driving a tan station wagon. In 1984, infamous serial killer Henry Lee Lucas claimed to have killed Tammy, but there was no evidence linking him to her murder.

Photograph of Tammy and a sketch of the unknown man she was last seen with

After decades of being unidentified, Tammy was finally given back her name thanks to multiple people, along with the great advancements in DNA testing that is now available. The last thing now is to figure out who did this to Tammy. Hope cannot be given up; if Tammy was identified after all these years, I believe her killer will be identified eventually too.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Tammy_Alexander

https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Tammy_Alexander

The Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña

WARNING! ⚠️ The details in this case are EXTREMELY graphic! Please proceed reading at your own risk.

Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña were two best friends from Houston, Texas who were brutally raped and murdered by a gang as an initiation ritual on a summer night in 1993. The suspects involved were all charged with the girls’s murders and faced death penalties.

Jennifer Louise Ertman was born on August 15, 1978 and Elizabeth Christine Peña was born on June 21, 1977. The girls became close friends as they grew up and attended Waltrip High School in Houston, Texas. The parents of the girls admired their friendship. Elizabeth’s father even stated that Jennifer was a such great influence on Elizabeth.

On June 24, 1993, Jennifer’s father Randy dropped her off at Elizabeth’s home at around 4:15 P.M. Then at about 8 P.M. Elizabeth’s mother Melissa dropped both Elizabeth and Jennifer at their friend Gina’s house, whom was having a pool party. The girls agreed to come back by their 11:30 P.M. curfew.

After having fun and partying with friends, the girls realized that they would be late for their curfew, so they hurriedly left to make it on time. The girls chose to take a 10 minute shortcut to get back to Elizabeth’s home faster. This is when they encountered danger.

photos of Elizabeth (top) and Jennifer (bottom)

As they were following along the shortcut, Elizabeth and Jennifer encountered a group of 6 men, Peter Cantu, José Medellin, Sean Derrick O’Brien, Efrain Pérez, Raul Villarreal, and Venancio Medellin, with Venancio being the youngest at 14 years old at the time. It was about 10:30 P.M. when the gang had finished initiating Raul Villarreal Into their gang by fighting the other members. About 40 minutes after this, the girls encountered the men all drinking beers and talking. As the girls passed, José Medellin attempted to grope one of Elizabeth’s breasts, to which she brushed it off. José then exclaimed, “No baby! Where [are] you going?!” , grabbing Elizabeth by her neck and dragging her down a gravel incline going towards the other members. Instead of running away, Jennifer bravely went to go help her best friend. She was then thrown to the ground by other gang members.

WARNING ⚠️ GRAPHIC DETAIL BELOW

The gang members then forced both girls to remove their clothing. They were then raped vaginally, anally, and orally by all the gang members. During this, the girls struggled against their attackers, with Jennifer biting them several times and Elizabeth kicking her legs. They often glanced at each other with concern and cried as this went on.

After raping the girls, the leader of the gang Peter Cantu didn’t want to risk the girls identifying them, so he ordered the other members to kill the girls. At this, Raul Villarreal yelled at Jennifer, “Get on your knees bitch!”. Both he and Sean O’Brien then proceeded to strangle Jennifer with a red nylon belt until it broke, to which they then used a shoe lace. They made Elizabeth watch as they strangled her best friend to death. Elizabeth pleaded with them not to kill her, offering to give them her phone number so that they could “get together” if they let her go. When this didn’t work, Elizabeth attempted to run once more, but was caught and repeatedly kicked in the face and body by Peter Cantu. This fractured several of her ribs and broke her teeth. Peter Cantu, José Medellin, and Efrain Pérez then strangled Elizabeth to death with multiple shoelaces. They then proceeded to stomp both girls’ necks to ensure they were dead. As the gang left the scene, Peter handed Venacio Medellin a Goofy wristwatch that was taken from Jennifer’s body, saying, “Take this, I don’t want it.”

All of the members except for Sean O’Brien then met up at Peter Cantu’s home, where he lived with his brother Joe Cantu and his sister in law Christina. Christina noticed that Raul was bleeding and Efrain had blood on his shirt and questioned the men on what happened. José Medellin responded that they “had fun” and more details would be on the news later. He then went on to talk about the rapes. Peter Cantu later divided valuables that they stole from the girls among the members. This included a ring with an “E” on it that José Medellin later gave to his girlfriend Esther. José and the other men continued to talk about the murders, stating that it would’ve been easier with a gun. Once the gang left the home, Christina convinced her husband Joe that he needed to report his brother and the gang to the police.

