Persons of Interest

[shadowraiths]

The Mysterious Man

For reference, here is the Stuff Magazine article (http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=817) that was heavily quoted in the Crime Library article (http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/unsolved/la_crosse_wisconsin/6.html). It was published in 9/2004, so there is no new info, but it's all on one page and easier to read, although the Crime Library story has more details.

After about 2 hours yesterday, I was able to identify the "John Doe" noted in the article (he's the one with the drowning fetish and obsession with serial killers). His name is John Blake Lilly III. I was also able to find the original 4/2003 newspaper story about the police trying to serve a warrant on him for threatening his former employer, and then the ensuing car chase, but I got the article from NewsBank, so I can't post a link.

Essentially, Lilly worked as a maintenance man at the Paul Funeral Home, in St. Charles, MO., for a couple of weeks before he was fired. He then made threatening phone calls to Nancy L. Paul and her husband, Rob Marchbanks.

Prior to this case, on 3/4/03, Lilly was charged with harassing a relative of his, Dr. J. Kevin McGraw, a St. Peters dentist. Police say Lilly made a threatening phone call to McGraw, making racist remarks about his adopted children.

While court records indicate Lilly was incarcerated on 3/4/03, he must have made bail, because he was out when he threatened the Paul/Marchbanks family.

On 4/18/03, Lilly was charged with harassment in the Paul/Marchbanks matter, but when the police attempted to serve the warrant on 4/22/06, he rammed a police car and took off, leading LE on a high speed chase through St. Charles, which was televised!

On 4/22/03, Lilly was charged with stalking (the Paul/Marchbanks family).

On 4/24/03, Lilly was charged with 2nd degree assault on an LE officer (for the ramming) and resisting arrest for a felony.

On 4/25/03, Lilly was ordered to have a psych exam, but the records made no mention of the findings. Apparently, Lilly continued to harass his former employer, as on 8/27/03, he was ordered not to mention Marchbanks's name in any of his correspondence, except to his attorney.

The above cases were consolidated, and Lilly pled guilty to all charges on 12/4/03. He was sentenced to the following:

6 months for the first harassment charge, to run concurrent with 7 years (suspended) and 5 years probation for the assault on LE. He got 3 months for the 2nd harassment charge and 6 months for stalking, to run consecutive with the other sentences. He got credit for time served on all the sentences and was released in either June or July of 2004 (depending on the source).

Notably, on 5/11/04, Marchbanks got a civil judgment against Lilly for defamation to the tune of $49,998.00.

It's seems Lilly couldn't stay out of trouble, as on 4/26/05 he was charged with: 3rd degree assault; tampering (or attempting to tamper) with a witness or victim; concealing a misdemeanor; and stalking.

Another case was filed on 4/29/05 charging Lilly with: 2 counts of 3rd degree assault with physical injury.

The above cases were consolidated and (although he initially pled not guilty by reason of mental disease) Lilly pled guilty. He was sentenced to 1 year on each count to be run concurrently, with credit for time served. He was originally incarcerated at Fulton State Hospital, but now may be at Farmington Correctional Center. He remains in custody, but with the credit for time served BS, who knows when he may be out; however, that 7 year suspended sentence may come back to haunt him.

I have more info on Lilly, but I've already gone on too long. The point is that he was is custody from 4/22/03 to June or July of 2004, then again from 4/29/05 to the present, so he couldn't have the perpetrated any murders during those times. He is still one scary guy though, and someone to keep an eye on.

ETA: I forgot to mention that the newspaper article stated Lilly had 6 aliases (!), but I wasn't able to find out what they were.
Addendum: identity confirmed
From Chris Jenkins' case file: PDF (http://kstp.com/kstpImages/mpdcasefile.pdf)
Page 50: Richard Blake Lilly

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j304/shadowraiths/Lines/98470199.gif

Status: Farmington Correctional Center (https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/detailsAction.do?siteId=26000&agency=900&id=01107280&searchType=offender)
Offender Record
Offender ID: 01107280
Offender Name: RICHARD B LILLY
Date of Birth: 11/17/1964
Age: 43
Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: Farmington Correctional Center
Race:
Gender:

[shadowraiths]

From Chris Jenkins' case file: PDF (http://kstp.com/kstpImages/mpdcasefile.pdf)

Page 20
A witness claims to have seen Jenkins at a Tobacco shop @ 5th & Hennepin. They also claim to have witnessed him having an altercation w/Black males (of whom one was named, Mohamed)

[shadowraiths]

From Chris Jenkins' case file: PDF (http://kstp.com/kstpImages/mpdcasefile.pdf)
Page 37
On February 6, 2003, Stephen Michael Shaughnessy, alleges he killed Jenkins & one other, but later denies it, stating he was "just joking." His roommate is Matthew John Onken.

