Brotherfudz
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 262
- Reaction score
- 369
Bumping this case, her name was mentioned in an old article talking about potential serial killer Carl F Foster
MI MI - Barbara Gaca, 7, Detroit, 24 March 1955
- Thread starter kathryann
- Start date
64 Years ago, in March 1955 ...
In 1955, the slaying of a little girl gripped Detroit. Fifty years on, the perpetrator remains a mystery.
On that damp, bleak Thursday when little Barbara Gaca skipped off to school and never returned, she was settled into a routine as comfortably predictable as the route her father, Frank, followed every day for 38 years as a Detroit mail carrier....
LINK:
Cold Cases Hard Copy: Who Killed Barbara Gaca?
In 1955, the slaying of a little girl gripped Detroit. Fifty years on, the perpetrator remains a mystery.
On that damp, bleak Thursday when little Barbara Gaca skipped off to school and never returned, she was settled into a routine as comfortably predictable as the route her father, Frank, followed every day for 38 years as a Detroit mail carrier....
LINK:
Cold Cases Hard Copy: Who Killed Barbara Gaca?
... After the body was found, a half-dozen witnesses came forward with a new clue. All said that on the day of her abduction, they spotted a new Buick with a cream-colored top parked at the dump site between 10:30 and 11 a.m. The trunk was open, though they saw nobody around. Some said the car was green, others said maroon. Another person reported seeing a tall, thin man in the area at about the same time.
Police investigated hundreds of suspects, checking out their shoes, cars, blankets and whereabouts. A 53-year-old Redford man named Paul Hassell came under close scrutiny when a female friend turned him in as a child molester. The woman said Hassell had taken her for rides through Oakland County in his green Chevrolet and once offered to show her the place where Barbara’s body had been found. He was familiar with the site, he told her, because he often hunted rabbits in the area.
Hassell was a serial predator. His police record included convictions for child molestation in 1940 and indecent exposure in 1953. There had also been many other complaints for which he had not been prosecuted. A search of his home revealed several dolls used to lure girls. A few were 3 feet tall — just a few inches shorter than Barbara. Several incriminating items — candy, Vaseline and an Army blanket — were found in his car.
Hassell had started his new job at the Ford tank plant in Plymouth just three days before Barbara’s disappearance. On the morning of March 24, witnesses confirmed he had punched out at 7:20 a.m. But would he — could he — have driven all the way to the east side of Detroit to randomly snatch Barbara by 8 a.m., the approximate time she vanished? Police had their doubts, especially after Hassell submitted to six polygraph tests and all proved inconclusive.
Other likely suspects emerged. There was an Oakland County mailman, a known pervert, who had missed work the day of the murder, and a soldier who was caught molesting a 6-year-old girl in his barracks. There was a gangly “cowboy” named Charlie, who was spotted in a rural area of Wayne County with a girl a witness said resembled Barbara. Charlie happened to have a green car whose interior had been freshly scrubbed; moreover, a bag of candy was found on the floor. These and other promising leads went nowhere.
At one point 60 detectives were assigned to work overtime on the case, but by 1957 the investigation had lost much of its steam. After two years, police had chased down 1,974 tips, looked at 850 suspects, and still were no closer to solving the mystery. ...
... Then, in 1967, an old suspect re-emerged when a neighbor complained of Paul Hassell’s inappropriate behavior with two little girls. State police picked him up for questioning, then scheduled a polygraph test in Pontiac before his arraignment on child molestation charges. Hassell conferred with his lawyer, at which point he confessed to having killed Barbara. He then went home, put a shotgun to his head, and pulled the trigger.
Despite the damning evidence against Hassell, Gaca agrees with the conclusion of state police detectives. They determined the distance Hassell needed to travel from his workplace to the area Barbara was abducted was impossible to cover in the time available. “You have to remember, in 1955 there wasn’t a freeway to get you from that part of town to the other,” he says. It was all surface streets and stoplights in rush-hour traffic. Why did Hassell confess? Nobody can ever say for sure, though criminologists know that bogus admissions of guilt, for whatever reason, are not unusual among the deranged. Neither are suicides....