On June 28, 1993, the girls remains were discovered in the park. Due to the hot weather conditions, the bodies were badly decomposed and they had to be identified through dental records. Their cause of deaths were determined to be strangulation. At the crime scene, Jennifer’s father Randy had to be held back by multiple people as he was hysterical and trying to see if it was really his daughter they found. Unbeknownst to others, one of the killers, Sean O’Brien, was at the crime scene with his younger brother and watched with a smile as the girls’ bodies were being removed. After being reported to the police, the men involved in the murders were arrested.

During the trial, Peter Cantu, José Medellin, Sean O’Brien, Efrain Pérez, and Raul Villarreal were all given death sentences. However, Efrain Pérez and Raul Villarreal’s sentences were later reduced to life in prison after the Supreme Court ruled that executions were banned for people who committed the crime when they were under the age of 18. Because Venancio Medellin was only 14 at the time of the murders, he was given a 40 year sentence. Sean O’Brien was the first to be executed via lethal injection on July 11, 2006. After appealing his execution several times, José Medellin was finally executed via lethal injection on August 5, 2008. Finally, the leader Peter Cantu was executed via lethal injection on August 17, 2010. After requesting parole, Venancio Medellin was denied in 2020. Jennifer’s father Randy strongly urged against this as well.

mugshots of Venancio Medellin (top) and Sean O’Brien (bottom)

Thinking about what Elizabeth and Jennifer had to endure in their final moments is terrifying. This case leaves me at a loss for words. What those monsters did to those girls is disgusting and they got exactly what was coming to them. And the other men who are left in prison are exactly where they belong and should never walk free again.

Though these 2 best friends were taken in such a horrific and brutal way, knowing that they stuck by and fought for each other to the very end shows how strong their friendship was. These 2 beautiful souls will never be forgotten.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Jennifer_Ertman_and_Elizabeth_Peña

http://www.frightmeter.com/2016/11/little-known-real-life-murders-worse.html

The Disappearance and Unsolved Murder of Amber Tuccaro

Amber Tuccaro was a 20 year old young woman who went missing from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2010. Amber’s remains were found just days after her final phone call was released in hopes to identify the mystery man who she was last with. Though there have been many tips about the identity of the suspect, the RCMP still have yet to take this person into custody.

Amber Alyssa Tuccaro was born on January 3, 1990 and was part of Alberta’s Mikisew Cree First Nation. At the time of her disappearance she had a 14-month old son named Jacob, whom is now raised by Amber’s mother Vivian Tuccaro. Vivian remembers her only daughter Amber as a loving and caring mother and young woman.

On August 18, 2012, Amber, her son, and a female friend arrived at a motel in Nisku, Alberta, Canada. They planned to stay in a hotel just outside Edmonton for the night to save money. However, Amber’s excitement led her to try and hitchhike into the city that night on her own between 7:30-8 P.M. That was the last time Amber’s friend remembers seeing her. After Amber did not return the next day, her friend contacted her mother, who then contacted the RCMP. However, Vivian says that the RCMP did not take Amber’s disappearance seriously, passing it off and saying she just might be out partying. This was far from what really happened.

After a little over 2 years, the RCMP publicly released about 4 minutes out of 17 minutes of Amber Tuccaro’s last phone call. This audio was recorded because the phone call came from Amber’s brother who was incarcerated at the time; all phone calls going out are recorded. In the phone call, Amber can be heard having an altercation with the man she was riding with. She is heard confronting the man about where they were going and saying, “You better not be taking me anywhere I don’t want to go.” Amber continuously asks the man where the strange roads were taking them, and he gives what can be assumed to be false directions. After a while, the phone call becomes unintelligible and drops. This was the last Amber was heard from.

Just 4 days after the audio of Amber’s final call was released, on September 1, 2012, Amber’s remains were discovered. Her remains were found by horseback riders on a rural property near Leduc County. Because of the state of decomposition, investigators could not determine Amber’s cause of death. Her death was classified as a homicide based on the circumstances in which she disappeared.

After the release of Amber’s phone call audio, multiple people came forward claiming to recognize and know the man who’s voice is on the audio. Some have even gone as far as to publicly release the name of the possible suspect. The RCMP claim to have investigated this man and determined that he was not a person of interest.

Amber’s mother Vivian says that Amber’s case was never handled correctly by the RCMP to begin with. She eventually filed a complaint against the RCMP for this, and rightfully so! This is a very common and unfortunate factor when it comes to investigating crimes against Native women and children. When she was told that Amber might be out partying, Vivian knew that this was wrong because she knew that Amber wouldn’t just leave her baby Jacob behind for that. Amber just wanted to go explore, she wasn’t going to party. But because of this assumption, Amber was taken off the missing persons list. It took Vivian a month to get her daughter back on the missing persons list. On top of that, all of Amber’s belongings that the police had collected were destroyed after she was taken off the missing persons list, so they couldn’t even be used for evidence! Very poorly handled on the RCMP’s part.

