ID ID - Lonnie Jones, 13, Orofino, September 1951

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katydid23 said:
I think you are right. He was apparently out and free in the general area when Lonnie was killed.

According to the article linked upthread, he raped a 15 yr old boy in October of 1951,in Lewiston. So that was just a month later than Lonnie's murder.

And the guy had NINE kids. So he could probably have talked Lonnie into going with him, if he approached him as a concerned father type.


ETA: Lewiston is only bout 65 miles away from the crime scene.
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Thanks, I thought I was going mad.
 
Robin Hood said:
Thanks, I thought I was going mad.
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I think this CUnningham guy is a viable suspect for Lonnie's murder. He was given LIFE in prison for his assault on a 15 yr old boy in October of 1951. The fact that he was given LIFE makes me think it was a pretty brutal assault.

I wonder if he was ever looked at by the investigators in this case?
 
katydid23 said:
I think this CUnningham guy is a viable suspect for Lonnie's murder. He was given LIFE in prison for his assault on a 15 yr old boy in October of 1951. The fact that he was given LIFE makes me think it was a pretty brutal assault.

I wonder if he was ever looked at by the investigators in this case?
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It would account for no further crimes of that nature if he was locked up. I would certainly put him high on a list. I would be curious be looking to see how the case of the boy played out, was he restrained, was a knife used etc.
 
Feel free to start a thread Claudette, something tells me it's a little 'iffy' wouldn't be surprised if they didn't go to Scandinavia (can't remember the exact country) More to this IMO than a disappearance.
 
I don't get it-what do you mean something is odd about the 2 girls disappearing? Also, a life term for rape? WTF? Who gets that, esp at that time? Do we have any more details on the case? How did he meet this kid and did he assault his own kids?
 
scriptgirl said:
I don't get it-what do you mean something is odd about the 2 girls disappearing? Also, a life term for rape? WTF? Who gets that, esp at that time? Do we have any more details on the case? How did he meet this kid and did he assault his own kids?
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It reads as though they knew where the mother was and wouldn't disclose her whereabouts.
edited to add link, read last two paragraphs http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...IBAJ&pg=7299,4204615&dq=alice+nordquist&hl=en

It's in the article that it was mandatory for life under a state law for lewd and lascivious conduct.

I couldn't find anything else about Cunningham.
 
I did find some more info eventually on the Cunninghams.

Walter's wife Elsie was expecting their 10th child in april '52

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...08,2847603&dq=elsie+cunningham+lewiston&hl=en

It's tight but the only birth on LDS I can find (By all means double check) is this- The infant died

Walter Cunningham
Washington, Death Certificates, 1907-1960
spouse: Elsie Cline
child: Infant Cunningham


name: Infant Cunningham
death date: 24 Sep 1952
death place: Centralia, Lewis, Washington
gender: Female
age at death: 23 hours
estimated birth year: 1952
father's name: Walter Cunningham
mother's name: Elsie Cline
volume/page/certificate number: 16132

Still searching ...
 
Elsie was paroled until sept'52 to take care of the children

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=5256,2977671&dq=elsie+cunningham&hl=en

edited to add
Remember the knife found in Grangeville ? work was being done on the new Masonic Lodge there and a workman found it at the bottom of a form. Walter Cunningham was a carpenter, maybe he worked on the building too.

It would be great to find more info on this guy.
 
It would be interesting to know more about the two boys who dropped Lonnie off, I would hazard a guess and say even in the 50's dropping a child off at that time of the night wouldn't be classed as the normal thing to do.
 
I was a few days absent from the forums, as I said in the radio show. So I'm a little behind. Any hints on knife usage and tying victims up with that Cunningham guy?

Peter
 
Robin Hood said:
No, news of the day seemed to shield the public, now we get every detail. I'm trying other ways of approaching it. If you have any ideas, go for it.

Some more here on the Cunninghams
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...7,5804264&dq=walter+cunningham+lewiston&hl=en
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For a background check, you can maybe find something about his kids, he had eight at the time of his arrest. Maybe there is somewhere a birth announcement and it better doesn't say '... born to Walter Cunningham (butcher) and his wife' or something like that.
Maybe the court has something still in it's archives, but I pulled a loss even looking for Ben R. Kelly's court. I'm not even sure, whether this is the name of the court or the judge. But maybe someone who is in the area can just talk to the court clerk.
Someone in this thread mentioned also a police officer who was about to write a book about the case? Most writers are prolific researchers, so maybe he has something also about Cunningham or knows at least, where to get it.

Bottom line: This needs legwork and I am too far away. Is someone in the area?

Peter
 
Peter Brendt said:
For a background check, you can maybe find something about his kids, he had eight at the time of his arrest. Maybe there is somewhere a birth announcement and it better doesn't say '... born to Walter Cunningham (butcher) and his wife' or something like that.
Maybe the court has something still in it's archives, but I pulled a loss even looking for Ben R. Kelly's court. I'm not even sure, whether this is the name of the court or the judge. But maybe someone who is in the area can just talk to the court clerk.
Someone in this thread mentioned also a police officer who was about to write a book about the case? Most writers are prolific researchers, so maybe he has something also about Cunningham or knows at least, where to get it.

Bottom line: This needs legwork and I am too far away. Is someone in the area?

Peter
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Kline is in the area, maybe he will have the time. I searched LDS but I tend to think I get different results. I noticed before I seem to get less info and more 'nothing found' It could be cos I'm in UK, who knows.

I have email'd Snohomish jail to see if they have any old records, If somebody is in jail now, today, I can see the charge sheet etc but I don't know if they have the time or inclination to look at paper stuff for me.
 
Duckiegirl said:
It would be interesting to know more about the two boys who dropped Lonnie off, I would hazard a guess and say even in the 50's dropping a child off at that time of the night wouldn't be classed as the normal thing to do.
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Duckiegirl look at page 12, we thought the same.
 
At the coroner's inquest, Lonnie's grandmother said he told her that he would get a ride back with 'some people called Jarrett'. I've tried finding references to Jarrett's in the area and it does seem like a family of that name has been in Clearwater County, ID for around 3 generations at least but other then that I can't find any real reference for who 'people called Jarrett' are. I'm thinking maybe a friend and his family and they left befor ethye could give Lonnie a ride home, but maybe early in the day they saw someone who interacted with Lonnie and thought nothing of it? Sorry if I made no sense.

I agree with everyone on here that Orrin acted strange and surely the LE probably thought the same at the time,even if they never said anything to the press?
 
Duckiegirl said:
At the coroner's inquest, Lonnie's grandmother said he told her that he would get a ride back with 'some people called Jarrett'. I've tried finding references to Jarrett's in the area and it does seem like a family of that name has been in Clearwater County, ID for around 3 generations at least but other then that I can't find any real reference for who 'people called Jarrett' are. I'm thinking maybe a friend and his family and they left befor ethye could give Lonnie a ride home, but maybe early in the day they saw someone who interacted with Lonnie and thought nothing of it? Sorry if I made no sense.

I agree with everyone on here that Orrin acted strange and surely the LE probably thought the same at the time,even if they never said anything to the press?
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Could she have misheard him? Could the name be Barrett? Or Derrick?
 
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