TX TX - Multiple Decapitated Victims, Houston, 1979

[Kat]

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...ss-3467505.php

Horrific killings in 1979 left bodies headless

By James Pinkerton

Updated 05:53 p.m., Monday, April 9, 2012

snipped:

Today, more than three decades later, the status of five murder cases that took place within two months of one another remains virtually the same as in 1979. There are no suspects, no fingerprint or forensic evidence to help develop a suspect, and the most rudimentary of theories.

The questions remain: Was there a cold-blooded serial killer with a compulsion to collect human heads at work in Houston? And is the killer still out there?

2 page article at link above.

Victims named in artcle:
1. Alys Elaine Rankin
2. Mary Michael Calcutta
3.Doris Lynn Threadgill
4. Joann Huffman (16 yrs old)
5. Robert Spangenberger (18 yrs old)

The prevailing theory is the Orchard Apartment murders of Rankin and Calcutta were committed by the same killer. But most homicide investigators believe the deaths of Huffman and Spangenberger were the work of a separate killer. Investigators are unsure about Threadgill's connection to the other murders.

"I'm not ruling anything out; anything's possible," Motard said.

I had never heard of these murders until reading this article.

[Kat]

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...al-slayin.html

S.K. BARDWELL Staff
MON 08/09/1999 Houston Chronicle, Section A, Page 13MetFront, 3 STAR Edition

http://dmnewsi.com/2012/04/09/report...serial-killer/

I don't know what the above link is? Blog I think. Please disregard if not interested.

[Justice4Sharon]

wow....


"She was a blooming flower in an asphalt parking lot," Houston homicide Sgt. Jim Binford said of Calcutta. "You know the flower that grows right up through the sidewalk?"

[SoBeCzar]

This reminds me of Danny Rollins. He did behead at least one victim. He murdered male and female. And came back to the same area to kill again. I know he confessed to a triple murder in 1989 in Shreveport LA. that he was not caught for before he died. Curious if he ever did boat work. Many deckhands work MS, LA and TX, traveling from one job to another.

[SoBeCzar]

Couldn't find anything on Danny Rollins being in the area but he did take off from home after shooting his dad and would have been in his 20s at the time of these murders.
Also I found he did not confess to the triple murders in Shreveport instead he wrote about them including facts only the killer would know.

[Winward1]

Weird. My cousin was killed there in Oct. '79 in a cold case, though it appears to have been a road rage incident, was unlucky to have been in the back seat of a car on the freeway which was fired upon after an apparent road altercation.

[Winward1]

Thanks, Jaleach, and his murder was also in Houston. What little there is to know is here:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...enneth+mahnken

[jaleach123]

Thanks for the link. That sounds like a difficult nut to crack. If those hispanic shooters were illegals, they're likely long gone by now or living in a different area of the country. They're also likely citizens now under the 1986 Reagan amnesty.

Still, it's good that you looked into it with the police department. It would be nice to get a reporter involved to write one of those retrospective cold case articles. Maybe that might turn something up.

[Winward1]

Yes, and I'm not sure how accurate any of the info is regarding what was seen. I spoke with my other cousin, who was in the car, and she recalls so little about it. Pickup trucks in Houston are everywhere it seems. I should have pointed out the shooting was in '79 as well. I'll keep in mind your idea about a story. Publicity for these things never hurts.

[HMSHood]

Whoever did the killing is most likely very smart and possibly has some experience in forensic works as there little forensic evidence. He could be a former detective or crime lab worker. It is probable he has killed people outside of Houston area as well.

The killer is probably a male and that person could be out in public in plain sight, be in prison for unrelated crime, or has died. He could be anywhere in the US.

[HMSHood]

Investigators find more bones at Houston construction site
http://www.kens5.com/news/Investigat...164788046.html

Investigators believe the remains may be from the late 70s or early 80s. They suspect foul play may be involved, because the bones were found between a concrete slab and a retaining wall.

I wonder if the body found recently at what used to be a condo could be connected to this case.