Amber’s case is one of many unsolved cases of Indigenous women going missing and being murdered and investigators not taking their cases serious. These women deserve justice. Amber had so much she was looking forward to and it was snatched away by an evil person who is still out there and can do this to someone else. But because of the investigators’ lack of care, it’s as if Amber was still violated and disrespected after death. You can hear the fear in Amber’s voice in her final phone call and can only imagine those final moments. She didn’t deserve that and she didn’t deserve how her case was treated. I hope that Amber’s case and all the cases like Amber’s will be solved in the following years and the monster who did this will finally be brought to light.

This is the link to the audio of Amber’s last phone call. If anyone recognizes the man’s voice, do not hesitate to reach out to investigators. Victims deserve justice.

Resources-

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/amber-alyssa-tuccaro

https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2020/02/17/the-murder-of-amber-tuccaro/

Barstow Jane Doe

Barstow Jane Doe was the name given to the unidentified homicide victim found in Barstow, California in 2010. The young woman’s head was only found and her case still remains unsolved.

On February 9, 2010, a man walking along Lenwood Road, south of Barstow made a gruesome discovery. There was a black backpack on the side of the road containing the head of a young woman. The head was wrapped in two plastic bags inside of the backpack; one from a grocery store called Fiesta Foods and the other from Walgreens.

The backpack that Jane Doe’s head was found in

After further investigation, the young woman’s head was the only body part to be recovered. Because of this, the young woman’s cause of death could not be determined, nor could her height and weight. Investigators were also unable to recover fingerprints from the victim or her killer. Investigators determined that the young woman was either white or Hispanic and was estimated to be between the ages of 14-19. The young woman had medium-length, straight dark brown hair with reddish highlights, her eyes were brown and she had extensive dental care. It was also noted that she had pierced ears.

The young woman was suspected to be killed 3-4 days prior to her discovery. The woman’s face was said to be in “very poor condition” due to the fact that she was mutilated by the person who decapitated her. This has also hindered identification as it has made it difficult to make a completely accurate facial reconstruction.

Facial reconstruction of Barstow Jane Doe

What happened to Barstow Jane Doe? Investigators believe that she may possibly be the victim of a serial killer. 39 women have been ruled out of being the Barstow Jane Doe. After doing my own research, I have noted that the nearest grocery store Fiesta Foods, in which one of the plastic bags that the woman’s head was found in, are located in Bakersfield, California and Washington. Could Barstow Jane Doe or her killer possibly be from these places? Someday more evidence and information will be found to figure out who Barstow Jane Doe is and who did this to her.

Resources-

https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Barstow_Jane_Doe

https://popculturecrime.medium.com/the-dark-history-of-the-mojave-desert-who-is-barstow-jane-doe-3dab0f33b36

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unidentified_murder_victims_in_California#Barstow_Jane_Doe_(February_2010)

The Murder of Rashawn Brazell

Rashawn Brazell was a 19 year old teenager from Brooklyn, New York, who’s dismembered body parts were found days after he disappeared from his home in 2005. His suspected killer was charged with his murder in 2018.

Rashawn Brazell was born in 1986 in Brooklyn, New York. He was known as an intelligent, helpful, and kind young man. Rashawn’s mother Desire Brazell recalls him telling her that if he ever left he wanted to be remembered for great things. His mother says that he loved to helped others, such as taking food out of their home to give to their neighbors who didn’t have food or giving his shoes to another child who didn’t have any. Rashawn was very generous and compassionate to others.

On Valentines Day of 2005, Rashawn planned to leave his home in Brooklyn, New York to meet with his accountant and then meet with his mother in Manhattan for lunch. However, at about 7:30 that morning, witnesses recall seeing an unknown man ring the doorbell to Rashawn and his mother’s home and Rashawn came downstairs to meet him. The witnesses then said that both Rashawn and the man went into the subway at the Gates Avenue station, and it is believed that they exited at the Nostrand Station in Bedford-Stuyvesant. This was the last time Rashawn Brazell was seen alive.

Rashawn’s mother Desire holding a photograph of him

WARNING graphic detail below!

After he was reported missing, on February 18, subway workers found 2 bloody bags full of body parts on the track near the Nostrand Avenue station. Fingerprints positively identified these body parts as those of Rashawn Brazell. An arm and leg belonging to Rashawn was later found at a recycling plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. His head has never been found. The brutality of the case made local and national headlines. The New York City Police Department searched all over for clues and evidence to find out what happened and who did this to Rashawn, but eventually the case unfortunately went cold.