LINK:
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
Police investigated hundreds of suspects, checking out their shoes, cars, blankets and whereabouts. A 53-year-old Redford man named Paul Hassell came under close scrutiny when a female friend turned him in as a child molester. The woman said Hassell had taken her for rides through Oakland County in his green Chevrolet and once offered to show her the place where Barbara’s body had been found. He was familiar with the site, he told her, because he often hunted rabbits in the area.
Hassell was a serial predator. His police record included convictions for child molestation in 1940 and indecent exposure in 1953. There had also been many other complaints for which he had not been prosecuted. A search of his home revealed several dolls used to lure girls. A few were 3 feet tall — just a few inches shorter than Barbara. Several incriminating items — candy, Vaseline and an Army blanket — were found in his car.
Hassell had started his new job at the Ford tank plant in Plymouth just three days before Barbara’s disappearance. On the morning of March 24, witnesses confirmed he had punched out at 7:20 a.m. But would he — could he — have driven all the way to the east side of Detroit to randomly snatch Barbara by 8 a.m., the approximate time she vanished? Police had their doubts, especially after Hassell submitted to six polygraph tests and all proved inconclusive.
Other likely suspects emerged. There was an Oakland County mailman, a known pervert, who had missed work the day of the murder, and a soldier who was caught molesting a 6-year-old girl in his barracks. There was a gangly “cowboy” named Charlie, who was spotted in a rural area of Wayne County with a girl a witness said resembled Barbara. Charlie happened to have a green car whose interior had been freshly scrubbed; moreover, a bag of candy was found on the floor. These and other promising leads went nowhere.
At one point 60 detectives were assigned to work overtime on the case, but by 1957 the investigation had lost much of its steam. After two years, police had chased down 1,974 tips, looked at 850 suspects, and still were no closer to solving the mystery. ...
... Then, in 1967, an old suspect re-emerged when a neighbor complained of Paul Hassell’s inappropriate behavior with two little girls. State police picked him up for questioning, then scheduled a polygraph test in Pontiac before his arraignment on child molestation charges. Hassell conferred with his lawyer, at which point he confessed to having killed Barbara. He then went home, put a shotgun to his head, and pulled the trigger.
Despite the damning evidence against Hassell, Gaca agrees with the conclusion of state police detectives. They determined the distance Hassell needed to travel from his workplace to the area Barbara was abducted was impossible to cover in the time available. “You have to remember, in 1955 there wasn’t a freeway to get you from that part of town to the other,” he says. It was all surface streets and stoplights in rush-hour traffic. Why did Hassell confess? Nobody can ever say for sure, though criminologists know that bogus admissions of guilt, for whatever reason, are not unusual among the deranged. Neither are suicides....
LINK:
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
It has been over 65 years now since the murder of Barbara Gaca and the case remains unsolved. I ran across the following article from 1999 in which a police cold case investigator believed he had found a strong suspect.
--------------------
COP FINDS A BREAK IN UNSOLVED MURDER CASE BUT 44 YEARS LATER, THE SUSPECT IS DEAD
Detroit Free Press (MI) - Saturday, February 27, 1999 Author: JACK KRESNAK Free Press Staff Writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A West Bloomfield Township police detective has identified a retired carnival worker as a suspect in the rape and slaying of an 7-year-old girl that shocked metropolitan Detroit more than four decades ago.
But the suspect in the death of Barbara Gaca is dead.
Lt. Tim Sheridan said the suspect, William H. Redmond of Grand Island, Neb., was identified through the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension System, which develops profiles of suspects based on details of a crime.
Redmond was one of two names the FBI identified based on Sheridan's information. Sheridan said the other suspect was in jail at the time of the girl's slaying and has been cleared.
