TX TX - Cheryl Henry, 22, & Andy Atkinson, 21, Houston, 21 Aug 1990

[kemo]

They’ve got familial DNA. There is no obvious reason they haven’t done genetic genealogy. Something we do not know is how often it has failed.
If no family match was found, is it productive to report it? I keep wondering if the locals are afraid that solving some cases now will expose screwups in the original investigation.

 

[margarita25]

I will share a recent blog entry about this case by a chap who I think is known as the Q man:

The Houston Stalker: A Silent and Careful Serial

So this guy robbed her purse. Which means he is also a thief. This is important from a profiling aspect. Maybe he’s got burglary charges, or done time for that.

 

[margarita25]

Question, is it possible the original DNA sample has been used up in previous testing, and there isn’t enough for Parabon to test? Or perhaps it’s degraded? Sorry if this is answered already, still combing through everything here.

 

[margarita25]

I am a member of Andy's family in North Carolina and would like to add some additional coverage on Cheryl & Andy's murder.

This is a link to


I will second, third and fourth time agree with you ---- ATG in North Carolina. Justice is due for Cheryl & Andy!!

Hi, are you still here ATG1220?

 

[Snoods]

Wondering if this reporter, Peter Elkind, is still writing for Texas Monthly, making a note:

‘I Really Did Kill Those Babies’

Seems he’s written many articles about this case / compilation of his articles:

TX - TX - Genene Jones, Serial Baby Killer, Scheduled For Early Release

Have you read his book about her called “The Death Shift?” You should, it’s unbelievable what she got away with for so long. After she killed one child she picked up his dead body and ran screaming around the hospital hallways with him. She killed up to 60 infants and children.

I wish Skip Hollandsworth would have written an article about Andy and Cheryl when he was with Texas Monthly.

You are so much awesome for making the timeline! I’m reading it now.

 

[Snoods]

Question, is it possible the original DNA sample has been used up in previous testing, and there isn’t enough for Parabon to test? Or perhaps it’s degraded? Sorry if this is answered already, still combing through everything here.

That is certainly an awful possibility, but I do know LE have told the families they were planning on running the DNA through a familial site. (There was also an article in the Houston chronicle about it several years ago.) I don’t think they have heard anything else about it though.

LE doesn’t need to tell the public what they are doing regarding the case, but I wish they would follow up with the families.

 

[Snoods]

Post by @chinacat67 on Aug. 30, 2011 from discussion thread:

“The killer tied Andy and Cheryl’s hands together in the same intricate knot with a rare kind of hemp rope”

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=71049

And he is left-handed. Only 10% of the population are left-handed. Three unusual things.

LE believed the Golden State killer had served in the military or law enforcement because of the intricate knots he used to bind his victims. He did both.

 

[jaejae]

So this guy robbed her purse. Which means he is also a thief. This is important from a profiling aspect. Maybe he’s got burglary charges, or done time for that.

I think you are right that the offender was a burglar and a very prolific one in my opinion and he might have a minor criminal record for that. Any items the Houston killer took were likely trophies in his twisted mind and also something he did because of habitual behaviour. Cheers.

 

[jaejae]

And he is left-handed. Only 10% of the population are left-handed. Three unusual things.

LE believed the Golden State killer had served in the military or law enforcement because of the intricate knots he used to bind his victims. He did both.

Good post if you remember the Houston rape victim described the offender as having a military bearing and this is obviously something that stuck in her mind and he also wore some kind of homemade uniform:

The man wore a fishnet stocking over his face, black gloves, and a dark shirt and pants that matched, possibly a uniform. He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand. "Where's Randy?" he asked, referring to her boyfriend by name.

The man taunted her, putting the gun to her head and cocking it. He bound her hands behind her back with gray duct tape before taking cash from her purse. Then he duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, threw her on the bed and shoved a bag or pillowcase over her head.