A new lead finally came in the case in 2017 when police arrested Kwauhuru Govan. He was linked through DNA to the murders of Brooklyn teenagers Chanel Petro Nixon and Sharabia Thomas, whose dismembered bodies were found disposed in similar ways prior to the murder of Rashawn. At the time of his arrest for his connection to Sharabia’s murder, he was hours away from being released from a jail in Florida after being held for unrelated charges. He was then sent to New York to face these murder charges. After being linked to this murder, police decided to look for other similar murders in the Brooklyn area to which they came across Rashawn’s cold case. It was then discovered that Kwauhuru lived right across the street from Rashawn and his mother at the time of Rashawn’s murder, and he supposedly disliked Rashawn because he was gay.

Kwauhuru Gavin (left) during a court outburst, and a photograph of Rashawn (right)

After having an outburst in court and refusing to get fingerprinted for the murder of Rashawn, investigators were eventually able to gather enough evidence to charge Kwauhuru Gavon with the murder of Rashawn Brazell. Investigators have suspicions that he may possibly be a serial killer after being linked to even more murders.

After years of the case being cold, Rashawn’s family and detectives are relieved to finally have the person who is responsible for the death of Rashawn put to justice, and hopefully he will be brought to justice for the murders and assaults of any other victims he may have out there. Rashawn’s mother and family continue to allow Rashawn’s legacy to live on as the great young man he always was.

Resources-

http://www.frightmeter.com/2016/11/little-known-real-life-murders-worse.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Rashawn_Brazell

The Murders of Michael and Alexander Smith

Michael and Alexander Smith were two young brothers who were murdered by their mother Susan in 1994. The case gained much media attention and it was eventually revealed that the children’s own mother was their killer.

3 year old Michael and 14 month old Alexander

Susan Leigh Vaughn was born on September 26, 1971 in Union, South Carolina. She grew up in an unstable household after parents divorced and her father died by suicide when she was 6. She then attempted suicide when she was 13, and was also molested by her step father. She graduated high school in 1989 and attempted suicide once more before marrying David Smith in 1991.

Susan gave birth to her and David’s first son Michael Daniel Smith in 1991. She later gave birth to their second son Alexander Tyler Smith in 1993.

On October 25, 1994, Susan called 911 claiming that an African American man had carjacked her with her two sons still in the car. She then went on national television with a plea for her children to be returned safely. Susan gained much attention and sympathy after this, but some still found her behavior to be suspicious. There are several interviews in which Susan seemed to be putting on a facade with what some felt were fake cries.

Susan and David Smith during an interview

Investigators later revealed that they had suspected Susan from the beginning that she was responsible for her sons’s disappearance and later murders. 2 days after the boys went missing, both Susan and David took polygraph tests, and after giving conflicting statements regarding the carjacking, Susan’s story was not believed by investigators.

9 days after the report about the children, Susan later recanted her statement and admitted to killing her children. She confessed that she had let her car roll into the nearby John D. Long Lake with 3 year old Michael and 14 month old Alexander still in the car, resulting in their deaths. It was revealed that she was having an affair with a wealthy man named Tom Findlay, who tried to end their affair after telling her that he did not want children. Although Susan claims that she didn’t have a motive and that she just wasn’t in the “right state of mind”, one can infer that she did this to carry on her relationship with Tom Findlay.

Before Susan revealed where the children were, investigators had already been searching in nearby ponds and lakes, including John D. Long Lake. The investigators initially didn’t find the car in the lake because they thought it would be about 30 feet off the shore, but it was actually about 122 feet off the shore.

Susan’ trial began in 1995. Her defense argued that she was mentally unstable and suffered from depression, and her step father even testified for molesting her. One of her co-counsel’s Judy Clarke stated that, “…Smith drove to the edge of the lake to kill herself and her two sons, but her body willed itself out of the car.” This statement alone is ridiculous. The prosecution argued that Susan committed these murders so that she can start a new life with her lover. It only took the jury about 2 and a half hours to convict Susan with 2 counts of murder for the deaths of her young sons. At first, the death penalty was considered, but Susan was eventually sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in November 2024.

The children’s father and Susan’s husband David Smith was revealed to have not been involved with the crime whatsoever and he and Susan later got divorced in 1995. Susan in currently serving her sentence in the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution. During her time there, Susan became sexually involved with two correctional officers who later lost their jobs as a result.