Redmond, 69, died Jan. 2, 1992, at a Grand Island hospital. He had been free on bond since 1988 while awaiting trial in Philadelphia in the April 1951 strangulation death of 8-year-old Jane Marie Althoff. Her body was found at a carnival southeast of Philadelphia where Redmond operated a Ferris wheel.
Redmond's fingerprint was found in the truck cab where the girl's body was found. He allegedly confessed to the Althoff slaying, but the trial was delayed by defense motions, including one to free Redmond on bond because of ill health, Sheridan said.
While in custody, Redmond indicated to another inmate that he might have killed three other girls. Police identified him as a suspect in similar killings in New York and Cleveland, but Redmond declined to be interviewed after speaking with his attorney.
But in January 1988, Grand Island Sheriff's Detective Lt. Gregg Ahlers helped Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Malcolm Murphy interview Redmond at Nebraska State Patrol offices in Grand Island.
"He admitted to it," Ahlers said of Althoff's killing. Redmond, who suffered from emphysema and heart trouble, could not be brought back to face trial, authorities said.
Gaca disappeared March 24, 1955, while walking from her east-side Detroit home to school, six blocks away. A search by hundreds of people found nothing until a week later, when her body was found in a dump in West Bloomfield Township, 25 miles from her home. She had been raped and strangled.
Many suspects, including a Roman Catholic priest, were investigated but police were unable to solve the crime. The case has haunted detectives, some of whom continued searching for leads even after they retired.
Barbara's father, Frank Gaca, who now lives in White Lake, said he hopes the police can finally solve the riddle that has troubled him for years.
"We've been going through these so many years," said the 75-year-old Gaca . "We always figure that some day, someone who knows about it will confess or want to clear his conscience. So we keep waiting."
Sheridan said he is checking Social Security records to trace Redmond's whereabouts in March 1955. Redmond also was known to work for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad in Lima, Ohio, which ran trains to and from Detroit...
LINK:
https://www.crimeindetroit.com/documents/022799 Cop Finds a Break in Unsolved Murder.pdf
--------------------
COP FINDS A BREAK IN UNSOLVED MURDER CASE BUT 44 YEARS LATER, THE SUSPECT IS DEAD
Detroit Free Press (MI) - Saturday, February 27, 1999 Author: JACK KRESNAK Free Press Staff Writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A West Bloomfield Township police detective has identified a retired carnival worker as a suspect in the rape and slaying of an 7-year-old girl that shocked metropolitan Detroit more than four decades ago.
But the suspect in the death of Barbara Gaca is dead.
Lt. Tim Sheridan said the suspect, William H. Redmond of Grand Island, Neb., was identified through the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension System, which develops profiles of suspects based on details of a crime.
Redmond was one of two names the FBI identified based on Sheridan's information. Sheridan said the other suspect was in jail at the time of the girl's slaying and has been cleared.
Redmond, 69, died Jan. 2, 1992, at a Grand Island hospital. He had been free on bond since 1988 while awaiting trial in Philadelphia in the April 1951 strangulation death of 8-year-old Jane Marie Althoff. Her body was found at a carnival southeast of Philadelphia where Redmond operated a Ferris wheel.
Redmond's fingerprint was found in the truck cab where the girl's body was found. He allegedly confessed to the Althoff slaying, but the trial was delayed by defense motions, including one to free Redmond on bond because of ill health, Sheridan said.
While in custody, Redmond indicated to another inmate that he might have killed three other girls. Police identified him as a suspect in similar killings in New York and Cleveland, but Redmond declined to be interviewed after speaking with his attorney.
But in January 1988, Grand Island Sheriff's Detective Lt. Gregg Ahlers helped Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Malcolm Murphy interview Redmond at Nebraska State Patrol offices in Grand Island.
