Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Getting Away With Murder: Cold Case Crime, #7
    Getting Away With Murder: Cold Case Crime, #7
    Getting Away With Murder: Cold Case Crime, #7
    Ebook127 pages2 hours

    Getting Away With Murder: Cold Case Crime, #7

    By William Webb

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Despite a decline in the number of murders in the United States since the 1960s, thousands go unsolved each year.

    As of 2013, the solve rate was at an all-time low at only 65 percent of the total committed.

    The 15 murders profiled in this book were committed between 1958 and 2014. The oldest of the set involves the bizarre murder of Pearl Eaton, one of the famous Ziegfeld Follies Girls of the 1920s. From the beginning, the crime had no leads or suspects and remains among the coldest of the 15 unsolved crimes.

    The most recent – the murder of four members of the McStay family found buried in the California desert in November 2013 – is under active investigation.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbsolute Crime
    Release dateJul 29, 2020
    ISBN9781393641681
    Getting Away With Murder: Cold Case Crime, #7

    Read more from William Webb

    Related to Getting Away With Murder

    Titles in the series (6)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Murder For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Jailed For A Murder I Didn’t Commit

      Jul 9, 2020

      Kirk Bloodsworth was asleep at his cousin’s house when the police arrived. A torch was shone in his face and then the questions began. Nobody believed his answers, though. There was a little girl dead and he was the main suspect. Two weeks before, in

      3 min read

    • Article

      Anita Cobby: The Horrific Murder Of A Beauty Queen

      Jan 27, 2020

      It was the crime that shocked the nation, when 26-year-old nurse and former beauty queen Anita Cobby was horrifically murdered while walking home on February 2, 1986. More than 30 years later, people still remember Anita’s tragic story, but Deb Walla

      2 min read

    • Article

      Twisted Triangle

      Apr 16, 2020

      Twisted Triangle
      4 min read

    • Article

      Why It’s Not So Simple To Arrest The Cops Who Shot Breonna Taylor

      Aug 8, 2020

      Memes and billboards are calling for arresting the three officers. But what does Kentucky law say?

      5 min read

    • Article

      Then They attacked

      Apr 29, 2021

      Then They attacked
      4 min read

    • Article

      SHE SIMPLY vanished

      Jun 19, 2019

      SHE SIMPLY vanished
      11 min read

    • Article

      Killer curiosity

      Apr 29, 2021

      Killer curiosity
      3 min read

    • Article

      Horror In Paradise

      Sep 22, 2022

      Horror In Paradise
      3 min read

    • Article

      Always Watching

      Jul 7, 2022

      Always Watching
      5 min read

    • Article

      Murdered By A Monster On Christmas Eve

      Dec 14, 2020

      It should have been a magical time for the Petersons. It was Christmas 2002 and school teacher Laci Peterson only had a month to go before giving birth to her first child. Laci and her husband, Scott, had the holiday season to prepare for their littl

      3 min read

    • Article

      Copycat Killer

      Dec 27, 2020

      Many wish they could have an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again. But for Chris Watts, wiping the slate clean involved murdering his pregnant wife and their two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. At first, he feigned to be a worried

      1 min read

    • Article

      Dahleen Glanton: A Kid Charged With His Friend's Murder During A Botched Burglary In 2008 Got A Second Chance. The Teens Charged In Suburban Chicago Deserve One Too

      Aug 27, 2019

      Eleven years ago, a group of teenagers broke into a house near Rockford, Ill., planning to steal a cache of guns. The boys had meticulously planned the burglary. They knew the homeowner, who was supposed to be in the hospital that night. The house wa

      3 min read

    • Article

      From cheertloeader CHILD KILLER?

      Apr 2, 2020

      From cheertloeader CHILD KILLER?
      10 min read

    • Article

      Criminal!

      Jan 2, 2020

      This museum is perfect for anyone fascinated by the dark world of crime. Set in 3,000 square feet of seafront caves in Hastings, it’s the largest collection of crime memorabilia in the UK. Suitable for all ages, it presents a chilling but fascinatin

      1 min read

    • Article

      Police Say One Man Is Tied To Multiple Killings In Missouri And Kansas

      Nov 9, 2021

      Perez Reed is facing charges of murder and assault in shootings that occurred in the St. Louis County area. The gun used in those attacks has been tied to other killings in St. Louis and Kansas.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Cruel Messages

      May 26, 2022

      Cruel Messages
      4 min read

    • Article

      No./ 11 SMILEY FACE KILLERS

      Jan 11, 2021

      No./ 11 SMILEY FACE KILLERS
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Getting Away With Murder

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Getting Away With Murder - William Webb

      About Absolute Crime

      Absolute Crime publishes only the best true crime literature. Our focus is on the crimes that you've probably never heard of, but you are fascinated to read more about. With each engaging and gripping story, we try to let readers relive moments in history that some people have tried to forget. 

      Remember, our books are not meant for the faint at heart. We don't hold back—if a crime is bloody, we let the words splatter across the page so you can experience the crime in the most horrifying way!

      If you enjoy this book, please visit our homepage (www.AbsoluteCrime.com) to see other books we offer; if you have any feedback, we’d love to hear from you!

      Sign up for our mailing list, and we’ll send you out a free true crime book!

      http://www.absolutecrime.com/newsletter

      Introduction

      Despite a decline in the number of murders in the United States since the 1960s, thousands go unsolved each year. As of 2013, the solve rate was at an all time low at only 65 percent of the total committed. The following 15 murders were committed between 1958 and 2014. The oldest of the set involves the bizarre murder of Pearl Eaton, one of the famous Ziegfeld Follies Girls of the 1920s. From the beginning, the crime had no leads or suspects and remains among the coldest of the 15 unsolved crimes. The most recent – the murder of four members of the McStay family found buried in the California desert in November 2013 – is under active investigation.