David Smith holding up a photo of his 2 sons

Though Susan claims that she isn’t a monster, her actions clearly state otherwise. Not only did she make the accusation that some random black man had carjacked her and lied to the nation on television, but she so cold heartedly killed her two innocent babies. She shouldn’t be given the option for parole and get her life back because Michael and Alexander will never be able to get their lives back.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/susan-smith

Wayne Nance

Wayne Nathan Nance was a suspected serial killer between the years of 1974-1986 and possibly earlier than that. He was known as “The Missoula Mauler” in the state of Montana. Wayne was never formally convicted for any of his crimes because he was killed after trying to murder a couple in 1986.

Wayne Nance was born on October 18, 1955 in Clinton, Montana and graduated from Sentinel High School in 1974. It is thought that his crimes began the same year he graduated from high school.

Wayne Nance’s first suspected murder was that of Donna Pounds, a minister’s wife. On April 11, 1974, Donna was found dead inside the basement of her home and was killed by gunshot wounds. Wayne was connected to Donna because he was friends with her children who were around the same ages as Wayne. Years later, evidence that was found in Wayne’s home further connected him as the suspect.

wedding photo of Donna Pounds and her husband Harvey

When Wayne began working as a bouncer at the Cabin Bar in East Missoula, multiple women began to disappear, suspected of being victims of Wayne. Many of these victims were formerly unidentified. The first was an unidentified woman who was nicknamed “Betty Beavertail” because she was found in a road bank near the Beavertail Hill State Park in January 1980. The cause of death was stabbing. She was later identified as 15 year old Devonna Nelson. Not much evidence has linked Wayne to this murder except for the area and date in which she was found.

Next was another unidentified woman who was nicknamed “Debbie Deer Creek” as she was found in a shallow grave in Deer Creek on December 24, 1985. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. This woman was later identified in 2006 through DNA testing as 16 year old Marcella Bachman who went missing from Vancouver, Washington. Marcella’s brother Derek spent years looking for her since he was 21 years old and even hired a private investigator for help. There are several photos of Wayne and Marcella during the time the two were actually a couple. Wayne told everyone she was his girlfriend and her name was Robin. Around the time Marcella was murdered in September of 1984, Wayne claimed she had just left the area.

On September 9, 1985, the skeletal remains of a woman nicknamed “Christy Crystal Creek” was found by a bear hunter in Missoula, Montana. She was found with 2 bullet wounds in her skull and was thought to be killed between 1983 and 1985. She was known as one of Wayne’s most well-known victims after being unidentified for 38 years. Christy Crystal Creek was finally identified as 23 year old Janet Lee Lucas in May of 2021 through DNA testing. She was a mother to a 5 year old son from Spokane, Washington and went missing in Idaho in the summer of 1983. Janet’s family described her saying, “she had a contagious smile, warm personality and wore her heart on her sleeve.” Her murder is linked to Wayne Nance as she was discovered near the area in which he hung out at in Missoula, as well as she went missing and was discovered during the time the in which Wayne was active.

On December 12, 1985, Michael and Teresa Shook were found tied up and murdered inside of their home in Ravalli County, Montana. Their cause of deaths were gunshot wounds like Wayne’s other victims. The couple’s 4 children were in the home during the murders and survived after the suspect attempted to burn the house down in order to hide evidence. Wayne was the main suspect in this double homicide as items stolen from the family’s home was later found inside of his home.

Wayne Nance’s reign of terror finally came to an end on September 3, 1986 when he attempted to kill Doug Wells and rape and murder his wife Kris Wells. Wayne knew this couple because at the time he was working at Doug’s furniture company. On this day, Wayne came to the Wells’s home at 100 Parker Court and after having a friendly conversation with Doug, he asked to borrow a flashlight. At this, Doug invited Wayne into their home, and Wayne began his attack. He ordered Doug to tie up his wife, and then stabbed Doug and left him in the basement of the home to die while he went to attempt to rape Kris. However, Doug was able to escape and loaded his gun before finding Wayne and engaging in a fight with him. This fight resulted in Wayne getting shot in the head and side. Wayne Nance later died in a hospital the following day on September 4, 1986. Though he was badly injured, Doug survived the attack and both he and Kris were able to recover from their injuries.

After years of committing such horrid crimes and murders, Wayne Nance was successfully taken down by none other than someone who would’ve been his next victim. Who knows how long his crimes would have went on if Doug Wells was unable to stop him? The positive in this is that Wayne’s formerly unidentified victims were finally given their true identities and this killer was put to an end. If there are any more possible victims of Wayne, I hope they will all soon be brought to light and given closure.