"He admitted to it," Ahlers said of Althoff's killing. Redmond, who suffered from emphysema and heart trouble, could not be brought back to face trial, authorities said.
Gaca disappeared March 24, 1955, while walking from her east-side Detroit home to school, six blocks away. A search by hundreds of people found nothing until a week later, when her body was found in a dump in West Bloomfield Township, 25 miles from her home. She had been raped and strangled.
Many suspects, including a Roman Catholic priest, were investigated but police were unable to solve the crime. The case has haunted detectives, some of whom continued searching for leads even after they retired.
Barbara's father, Frank Gaca, who now lives in White Lake, said he hopes the police can finally solve the riddle that has troubled him for years.
"We've been going through these so many years," said the 75-year-old Gaca . "We always figure that some day, someone who knows about it will confess or want to clear his conscience. So we keep waiting."
Sheridan said he is checking Social Security records to trace Redmond's whereabouts in March 1955. Redmond also was known to work for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad in Lima, Ohio, which ran trains to and from Detroit...
LINK:
https://www.crimeindetroit.com/documents/022799 Cop Finds a Break in Unsolved Murder.pdf
Brotherfudz
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 262
- Reaction score
- 369
Always hoped this case would be solved....think it’s very unlikely anymore...Has Redmond ever been proven to be in Michigan? Doubt it was him, probably someone local.
- Suspected carnie serial killer liked little girls
by Brad Hunter
Jan 28, 2017
For decades, William Henry Redmond operated in the sleazy neon slime of the American carnival.
At one time, carnivals were the place to hide: From cops, ex-wives, military service and, maybe, yourself.
Drifting from town-to-town, Redmond would sit stone-faced operating a ferris wheel.
And when each show was done, he hit the road again, ambling into the next town.
But too often, cops believe, Redmond was leaving behind the corpses of brutalized young girls.
Cops fingered him for the Pennsylvania murder of Jane Marie Althoff, Beverly Potts murdered in Cleveland, Barbara Gaca in Michigan, maybe Connie Smith in Connecticut. There are likely many more.
Where Redmond went, girls seemed to end up dead — or simply vanished.
I thought about Redmond this past week when it emerged a killer who died in prison, Bob Evans, was likely responsible for a slew of bodies in the U.S. northeast.
For decades, Redmond — a lean-faced, ill-tempered, hard man who seldom smiled — eluded cops and prison. He was never far off the radar.
Ohio-born Redmond’s penchant for young girls first appeared in 1935 when he sexually attacked two young girls in Lancaster, Ohio.
In 1938, he was busted again in Ohio for the attempted rape of a pre-teen girl. He skated on another sex assault beef in Florida in 1949.
And then, detectives believe, he turned to murder.
Joanne Lynn was just 11. On Sept. 30, 1949, she was found shot to death outside Rochester, N.Y. At the time of her murder, Redmond was working at a fair, 9 km away.
On April 25, 1951, Jane Marie Althoff, 8, was found murdered in a pickup truck on the grounds of a carnival south of Philadelphia. His fingerprints were in the truck.
On Aug. 24, 1951, Beverly Potts, 10, of Cleveland, attended a local carnival. She was never seen again.
Connie Smith, 10, disappeared from a Connecticut YMCA camp in July 1952 and was never seen again. Cops like Redmond for this one too.
Eight-year-old Barbara Gaca’s body was found March 31, 1955 in an empty lot in Detroit. She had been missing for a week and cops determined the small child had been raped and murdered.
Redmond moved to Grand Island, Neb. in 1962 and then seemed to fall off the radar. But one Philadelphia detective, who was handed the yellowing, dusty Althoff homicide file, was stunned how Redmond’s name jumped out.
Other cold case cops got interested real fast, too.
Redmond was arrested in 1988 and charged in the grisly Althoff murdered that haunted her childhood friends decades later. Thing was, detectives had zeroed in on him the day after the child’s slaying.
