MD MD - Thomas Francis Edwards, 1970's-80's

Richard said:

Does anyone know if Thomas Francis Edwards had any connection to the Philadelphia area? I am currently assisting in an old/cold case from 1968 in which a young man was murdered with a weapon similar to an ice pick or sharpened screwdriver.

So, even though police in Maryland are not particularly interested in Edwards these days, he might be a potential suspect in some other unsolved cases.

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Not that I am aware of. His family lived on Manning Drive in Bethesda. Also his interest was girls especially those with ponytails. His sexually related crimes before he killed Mrs Kalberer involved girls from 10 - 14 who had ponytails.

The later interview with his wife revealed that the only way that he could get aroused was by playing with her hair, lifting her hair, and moving an ice pick around on the back of her neck.

Falcon500 said:

Not that I am aware of. His family lived on Manning Drive in Bethesda. Also his interest was girls especially those with ponytails. His sexually related crimes before he killed Mrs Kalberer involved girls from 10 - 14 who had ponytails.

The later interview with his wife revealed that the only way that he could get aroused was by playing with her hair, lifting her hair, and moving an ice pick around on the back of her neck.

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Thomas Francis Edwards was about 25 years old and a resident of Bethesda, Maryland, where he became a suspect in two January 1970 murders.

The victims of those two murders were Sherry Kennedy, age 14, and Catherine Kalberer, age 39.

In 1981, he was living in California when he shot and killed 12 year-old Vanessa Iberri in Orange County’s Cleveland National Forest. Iberri’s 12 year old friend, Kelly Cartier, was also shot in the attack but survived to stand witness against Edwards. No motive was ever established. The girls were on a camping trip with Iberri’s mother when Edwards' truck pulled up and he called, “Girls.” They turned and Edwards shot them with one bullet each from his pistol.

Nine days later, following a nationwide manhunt, Thomas Francis Edwards was captured at a Holiday Inn in College Park, Maryland. He was extradited to California to stand trial.

Edwards was tried and convicted of murder and attempted murder of the California girls, and he was sentenced to death. After 22 years on death row, he died of natural causes in February 2009. (What's wrong with that picture?)

Coincidentally, that same month, DNA tests run on a field jacket obtained in a 1970 search of Edwards' home confirmed that he had murdered Sherry Kennedy and (by connection) Catherine Kalberer.

Montgomery County Cold Case detectives quietly closed the two previously unsolved cases and kept that information secret from the public. Evidently they did not think it important enough to mention. Or perhaps, as others have suggested, they did not want to infringe on the rights or smudge the good name of a cold blooded child killer.

It wasn't until THREE YEARS later, on 25 January 2012, when the story was broken by a news reporter that MCP reluctantly confirmed they had closed the cases.

Why in 22 years was Edwards never executed?

What was the real reason for so much secrecy? Not just during the investigation, but even to the point of keeping it secret for years after his death? As Jeb suggested in an earlier post, perhaps politics was involved.

One has to wonder how many other women and children were killed by this dirtbag between 1970 and 1981. And when did he actually start to murder people? Maybe even before 1970? Knowing a good time line for THOMAS FRANCIS EDWARDS might help to close other cold cases still on the books.

But it seems that this case is, in fact, solved/closed and moderators should now move it to a different topic area.

Does anyone have a Time Line for Thomas Francis Edwards? Specifically, where was he at various times between 1970 and 1981?

Richard said:

Does anyone have a Time Line for Thomas Francis Edwards? Specifically, where was he at various times between 1970 and 1981?

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He was in the Bethesda area until late January, 1970. He then was returned to prison for a violation of parole. He stayed in prison until 1977 and then left for California after being released. He was in California from 1977 to 1981 when he murdered a girl. He fled to College Park, Md where he was arrested as a fugitive and then returned to California. After 1981 he was incarcerated.

Thanks for the response about his time line. Edwards was convicted of killing one 12 year old girl and attempting to kill another in California. His case went through appeal after appeal until finally in 2008 he had exhausted all appeals and was turned down. He died a few months later of natural causes.

Here is an excerpt from the final decision to uphold the death penalty for Edwards and a link to the entire document. Warning, there is a lot of graphic description about this person and his evil behaviors.

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[T]he clear weight of the evidence shows that the nature of the crime itself contradicts and fatally undermines this proposed defense. The victims were two 12-year old girls walking innocently to a picnic lunch.

The little girls did not know Mr. Edwards, they posed no threat to him, and they never said or did anything to him. In contrast, Mr. Edwards was a large adult man driving in a truck. He was an expert marksman who had a loaded handgun in the cab of his truck.

Before shooting Vanessa between the eyes and Kelly in the head, he first drove past the two girls, looked at them, and then turned around and followed them. A few moments later, he caught up to them in a remote spot, where he could most effectively kill and escape. He drove alongside the girls, stopped, and said ‘girls' to get their attention. Then, while Vanessa was looking straight at him and was thus a simple and easy target, he shot her between the eyes, and while Kelly had a brief moment to turn her head away and was thus a moving and more difficult target, he took aim and shot her in the head. Kelly's turning of her head was what saved her life.

While the girls lay on the ground, Mr. Edwards had the mental fortitude to get out of his truck, run to the back, and open its rear gate, perhaps to load their bodies in the bed of his truck. As a camper approached in another truck, Mr. Edwards was able to slam the rear gate of his truck shut, return to the cab and speed away. The camper in the truck took pursuit, but, after a high speed chase, Mr. Edwards was able to get away.