References-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Nance

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/us/christy-crystal-creek-identified-janet-lee-lucas-trnd/index.html

http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentCenter/View/457/Nance-Wayne?bidId=

The Disappearance of Tammy Lynn Leppert

Tammy Lynn Leppert was an 18 year old model, actress, and former beauty queen who went missing from Cocoa Beach, Florida in 1983. Just before she disappeared, she had a minor role in the movie Scarface. Tammy has still not been found to this day.

Tammy Lynn Leppert was born on February 5, 1965 in Rockledge, Florida. During her childhood and adolescence, Tammy worked as an actress and model. She even took part in beauty pageants from as young as 4 years old. As she grew older, Tammy also took place on magazine covers and other movies, such as CoverGirl Magazine in 1978 and a small role in the 1983 movie Spring Break. She also had a lead role in the movie CoverGirl Behind The Scenes, which she played herself. After attending a party when she finished shooting for CoverGirl, one of Tammy’s friends Wing Flannagan said she returned as “a different person”. It is stated that she had become more sullen and paranoid.

On the fourth day of filming for Scarface, Tammy suddenly returned home. Her mother assumed that this was because of her fear of being murdered, so she planned to go to a doctor to get Tammy checked out. However, she was released from a medical center after 72 hours after appearing to be fine and coherent.

Before she disappeared, Tammy was last seen on July 6, 1983 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She was last wearing a matching blue denim shirt and skirt with flowers on it, a gray purse, and sandals. However, some have said she left without shoes or money. She was between 5’0” and 5’5”, weighed between 105-115 pounds, had curly blonde hair, and hazel eyes. She was also believed to be possibly 3 months pregnant.

One of Tammy’s other friends, who was also the last person to see her, told authorities that the two of them got into an argument while driving back from Rockledge, Florida and he left her in a parking lot as a result. Even though he was last seen with Tammy and Tammy’s mother has stated that she was afraid of him, this friend is not considered a suspect.

A man by the name of Christopher Bernard Wilder suspected to have something to do with Tammy’s disappearance. He was connected to the murders of 12 other women ranging from Florida to California. He would lure these women in by promising them that they’d be photographed for magazines. Christopher Wilder was later killed in a shoot out with the police in 1984. Before his death, Tammy’s mother sued Christopher’s estate for more than $1 million for connections to Tammy’s disappearance. However, this was halted as some were unsure if he was really involved. Convicted kidnapper and rapist John Crutchley was also a person of interest. He was suspected of killing as many as 30 women, but he later died by suicide in prison in 2002.

Tammy’s mother also believed that there was a possibility that she was killed due to her knowledge of local drug trafficking. She believed this because Tammy showed signs of paranoia, and she was also cautious when consuming foods and did not drink from opened containers. It was noted that Tammy did file a police report prior to her disappearance.

After her disappearance, the Cocoa Beach detective got two phone calls from a woman stating that Tammy was still alive and doing well. She first said that Tammy would call when the time was right, and then she said that Tammy was pursuing her dream, which was becoming a nurse. Tammy has been ruled out as multiple unidentified decedents over the years, such as the Slidell Jane Doe found in 1986 and the Newport News Jane Doe found in 2014. In 1992 the show Unsolved Mysteries covered a segment regarding Tammy’s disappearance.

Though Tammy has been missing for over 37 years, the search for her will continue. The truth about what happened to her will eventually come to light.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Lynn_Leppert

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/12/04/tammy-lynn-leppert-vampire-rapist-john-crutchley/6411736002/

The Murder of Shanda Sharer

Shanda Renee Sharer was a 12 year old girl who was viscously murdered by a group of other teenage girls. The brutality of Shanda’s murder and the ages of the murderers caused this case to gain much media attention.

Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky to her parents Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught. Shanda’s parents divorced when she was young and her mother remarried and their family moved to Louisville. Shanda, her mother Jacqueline, and her sister Paige eventually moved and settled in New Albany, Indiana, where Shanda was enrolled at Hazelwood Middle School and eventually transferred to the Catholic school Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Shanda was known for being athletic and playing a variety of sports, such as basketball, cheerleading, softball, and volleyball.

Shanda Sharer met a girl by the name of Amanda Heavrin at Hazelwood Junior High School after the two of them got into a fight. They eventually worked out their differences and became friends. This friendship grew and the two girls eventually began to exchange romantic love letters to each other and started a relationship.

Amanda Heavrin’s ex girlfriend, Melinda Loveless, became jealous of the relationship between Amanda and Shanda. Melinda Loveless was born on October 28, 1975 in New Albany, Indiana. With a father who became emotionally scarred after fighting in the Vietnam War and a mother who was abused and suicidal, Melinda and her sisters grew up in a neglectful and abusive household. After her parents finally divorced in November 1990, Melinda ended all contact with her father. These events led to Melinda developing depression and getting into fights at school.