[shadowraiths]

Possible Suspect In Jenkins Killing
November 27, 2006
Alford is already serving a life sentence in a St. Cloud prison for killing a New Brighton man last year and burning his mobile home to cover up the crime.

The I-TEAM has also talked with a relative of one of Alford's former roommates. That relative said:

• Alford bragged about killing Jenkins.

• Alford believed he would get away with the crime because police were saying Jenkins had committed suicide.

• Alford's former roommate has given a statement to police.

The I-TEAM has also learned that at the time of the murder, Jaramy Alford lived at an apartment on 2nd Street in Minneapolis that is within a mile from the bridge where Chris Jenkins' body was found.
Full article: click here (http://wcco.com/specialreports/chris.jenkins.murder.2.363149.html)

Alford`s Girlfriend Says He`s Innocent
January 04, 2007
"For more than a year, Minneapolis Police have been investigating a tip that a man involved in a New Brighton, Minn. murder was also responsible for the Halloween 2002 death of University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins.

Jenkins' body was found in the river several months after he disappeared from a downtown bar.

The girlfriend of convicted killer Jaramy Alford told I-TEAM reporter Caroline Lowe he was home with her the night Jenkins was murdered. Alford`s girlfriend, Dana, now lives in Iowa and Alford recently started serving a 30 year prison sentence for the 2005 New Brighton crime."
Full aritcle: click here (http://wcco.com/iteam/local_story_356093845.html)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j304/shadowraiths/Lines/98470199.gif

Status: Minnesota Department of Corrections (https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/detailsAction.do?siteId=24002&agency=900&id=221429&searchType=offender)
Offender Record
Offender ID: 221429
Offender Name: JARAMY LYNN ALFORD
Date of Birth: 02/25/1983
Age: 25
Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORREC
Race:
Gender:
Aliases
ALFORD, JERAMY LYNN

[SieSie]

Snipped from encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-150862797.html):


The Perfect Suspect Unsuspected by Police

Back in 1990, a man entered a police station in St. Charles, Missouri, and claimed to be the next Jeffrey Dahmer. The police ignored this man, but he finally got the attention of one detective when he shared his detailed fantasies about drowning young men (Conte, 2004). A well-known profiler, Pat Brown, got involved with the case and has been monitoring this man for years. Nicknamed John Doe to avoid revealing his identity, this man reportedly wanders from town to town (McGraw, 2005). Based on her interactions with Doe, Brown believes that it is very possible that Doe, or someone like him, could be behind many of these mysterious drownings (Conte; McGraw).

It is actually pretty easy to build a case around Doe. In addition to telling police that he would go on a drowning spree if not contained and that he fantasized about driving across the country making friends with and picking up 16- to 30-year-old men ("6 College-Age Men," 2003), he was just a block away when Chris Jenkins went missing and claimed to be on a road trip during the time that several of the other victims disappeared (Conte, 2004; McGraw, 2005). There is also evidence confirming that he spent time in Wisconsin (McGraw). Doe had charges on his record for making sexual advances toward the teenage son of the owner of a funeral home where Doe worked and making death threats to the teenager's entire family (McGraw). The police reports stated, "The defendant is a danger to the community ... because he goes for white males between the ages of 16 and 25 ... and had serial-killer tendencies" (as cited in McGraw).




Unfortunately, police never seriously considered Doe a suspect. In fact, Stuff Magazine reporters are the ones responsible for bringing John Doe into the spotlight on these cases (Conte, 2004; McGraw, 2005). Until Stuff informed both the La Crosse police and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation about John Doe and all of the evidence against him, both admitted that they didn't have any idea that he even existed (Conte). Apparently, this kind of neglect is common in serial killer cases. As many people believe is the case in La Crosse and the rest of the Midwest, police are often reluctant to admit that a serial killer is lurking in the city and/or region due to the public pressure to catch the murderer (About, 2006). Sometimes law enforcement departments will even wait to act, hoping the murderer will move on to another region outside of their jurisdiction (About).

