MA MA - Sarah Pryor, 9, Wayland, 9 Oct 1985

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I remember when Sarah disapeared from the porch of her Wayland,MA home. I was 11 years old. It was scary to have a child go missing so near that it was on our local news. This was 1985. Sarah's skelltal remains were found in 2000. The case still haunts me. I would love to find out who abducted and murdered her. That person forever changed this and I'm sure other kids from MA prospective on what we thought was our safe little world. I know he dose not care about that,but, I do. He killed an innocent child and needs to be :behindbar
 
My cousin's case was reopened as a homicide when Lent was picked up for the attempted kidnapping in Pittsfield. She was an athletic 12 year old...but there were no ties fwiw. We found out btw when it was announced on the radio...it came as quite a shock.
 
My cousin's case was reopened as a homicide when Lent was picked up for the attempted kidnapping in Pittsfield. She was an athletic 12 year old...but there were no ties fwiw. We found out btw when it was announced on the radio...it came as quite a shock.

I am so sorry,believe, I did not know your cousin was missing/murdered. Have they found anything on the case yet? When did she go missing? How old was she? I think police should have notified your family if they felt a serial killer had killed her. I can't find or remember the name of the suspect in Sarah's case.
 
A convicted child killer long considered a suspect in a Wayland murder is once again up for parole in Texas.
John Whirty, 66, formerly of Sherborn, denies killing Sarah Pryor in 1985, but Massachusetts investigators have repeatedly called him a prime suspect in the 9-year-old's death.
He has also been called a likely suspect in the disappearance of Stow teen Cathy Malcolmson two months before Pryor's.
"There are so many parallels between Sarah Pryor and Cathy Malcolmson," said Milford Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin, who became Wayland's police chief shortly after Pryor's disappearance and helped investigate the case. "He has always been a person of interest."


Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/a...Sarah-Pryor-murder-seeks-parole#ixzz1PMsxVYkJ
 
I met this man. He attempted to kidnap me when I was around 15 y.o., and walking to the "T" (a subway in MA). There is no doubt in my mind that he (John Whirty) killed these girls in MA. There was no doubt in my mind as a teen that there was something so severely "off" with him. I ran as-fast-as-I-could!!! As a teen I remember being embarrassed for overreacting when I ran, yet while running I remember thinking that if the "T" did no pull up as soon as I got to the station, that I was in horrible trouble. I was shocked though when I came home that night and my Mother told me what had happened.

He then attempted to kidnap an English student right after. His car doors were rigged from the inside so that you could not open them, and there was rope in the back. She got away because I believe she screamed, and a cab stopped and blocked the road in one direction, and some neighbors ran out and got his license plate number.

I was scheduled to testify in court, but because he had asked me for directions to the bus stop (his alibi), they did not have me testify.

I will never forget my brief interaction with this individual. I will never forget the details; more so than any other person in my life (for that short an interaction).
 
There are not a few days that go by that I do not think of Rose Marie, Sarah, and Cathy (and who knows who else). I am lucky to be here. I wish there was something I could do to make this man confess, or help in some way besides my letters when he comes up for parole. :(

My Mother & I were talking about the incident I wrote about above. She was one of the "neighbors" I wrote about (above) who confronted John Whirty in his car with the English woman. My Mother did testify at this trial. She is a Southern woman, and actually leaned in the window and said: "What exactly do you think you are doing?", or something Southern sounding… That in itself alarmed him, but he resumed by explaining the woman he was attempting to kidnap was his girlfriend he was just having an argument with. Thank goodness he let her go.
 
There are not a few days that go by that I do not think of Rose Marie, Sarah, and Cathy (and who knows who else). I am lucky to be here. I wish there was something I could do to make this man confess, or help in some way besides my letters when he comes up for parole. :(

My Mother & I were talking about the incident I wrote about above. She was one of the "neighbors" I wrote about (above) who confronted John Whirty in his car with the English woman. My Mother did testify at this trial. She is a Southern woman, and actually leaned in the window and said: "What exactly do you think you are doing?", or something Southern sounding… That in itself alarmed him, but he resumed by explaining the woman he was attempting to kidnap was his girlfriend he was just having an argument with. Thank goodness he let her go.

Wow. That's insane, I'm sorry you all experienced this man TWICE. I had some creepy things happen to me when I was young but thankfully it didn't get as far as someone grabbing me or chasing me.

What did the girl have to say about his "claim"? I'm assuming he said it just to your mom while she was leaning in. What a creep...
 
I want to add another piece of media to this thread-it is from 1991.

LINK HERE
February 14, 1991|By Fort Worth Star-Telegram
WEATHERFORD, Texas -- Maxine Cooper spends her days in her one-bedroom duplex crocheting, quilting and trying to keep John Robert Whirty in prison.
Mrs. Cooper, 66, hopes to impress the Texas parole board with enough correspondence to keep it from releasing the man convicted of murdering and raping her 15-year-old daughter in March 1967. She said that Whirty was sentenced to life imprisonment and that he should serve the full sentence.
 