“They had this guy the day after it happened ... And they let him go,” her school friend Robert Price told the Associated Press in the early 1990s. “But they finally got him.”
Redmond started blabbing — Jane Marie had bothered him for more rides on the ferris wheel and he smothered her to shut her up. Cops had issued an arrest warrant for Redmond just months later in early 1952, but he could not be found.
He was arrested at his Grand Island home and extradited to Pennsylvania in 1988. Inside his grim abode, cops found a treasure trove of soiled panties — the kind young girls would wear.
And then, a judge ruled that detectives weren’t playing by the book and let the senior out on bail for $1.
Detectives in Detroit, Cleveland and New York state used new advances like DNA to pin their murders on Redmond. They were racing against the Grim Reaper.
And then, while awaiting trial at his Nebraska home, Redmond died at age 70 in 1992 of acute emphysema and heart troubles.
His death sealed shut forever many of the answers generations of detectives and loved ones had desperately longed for. But there was never any real doubt about the ‘who’ part of the equation.
An inmate turned stoolie told cops that Redmond smirked when he told him about the Althoff murder: “They may have me on this one but not the others.”...
LINK:
Suspected carnie serial killer liked little girls | Toronto Sun
Dan Keizer
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2020
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 8
Hello,
I signed up to the forum just so I could comment on this thread here.
Barbara Gaca was my mother's cousin. I heard about her case occasionally growing up, usually as a cautionary tale to not talk to strangers or wander around alone.
Last year my mom's sister was in town visiting and conversation turned to the Gacas, my mom's aunt Irene had just passed away. Apparently while she was in hospice a man came knocking on her door when my mom's surviving cousins were at the house. He said he would like to talk to them about the case.
This man was actually an old neighbor who had lived around the block from them in Detroit. They remembered him once he described his own family. The visitor explained that his own father had recently passed away and had confessed to the crime on his death bed.
In the 50s, the guy's father was a firefighter. As firemen usually work odd shifts, it was normal for him to occasionally be home during the daytime when Barbara was kidnapped. The man also described his father as abusive and hinted at him having molested his own children. My mom's cousins indeed remembered the man as being something of a creeper.
I'm aware of the other suspects and the past confession but the family seems confident that the story was true. As for why he was never investigated, his own family likely lived in fear of him and were never certain he was involved. Police also tend to give other civil employees some benefit of doubt, it seems.
I don't know the guy's name, sorry. It's nice to see people still think about the case after all this time. I know it impacted my family quite a bit. Thanks for reading.
I signed up to the forum just so I could comment on this thread here.
Barbara Gaca was my mother's cousin. I heard about her case occasionally growing up, usually as a cautionary tale to not talk to strangers or wander around alone.
Last year my mom's sister was in town visiting and conversation turned to the Gacas, my mom's aunt Irene had just passed away. Apparently while she was in hospice a man came knocking on her door when my mom's surviving cousins were at the house. He said he would like to talk to them about the case.
This man was actually an old neighbor who had lived around the block from them in Detroit. They remembered him once he described his own family. The visitor explained that his own father had recently passed away and had confessed to the crime on his death bed.
In the 50s, the guy's father was a firefighter. As firemen usually work odd shifts, it was normal for him to occasionally be home during the daytime when Barbara was kidnapped. The man also described his father as abusive and hinted at him having molested his own children. My mom's cousins indeed remembered the man as being something of a creeper.
I'm aware of the other suspects and the past confession but the family seems confident that the story was true. As for why he was never investigated, his own family likely lived in fear of him and were never certain he was involved. Police also tend to give other civil employees some benefit of doubt, it seems.
I don't know the guy's name, sorry. It's nice to see people still think about the case after all this time. I know it impacted my family quite a bit. Thanks for reading.
Welcome to websleuths, Dan. And thank you for your comments on Barbara.
It is especially sad and tragic when someone so young is killed in such a heinous manner. My condolences to you and to your family.