14 year old Melinda began dating Amanda Heavrin in 1990, but the relationship began to fall apart and the two split after about a year. In October 1991, Amanda and Shanda attended a school dance together, where they were confronted by a jealous Melinda. Later that October, Amanda and Shanda went to a festival together. At this, Melinda began planning to murder Shanda and even went as far as to threaten to kill Shanda in public. After becoming concerned and disapproving of Shanda and Amanda’s relationship, Shanda’s parents decided to transfer her to the Catholic school in November 1991. Despite this, Amanda would constantly try to talk to Shanda, sending her letters and calling her. Amanda later stated that she informed a youth prosecutor of the threats that Melinda was making toward Shanda, but nothing was done about it.

On the night of January 10, 1992, Melinda, who was 16 at the time, and her 3 friends, 15 year old Toni Laurence, 15 year old Hope Rippey, and 17 year old Laurie Tackett met up at her house. Melinda and Laurie were both friends and Toni and Hope were friends of Laurie who had not previously met Melinda, and all had gone through some traumatic events including parental divorces and sexual abuse. The girls rode together in Laurie’s car to Melinda’s house where she showed them the knife she was going to use to scare Shanda. Melinda explained to the girls that she did not like Shanda because she was a “copycat” and had stolen her girlfriend and then she explained their plan to scare her.

Later that night, the girls drove to Shanda’s house where Melinda told Hope and Toni to go and introduce themselves to Shanda as Amanda’s friend and then invited her to go with them to see Amanda who was supposedly waiting for them at an area known as “the Witch’s Castle” which overlooked the Ohio River. Shanda told them she was not allowed to go out, to which the girls told her that they would come back around midnight and wait for her to sneak out. The girls left for a while and then began heading back to Shanda’s home around midnight. On the way back, Melinda stated that she could not wait to kill Shanda. When the girls arrived back at Shanda’s house around 12:30 A.M., Melinda hid under a blanket in the back seat with her knife while Hope and Toni went to go get Shanda.

Though Shanda was reluctant to go along with them, she eventually agreed to go along with them. On the way to “the Witch’s Castle”, Hope asked Shanda questions about her relationship with Amanda. While asking, Melinda, jumped out from the back seat and held the knife to Shanda’s throat and began asking her about the sexual relationship between her and Amanda. When the girls arrived at the Witch’c Castle, the girls took Shanda inside and tied up her arms and legs with rope. The girls then taunted Shanda, stealing her Mickey Mouse watch from her and dancing around to the tune it played as well as threatening to cut off her hair and telling her that she would be the next remains to be left at the Witch’s Castle. The girls thought of taunting Shanda with fire, but feared that it would draw attention from cars passing by, so they chose to leave with Shanda. Shanda begged the girls to take her back home, but they refused. During this next car ride, Melinda ordered Shanda to remove her bra and then trade it with Hope’s.

After a while, the girls got lost and stopped at a gas station, hiding Shanda under a blanket. The girls then asked for directions and then phoned a friend in Louisville to calm them down, but did not mention the abduction. The girls later arrived at the woods near Laurie’s home where they began to torture Shanda.

WARNING Graphic Detail Below

Hope and Toni became afraid and decided to wait in the car while Melinda and Laurie carried out torturing Shanda. First the two girls made Shanda strip naked, and then Melinda began to brutally beat Shanda. She slammed Shanda’s mouth into her knees over and over, causing Shanda mouth to cut because of her braces. Melinda then tried to slit Shanda’s throat with the knife she had, but the knife was too dull. Hope then exited the car and held Shanda down while Melinda and Laurie took turns stabbing her. They then strangled Shanda with a rope until she was unconscious.

After the torture, the girls placed Shanda in the trunk of the car, thinking she was dead. They then went to Laurie’s home to clean up. While cleaning themselves up, the girls heard Shanda screaming in the trunk, to which Laurie went out and stabbed her a few more times with a knife. Melinda and Laurie then left around 2:30 A.M. January 11. While driving, they heard Shanda crying and making gurgling noises. They pulled over and opened the trunk and Shanda sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled to the back of her head, unable to speak. Laurie then beat her with a tire iron and told Melinda to “smell it”. They then drove back to where the other girls were and told them about the torture. Laurie’s mother was awoken by this conversation, to which she scolded Laurie for being out late and having friends over. Laurie then told her mother she would take the girls home and they all left. When they went out and opened the trunk again, Hope sprayed Shanda’s open wounds with Windex while saying, “You’re not looking so hot now, are you?”.