He then had the presence of mind to elude an extensive manhunt by law enforcement that lasted several days. This was no crime of impulse. It was a crime of planning, premeditation and deliberation·


LINK:



http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1422483.html

Thomas Francis Edwards spent many years in and out of the Patuxent Institution (in Maryland) with mental problems. He was a sexual sadist with a fondness for young girls ages 10 through 14, who had a documented fetish for hair and necks. He particularly liked blonde hair and pony tails.

In 1970, he was a suspect in two separate murders of women in Maryland. He was returned to the Institution, where he remained until his final discharge in July 1977.

Some time after his release, he went to California, where in 1981 he shot two 12-year-old girls, killing one and severely wounding the other. He was caught, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.

Edwards remained in prison, on death row, filing appeal after appeal until his final appeal was denied in 2008. He died of natural causes a few months later.

In 2009, DNA testing on old evidence indicated that he did indeed kill the two Maryland women in 1970, but by then he had already died.

Here is a link to the final appeal decision from Public Records in California. It contains some fairly graphic descriptions of Edwards' crimes, and makes references to his mental institution records, which he submitted as part of his appeals.


FindLaw's United States Ninth Circuit case and opinions.

Thomas Francis Edwards should be considered as a potential suspect in any unsolved murders of girls or young women which occurred between 1977 and 1981 in the Maryland and California areas.

Falcon500 said:

His family lived on Manning Drive in Bethesda.

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That's less than half a mile from Kenwood Golf Course, where Steven Johnston, 9, was looking for golf balls on Mother's Day, 8 May 1966, presumably right before he was taken and murdered. His body was found the next day about 150 feet from where Little Falls Parkway crosses the Capital Crescent Trail, also less than half a mile from Manning Drive. Johnston lived on Fairglen Lane, just 700 feet from Manning Drive (just on the other side of Bradley Boulevard), between Manning Drive and where his body was found.

I wonder where John Francis Edwards was at the time of Johnston's murder? Since John Francis Edwards' death was announced February 2009 with his age given as 65, he would have been 22 or 23 at the time Johnston was murdered.

Er, meant to say "Thomas Francis Edwards" rather than "John Francis Edwards". Too late to edit.

Gruffin said:

That's less than half a mile from Kenwood Golf Course, where Steven Johnston, 9, was looking for golf balls on Mother's Day, 8 May 1966, presumably right before he was taken and murdered. His body was found the next day about 150 feet from where Little Falls Parkway crosses the Capital Crescent Trail, also less than half a mile from Manning Drive. Johnston lived on Fairglen Lane, just 700 feet from Manning Drive (just on the other side of Bradley Boulevard), between Manning Drive and where his body was found.

I wonder where John Francis Edwards was at the time of Johnston's murder? Since John Francis Edwards' death was announced February 2009 with his age given as 65, he would have been 22 or 23 at the time Johnston was murdered.

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Edwards had nothing to do with Stevie Johnston’s murder. Johnston was killed by a 19 year old who preyed on boys in the 9-12 year old range. He has served ten years in the federal system after an Internet sting. He is out now and the last I heard he was living in a halfway house in Baltimore.

Falcon500 said:

Edwards had nothing to do with Stevie Johnston’s murder. Johnston was killed by a 19 year old who preyed on boys in the 9-12 year old range. He has served ten years in the federal system after an Internet sting. He is out now and the last I heard he was living in a halfway house in Baltimore.

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So this guy was probably never convicted of murdering little Stevie? Sounds like he was pretty careful until the internet thing. He, no doubt, is truly sorry - that he got caught. Certainly someone to keep an eye on.

Richard said:

So this guy was probably never convicted of murdering little Stevie? Sounds like he was pretty careful until the internet thing. He, no doubt, is truly sorry - that he got caught. Certainly someone to keep an eye on.

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No never charged in the Johnston case. Had the evidence from 1966 been preserved it would have been an easy one. The suspect is now in his mid 70’s so I don’t think he’s a threat any longer.

Inmate, 65, dies on death row
BY CAROL J. WILLIAMS
FEB. 18, 2009

The killer of a 12-year-old Orange County girl who has spent 22 years fighting execution has died on death row, escaping what the victim’s father termed “the justice the world deserved.”

Thomas Francis Edwards, 65, died of natural causes Saturday at San Quentin State Prison’s medical facility, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported Monday.

Edwards was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 shooting of Vanessa Iberri in Cleveland National Forest, where the girl and a friend, Kelly Cartier, were on a camping trip with Iberri’s mother. Cartier also was shot but survived.

Despite a lengthy trial in 1983 and three death-penalty phases over the next three years, Edwards’ motivation for shooting the girls, who were complete strangers to him, never clearly emerged.

The victim’s father, Joseph Iberri of Oceanside, cheered that his only child’s killer was now “burning in hell with Satan.”

“An example hasn’t been set and justice hasn’t been served but at least there will be no more appeals,” said Iberri, a house painter who has closely followed Edwards’ journey through the legal system.

“There’s no closure with this. I hope he suffered, because if he didn’t, there won’t be the justice the world deserved,” Iberri said.

Iberri’s campaign to see his daughter’s killer executed despite the dysfunctional capital punishment system was the subject of a Page 1 story in The Times in November...

LINK:

Inmate, 65, dies on death row