With these cases, though, it is hard to blame the law enforcement for failing to act. With the lack of physical evidence and so many statistics pointing toward accidental deaths, searching for a serial murderer must have seemed pointless. Also, many of the deaths occurred in different jurisdictions. Even if it was the work of a serial killer, many of the deaths were spread out just enough to keep one department from investigating all of the deaths, a method employed by many serial killers to prevent their capture (Scott, 2006).

Although Doe was incarcerated at the time of Jared Dion's death (Conte, 2004), it is possible that he is responsible for many of the other drownings. If Doe is guilty of drowning young men, Dion's death, which happened 5 years after the other La Crosse drownings, could have been an accident or the work of a similar killer.

So is John Doe responsible for some if not many of these drownings? That depends on whom you ask. Many factors support the serial killer theory. By definition, a serial murder involves at least three to four murders with a cooling off period in between (Scott, 2006; Tatum, n.d.). Studies show that there are about 10 serial killers performing murders throughout the United States each year (Tatum). Although they might not necessarily stay within one particular city, serial killers tend to prefer to work in the same geographical area (Tatum). The killer is usually a stranger to the victims, who are usually randomly chosen based on their vulnerability (Scott). College students are often targeted, especially when under the influence of alcohol (Tatum). Usually the motive is a strong psychological desire to dominate others, and the victims fit a certain stereotype and display similar physical and personality traits in order to fulfill a symbolic meaning (Scott; Tatum).




But what if a different type of serial killer existed? What if there was someone who felt a sense of power without raping and/ or torturing victims? What if there was a serial killer who felt empowered by drowning an immobilized and sedated victim or by watching a victim struggle to stay above water and eventually drown? It just so happens that Doe is a member of a website devoted to the fetish of drowning men.

Brown posed as a 15-year-old boy who watched his brother drown and exchanged messages with Doe on a website devoted to gay men with underwater fetishes (Conte; McGraw). She reported that during their role-playing, Doe wasn't willing to be the drowning victim, but always wanted to do the drowning (McGraw). She also reported that he enjoyed watching his victims' eyes as they drowned (Conte). Brown was able to confirm that Doe experienced sexual gratification from "watching" his victims struggle and die (McGraw). Based on her Internet encounters with Doe, Brown concluded that he was a psychopath due to his lack of feelings for the victims and capable of committing the drownings. "A lot of people have fantasies, but when you talk to them on the Net or you try to role-play with them, you can tell that they aren't a psychopath. They have too much feeling for you and the bad things that happen" (as cited in McGraw). Brown also reported that Doe's life was apparently falling apart and he didn't receive any respect, making him a likely candidate to turn to serial murders as a way to gain power and control (McGraw).

Could Doe or someone like him be traveling around the Midwest murdering these young men? And if so, how does he manage to get his victims away from their friends and drown them without a struggle? Possibly, as Kelly proposed, he does it with the help of drugs.


More at link above.

[SuziQ]

More on Jaramy Alford and the murder of Douglas Miller, 32.
Jaramy's brother was also involved and convicted for the murder.

http://wcco.com/local/Jaramy.Lynn.Alford.2.364699.html

Other related articles:


Brother Pleads Guilty In New Brighton Murder Case (http://wcco.com/topstories/Jaramy.Lynn.Alford.2.361589.html) (9/13/2006)
Brothers Face First-Degree Murder Charges (http://wcco.com/topstories/Jaramy.Lynn.Alford.2.354846.html) (1/20/2006)
Iowa Teen To Face Murder Charge In MN (http://wcco.com/topstories/Luis.Alford.Jaramy.2.353604.html) (12/7/2005)
Man Charged In New Brighton Murder (http://wcco.com/topstories/New.Brighton.fire.2.352758.html) (11/8/2005)
Two Arrested In Apparent Homicide Cover-Up (http://wcco.com/topstories/Cedar.Rapids.Iowa.2.352667.html) (11/5/2005)
Death Of Man Found After Fire Ruled Homicide (http://wcco.com/topstories/New.Brighton.fire.2.352677.html) (11/4/2005)

[ohwell1971]

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/drowning.pushed.into.2.339613.html
Just thought this was interesting

[DeltaDawn]

Did any of the above individuals belong to a gang, group or cult? Were they members of an organization that we know of?