The girls then left with Shanda still in the trunk and drove to a nearby gas station where they filled an empty 2-liter soda bottle with gasoline. They then drove to a location that Hope knew of off U.S. Route 421. Toni stayed in the car while the other 3 girls got out and removed Shanda, who was still alive, and wrapped her in a blanket. They carried Shanda to an open field, where Laurie ordered Hope to pour some of the gasoline on Shanda, which she did. Melinda then took a match and set 12 year old Shanda on fire. The girls quickly left, but Melinda worried that the fire would go out, so they went back. Melinda then poured the rest of the bottle of gasoline on Shanda.

At around 9:30 A.M., the 4 girls went to McDonalds for breakfast, where they joked about how the sausages they were eating looked like Shanda’s body. Melinda and Laurie then dropped Hope and Toni off at their homes, where they told other friends about the murder. Melinda then called and told Amanda about the murder and planned to meet up with her to prove it. Melinda along with Laurie and another friend, Crystal Wathen, who they had told about the murder to go and pick Amanda up. At first, both Crystal and Amanda did not believe what they were told, until Melinda showed them the trunk and Shanda’s clothes that were covered in Shanda’s blood. Horrified Amanda ordered to be taken home, but before departing, she told Melinda she loved her and promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone what happened.

Memorial left in the area where Shanda was found

Later that morning, 2 brothers who were going hunting came across the body on the side of the road. Police were called at around 10:55 A.M. At first, investigators thought that this was a drug deal gone wrong and was committed by locals. That same day, Shanda’s father who she was staying with at the time of her abduction, noticed she was missing. At about 1:45 P.M. they went to the Clark County Sheriffs Department to report their daughter missing. At about 8:30 that night, Toni and Hope went to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department with their parents, telling a hysterical story of something that happened to their victim Shanda and saying that 2 other girls were also involved. The Sheriff then contacted the department in Clark County, which they were able to get a match on a missing person’s report.

Dental records were obtained and used to identify the body that had earlier been discovered, which was positively identified as Shanda. Toni and Hope were placed under arrest and on January 12, 1992, Melinda and Laurie were also arrested for the murder of Shanda. The girls were all charged as adults for their actions, but they avoided the death penalty by taking a plea bargain.

The girls’ mugshots, (top left) Melinda Loveless, (top right) Laurie Tackett, (bottom left) Toni Lawrence, and (bottom right) Hope Rippey

During the trial, the troubled backgrounds of the 4 girls were used in their defense. With the combination of suffering from abuse and mental disorders, the girls were treated with leniency. Oddly, they didn’t seem to take into account how much pain they were putting Shanda and her family through whilst carrying out their brutal crimes. What they went through didn’t seem to matter to them when they were doing the same things and worse to little Shanda.

After almost a year long trial, Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, and Hope Rippey were sentenced to 60 years in prison. Toni Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years. However, none of them carried out their full sentence. Toni was released on parole on December 14, 2000. After serving 14 of her 60 year sentence, Hope was released on parole on April 28, 2006. Laurie was then released on parole on January 11, 2018, 26 years after Shanda’s murder. During her prison sentence, Melinda began training dogs, and Shanda’s mother even donated a dog to her by the name of Shanda in a way to honor her daughter. Melinda Loveless was eventually released on parole on September 5, 2019.

Feeling destroyed after his daughter’s brutal murder, Shanda’s father Stephen Sharer later passed away in 2005 of alcoholism, Jacque stating that he, “died from a broken heart.” In 2011, Shanda’s mother Jacque and sister Paige went on Dr.Phil, where they talked about what happened to Shanda, as well as confronting 1 of Shanda’s murderers, Hope Rippey, during the interview.

Though the girls have all been released and claimed to have changed, that still does not change the horrible crime they committed and it never will change because Shanda cannot come back. They can use the defense that they had tough upbringings, but they still knew better and were fully aware of what they were doing. There are plenty of people who have had terrible upbringings like the girls, but they didn’t let this guide them down a path of destruction. Shanda’s mother Jacque told Hope during their Dr.Phil confrontation that to make it up to Shanda and her family she could’ve, “…stayed in prison and served out [her] sentence.” That was the last thing all 4 girls could’ve done for Shanda’s family because nothing else can even come close to fixing what happened, not even a prison sentence.

It is so horrifying to think of what Shanda went through in those hours. Any of those girls could have done something to stop what was happening, but they chose to hurt an innocent child. Shanda was a sweet and outgoing young girl and that should remain her legacy.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shanda_Sharer#Aftermath