It took a lot of courage for the neighbor to come forward with what he had learned.
I hope you will post more on this case and on others as well.
It is especially sad and tragic when someone so young is killed in such a heinous manner. My condolences to you and to your family.
It took a lot of courage for the neighbor to come forward with what he had learned.
I hope you will post more on this case and on others as well.
OBITUARY
Frank Gaca
FEBRUARY 10, 1924 – FEBRUARY 9, 2019
Frank Gaca, age 94, of White Lake, passed away February 9, 2019. Beloved husband of the late Rita. Loving father of the late Barbara Gaca, .... He will be missed by numerous other family and friends....
Burial ... at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 17100 Van Dyke, Detroit.
Spouse
Rita F. Gaca
1925–2004
Children
Barbara Gaca
1947–1955
LINKS:
Frank Gaca Obituary - Highland, MI
Frank W Gaca (1924-2019) - Find A Grave Memorial
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
Frank Gaca
FEBRUARY 10, 1924 – FEBRUARY 9, 2019
Frank Gaca, age 94, of White Lake, passed away February 9, 2019. Beloved husband of the late Rita. Loving father of the late Barbara Gaca, .... He will be missed by numerous other family and friends....
Burial ... at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 17100 Van Dyke, Detroit.
Spouse
Rita F. Gaca
1925–2004
Children
Barbara Gaca
1947–1955
LINKS:
Frank Gaca Obituary - Highland, MI
Frank W Gaca (1924-2019) - Find A Grave Memorial
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
67 years ago...
Barbara Gaca, age 7, was abducted, raped, and murdered.
The crime remains unsolved.
LINKS:
Barbara Gaca
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
Cold Cases Hard Copy: Who Killed Barbara Gaca?
Barbara Gaca, age 7, was abducted, raped, and murdered.
The crime remains unsolved.
LINKS:
Barbara Gaca
Who Killed Barbara Gaca? - Hour Detroit Magazine
Cold Cases Hard Copy: Who Killed Barbara Gaca?
Barbara Gaca
BIRTH 8 Nov 1947
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
DEATH 24 Mar 1955 (aged 7)
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
BURIAL
Mount Olivet Cemetery
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
LINK:
Barbara Gaca (1947-1955) - Find a Grave Memorial
Brotherfudz
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 262
- Reaction score
- 369
Wonder what led them to suspect the Detroit business man in 2000. The Detective said he was 80% sure it was him.
Potential Suspect?
William Henry Redmond
For decades, William Henry Redmond operated in the sleazy neon slime of the American carnival.
At one time, carnivals were the place to hide: ...
And when each show was done, he hit the road again, ambling into the next town.
But too often, cops believe, Redmond was leaving behind the corpses of brutalized young girls.
Cops fingered him for the Pennsylvania murder of Jane Marie Althoff, Beverly Potts murdered in Cleveland, Barbara Gaca in Michigan, maybe Connie Smith in Connecticut. There are likely many more.
Where Redmond went, girls seemed to end up dead — or simply vanished...
For decades, Redmond — a lean-faced, ill-tempered, hard man who seldom smiled — eluded cops and prison. He was never far off the radar.
Ohio-born Redmond’s penchant for young girls first appeared in 1935 when he sexually attacked two young girls in Lancaster, Ohio.
In 1938, he was busted again in Ohio for the attempted rape of a pre-teen girl. He skated on another sex assault beef in Florida in 1949.
And then, detectives believe, he turned to murder.
Joanne Lynn was just 11. On Sept. 30, 1949, she was found shot to death outside Rochester, N.Y. At the time of her murder, Redmond was working at a fair, 9 km away.
On April 25, 1951, Jane Marie Althoff, 8, was found murdered in a pickup truck on the grounds of a carnival south of Philadelphia. His fingerprints were in the truck.
On Aug. 24, 1951, Beverly Potts, 10, of Cleveland, attended a local carnival. She was never seen again.