      1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders

      ––––––––

      At about 11 P.M. on the night of December 6, 1991, four teenage girls were closing a yogurt shop in north Austin, Texas. Shortly before midnight, the Austin Fire Department responded to a fire at the same location. Fire and police officials thinking they were responding to a structural fire were horrified to discover the bodies of the four teens among the rubble. The first police officer to enter the building described the scene as wholesale carnage. Twenty-three years later, no one is in prison for the crime.

      Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both age 17, worked in the I Can’t Believe it is Yogurt! shop located in a strip mall at 2949 West Anderson Lane in Austin, Texas. Jennifer’s sister Sarah Harbison, age 15, and a 13-year-old friend Amy Ayers, joined the two girls at the shop on the night of December 6, 1991, to help with closing. All four girls were later described by family, friends, and school officials as wholesome, full of life, and popular with their classmates.

      Sometime after closing, one or more assailants shot three of the teens in the back of the head once and the fourth girl twice. Both .22 and .380 caliber weapons were used. The fourth girl was also strangled and one, perhaps two, of the teens was sexually assaulted. All four girls were stripped of their clothes and bound and gagged with them. Three of the bodies were piled on top of one another in the back room of the shop. The youngest teen tried to escape and was killed near the front door and the empty cash drawer was found next to her body. The front door still had the key in the lock – a detail that required first responders to break down the door.

      To eliminate any witnesses and cover up the crime – which may have started out as a robbery – the assailants piled Styrofoam cups on the bodies, poured lighter fluid on them, and set the store on fire. A patrolling police officer notified the Fire Department at 11:47 P.M. When the wristwatch was later removed from Jennifer Harbison’s arm, the time read 11:48.

      The coroner determined that all four girls were dead before the fire was started and each had extensive burns. Even though they were all shot in the back of the head execution style, they were all four found lying face up on the yogurt shop’s floor.

      Eyewitnesses and customers from the night of the crime were able to offer clues to the last few hours in the yogurt shop. Among them was a former police officer and security company owner who noticed a tall, thin, young man in a green camouflage jacket. Acting oddly, the man went to the back of the store to use the restroom but never returned. Suspicious, the security company owner later told police he feared the man had waited until the store was closed and the front door locked and then let in an accomplice through the back door. The man in the green jacket was never identified.

      Just before 11 P.M., a married couple noticed two men sitting in one of the yogurt shop’s booths. In their account, the couple stated the men were acting strangely and made them uncomfortable, much like the account of the man in the green jacket. When the couple left the shop, the two men were still there watching the girls as they filled empty napkin containers and turned empty chairs upside down on the tables. Even though the fire destroyed most of the shop’s interior, crime scene photos clearly reveal the booth described by the couple. The napkin container was still empty and there were no chairs placed on the table of that one booth. The two men could not be located.

      Over the years, there was a long list of suspects. For unclear reasons, more than 50 people, mostly teens, confessed to the crime and hundreds more were interviewed. Within the first 2 weeks, there were 25 possible leads. These included a teenaged girl and her boyfriend who confessed, but ultimately knew no accurate details of the crime; a group of suspected drug dealers found through a 911 tip, but with airtight alibis; and two men previously suspected of murdering two Austin convenience store clerks. Each lead was investigated, but all were dead ends.

      At times, the Austin police were convinced that an arrest was imminent, at other times, there were no viable leads, and the case was cold. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico, Virginia, generated a profile of the killers – white males, age 17 to 28; emotionally immature and easily angered – and 20 large billboards donated by local businesses were erected all over the city. The billboards displayed photographs of each girl and offered a reward, which over time rose from $25,000 to $100,000. Although the billboards generated more than 2,000 tips, the reward went unclaimed. An artist’s sketch of a man frequently seen parked in a car outside the yogurt shop also was distributed to the public, but provided no new leads. The crime also received national attention when it was the subject of episodes of 48 Hours (March 1992) and America’s Most Wanted (August 1992).

      In the Spring of 1993, the Austin police added six new officers to the original 12-man task force investigating the murders. With no new leads, the additional staff cleared a backlog of several thousand tips before the task force disbanded. Two homicide detectives stayed on to monitor the investigation and an FBI agent, an Austin arson investigator, and an agent from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms continued on full time.

      By December 1993, the door to the yogurt shopped had been bricked over and the windows darkened and reinforced. The space was eventually converted for other retail purposes and is no longer recognizable as the yogurt shop. A bronze marker naming all four of the victims was placed in a grassy area of the strip mall parking lot. 

      Over 2,500 people attended the joint memorial service for the four girls. Three of the teens – Jennifer, Sarah, and Amy – were buried next to each other and a memorial bench placed at the gravesite.

      In late 1992, three Mexican nationals charged in the kidnapping and rape of a woman outside an Austin nightclub were questioned in the yogurt shop murders and one even confessed to the crime. Two of the men later recanted their accounts saying they were forced to make false statements and all three men were eventually removed from the suspect list and never charged in the crime. 

      Kenneth Allen McDuff, who was executed by the state of Texas in 1998 for a series of brutal crimes between 1965 and 1992, was questioned repeatedly about the yogurt shop killings, but denied any involvement. An unnamed source told an Austin television station that McDuff confessed to the yogurt shop murders on the day he was executed, but investigators said key details of the crime were incorrect and they did not believe the confession. Given his long violent history, including the kidnapping and murder of three teens in Fort Worth, McDuff likely had the answers to numerous unsolved crimes, but took that information to his death.

      The last of the viable suspects were four men who were arrested in 1999. At the time of the crime, all four were teens and two were juveniles. Michael James Scott

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1