Wow. That's insane, I'm sorry you all experienced this man TWICE. I had some creepy things happen to me when I was young but thankfully it didn't get as far as someone grabbing me or chasing me.

What did the girl have to say about his "claim"? I'm assuming he said it just to your mom while she was leaning in. What a creep...


The two incidents of JW pursuing me, and then afterwards (and unbeknownst to me) pursuing the English student happened within minutes of each-other. She got away because she screamed and neighbors heard her (including my Mother), and a Cab driver blocked JW car on one end of the street.

Yes, JW told my Mother the lie that the English girl was his girlfriend and that they were just having an argument. He did let her go, thankfully!

They got his license plate # and within days he was arrested and tried/convicted for attempted kidnapping and violation of parole in TX. He had been serving time for kidnapping a 15 y.o., tying her to a tree, raping and murdering her. Her name was Rose Marie Martin. That was in 1967. What I am writing about happened in 1985.

ETA - From 1985 forward he was serving time in MA for the attempted kidnaping charge of the English student there, then he was sent back to TX where he is still behind bars for violation of his parole. He has never confessed to having anything to do with the murders of Sarah Pryor or Cathy Malcolmson (1985) though there is strong evidence.
 
Whirty murdered Ms Martin when he was 22, is that correct? Some of the media states he returned to Massachusetts after he was paroled. He served 17 years.

1.) How long was he in the Dallas area before he killed Rose Martin?
2.) Was he originally from MA?
 
Whirty murdered Ms Martin when he was 22, is that correct? Some of the media states he returned to Massachusetts after he was paroled. He served 17 years.

1.) How long was he in the Dallas area before he killed Rose Martin?
2.) Was he originally from MA?

John Whirty DOB: 2/5/1945
JRW is 68 years old now.
Murder with malice (Rose Marie Martin) was committed: 3/31/1967
Yes, JRW was 22 (wow!) when he murdered Rose Marie Martin.
He started his sentence: 7/10/1967
Plus 17 years would mean he was paroled: 1984 (?) and 39 y.o.
He would have been 40 years old in 1985 when he was arrested in MA for parole violation and attempted kidnapping.

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/john-r-whirty/2027/

1) I do not know. Hmmm…. :waitasec:
2) From my memory I remember being told he was originally or partially from Sherborn, MA. I remember being told his Mother lived there, hence his being there. I do not remember if he was living with his Mother, but is seems like he was since there was so much talk about his Mother. I do not recall any talk of anyone besides his Mother being there. So, I do not know about his Father, siblings, or if he was definitely raised in MA or what.
 
Originally Posted by believe09
Whirty murdered Ms Martin when he was 22, is that correct? Some of the media states he returned to Massachusetts after he was paroled. He served 17 years.

1.) How long was he in the Dallas area before he killed Rose Martin?
2.) Was he originally from MA?

1) He was in the Dallas, TX area roughly 1 year before murdering Rose Marie Martin.
2) He was born in Ludlow MA, but Sherborn MA is where he is "from" (I assume grew up there primarily). He fled MA in 1966 after being charged with assault of a 12 year old girl.

In 1966, he was charged with attacking a 12-year-old girl in his hometown of Sherborn, but fled to Texas before trial. There, he was convicted of killing and raping a 15-year-old Dallas girl in 1967.

Source: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980116/NEWS/301169952&template=printart
 
TY Skiptomylu! It has to be worth looking at him from 1984-1985 for crimes and 1966-1967.

I am going to start a thread on him in the Serial Killers section of the forum. I wonder if he is staying quiet because he thinks he has a chance at parole in the future?
 
I was 11 and in Mass when Sarah disappeared also, and remember it well. I grew up in a high crime area, but the idea that someone could vanish like this was much more frightening and haunting to me than your "garden variety" criminal on the street. Those you can at least recognize, or be ready for, or do your best to avoid. A little girl disappearing from her yard in a relatively quiet suburb? That was scary as hell, because it seems there is no way to avoid something like that.

Still scary after all these years. I think about Sarah a great deal, and I still remember her face in the picture that was all over the news. :rose:
 
TY Skiptomylu! It has to be worth looking at him from 1984-1985 for crimes and 1966-1967.

I am going to start a thread on him in the Serial Killers section of the forum. I wonder if he is staying quiet because he thinks he has a chance at parole in the future?

Believe, I would be very interested in following this thread if you open it in the SK forum.

There are a few clusters of cases in Mass and New England that bother me. Another one is the New Bedford area highway killings back in the late 80s, early 90s? The mother of one of my friends in high school was one of the victims of that SK, so these women were always close to my heart. Unfortunately it seems they have been forgotten by most.

Anyway, look forward to the post on this guy and his possible victims in the other forum!
 

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