Connie Smith, 10, disappeared from a Connecticut YMCA camp in July 1952 and was never seen again. Cops like Redmond for this one too.
Eight-year-old Barbara Gaca’s body was found March 31, 1955 in an empty lot in Detroit. She had been missing for a week and cops determined the small child had been raped and murdered.
Redmond moved to Grand Island, Neb. in 1962 and then seemed to fall off the radar. But one Philadelphia detective, who was handed the yellowing, dusty Althoff homicide file, was stunned how Redmond’s name jumped out...
Redmond was arrested in 1988 and charged in the grisly Althoff murder... and extradited to Pennsylvania...
And then, a judge ruled that detectives weren’t playing by the book and let the senior out on bail for $1.
Detectives in Detroit, Cleveland and New York state used new advances like DNA to pin their murders on Redmond. They were racing against the Grim Reaper.
And then, while awaiting trial at his Nebraska home, Redmond died at age 70 in 1992 of acute emphysema and heart troubles.
His death sealed shut forever many of the answers generations of detectives and loved ones had desperately longed for. But there was never any real doubt about the ‘who’ part of the equation....
LINK:
Suspected carnie serial killer liked little girls | Toronto Sun
William Henry Redmond
For decades, William Henry Redmond operated in the sleazy neon slime of the American carnival.
At one time, carnivals were the place to hide: ...
And when each show was done, he hit the road again, ambling into the next town.
But too often, cops believe, Redmond was leaving behind the corpses of brutalized young girls.
Cops fingered him for the Pennsylvania murder of Jane Marie Althoff, Beverly Potts murdered in Cleveland, Barbara Gaca in Michigan, maybe Connie Smith in Connecticut. There are likely many more.
Where Redmond went, girls seemed to end up dead — or simply vanished...
For decades, Redmond — a lean-faced, ill-tempered, hard man who seldom smiled — eluded cops and prison. He was never far off the radar.
Ohio-born Redmond’s penchant for young girls first appeared in 1935 when he sexually attacked two young girls in Lancaster, Ohio.
In 1938, he was busted again in Ohio for the attempted rape of a pre-teen girl. He skated on another sex assault beef in Florida in 1949.
And then, detectives believe, he turned to murder.
Joanne Lynn was just 11. On Sept. 30, 1949, she was found shot to death outside Rochester, N.Y. At the time of her murder, Redmond was working at a fair, 9 km away.
On April 25, 1951, Jane Marie Althoff, 8, was found murdered in a pickup truck on the grounds of a carnival south of Philadelphia. His fingerprints were in the truck.
On Aug. 24, 1951, Beverly Potts, 10, of Cleveland, attended a local carnival. She was never seen again.
Connie Smith, 10, disappeared from a Connecticut YMCA camp in July 1952 and was never seen again. Cops like Redmond for this one too.
Eight-year-old Barbara Gaca’s body was found March 31, 1955 in an empty lot in Detroit. She had been missing for a week and cops determined the small child had been raped and murdered.
Redmond moved to Grand Island, Neb. in 1962 and then seemed to fall off the radar. But one Philadelphia detective, who was handed the yellowing, dusty Althoff homicide file, was stunned how Redmond’s name jumped out...
Redmond was arrested in 1988 and charged in the grisly Althoff murder... and extradited to Pennsylvania...
And then, a judge ruled that detectives weren’t playing by the book and let the senior out on bail for $1.
Detectives in Detroit, Cleveland and New York state used new advances like DNA to pin their murders on Redmond. They were racing against the Grim Reaper.
And then, while awaiting trial at his Nebraska home, Redmond died at age 70 in 1992 of acute emphysema and heart troubles.
His death sealed shut forever many of the answers generations of detectives and loved ones had desperately longed for. But there was never any real doubt about the ‘who’ part of the equation....
LINK:
Suspected carnie serial killer liked little girls | Toronto Sun