"He became very vulgar with her while he was raping her, and he told her she wasn't very observant, that he had a military uniform, which was probably him trying to throw her off the fact that he might've had a security guard uniform on," Miller said.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

 

[dotr]

Margarita25 said: ↑
Post by @chinacat67 on Aug. 30, 2011 from discussion thread:

“The killer tied Andy and Cheryl’s hands together in the same intricate knot with a rare kind of hemp rope”

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=71049
Where did the perp get hemp rope and why would he use that more distinctive (for the time) type of binding when any other rope would suffice?
speculation, imo.rbbm.
Hemp Comes to Texas
Why is the legalizing of commercial hemp important? Because of the ways in which it can be used. Its stalk is thick and woody and can grow to about 20 feet tall. Its fibers grow the entire length of the stalk. The stalk and the hurds, the material on the inside of the stalk that embodies the fiber, can be made into everything from building materials to insulation, from fine horse bedding to biodegradable plastics, from boogie boards to particle boards. The fibers can be spun into fine textiles and strong rope that is resistant to both mold and rot"

"The only problem is that until 2014, when the Farm Bill allowed limited experimental hemp crops at universities around the country, all of those hemp products were made from hemp grown in Canada, China, Romania, and other countries where its utilitarian value was not criminalized. Here in the United States, it wasn’t so long ago that Gen. Barry McCaffrey, then President Bill Clinton’s drug czar, was demonizing hemp and prohibiting the importation of hemp products from Canada."

 

[margarita25]

Margarita25 said: ↑
Post by @chinacat67 on Aug. 30, 2011 from discussion thread:

“The killer tied Andy and Cheryl’s hands together in the same intricate knot with a rare kind of hemp rope”

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=71049
Where did the perp get hemp rope and why would he use that more distinctive (for the time) type of binding when any other rope would suffice?
speculation, imo.rbbm.
Hemp Comes to Texas
Why is the legalizing of commercial hemp important? Because of the ways in which it can be used. Its stalk is thick and woody and can grow to about 20 feet tall. Its fibers grow the entire length of the stalk. The stalk and the hurds, the material on the inside of the stalk that embodies the fiber, can be made into everything from building materials to insulation, from fine horse bedding to biodegradable plastics, from boogie boards to particle boards. The fibers can be spun into fine textiles and strong rope that is resistant to both mold and rot"

"The only problem is that until 2014, when the Farm Bill allowed limited experimental hemp crops at universities around the country, all of those hemp products were made from hemp grown in Canada, China, Romania, and other countries where its utilitarian value was not criminalized. Here in the United States, it wasn’t so long ago that Gen. Barry McCaffrey, then President Bill Clinton’s drug czar, was demonizing hemp and prohibiting the importation of hemp products from Canada."

Good stuff @dotr. I’ve been wanting to pick up on the hemp rope angle, thank you.

It seems that the America’s Most Wanted link is not up anymore / do we have any other reference to the hemp rope? @mocity ? Are there any photos of the rope that you’ve seen/have access to? Do we know the color, thickness, brand, etc?

What exactly was this “rare type of hemp rope”?

What exact kind of knot was the “intricate knot”?? Do we have an image or reference on that??

 

[margarita25]

So it appears the last age progression was May 16 2008?

Source: Can you help solve some of Houston's most infamous cold cases?

 

[dotr]

Good stuff @dotr. I’ve been wanting to pick up on the hemp rope angle, thank you.

It seems that the America’s Most Wanted link is not up anymore / do we have any other reference to the hemp? @mocity ? Are there any photos of the rope that you’ve seen/have access to? Do we know the color, thickness, brand, etc?

What exactly was this “rare type of hemp rope”?

What exact kind of knot was the “intricate knot”?? Do we have an image or reference on that??

Note may hold clues in 'lovers lane' slayings
December 8, 2004 rbbm.
"The dog led police to Henry's body about 200 yards away. Her clothes, found nearby, had been cut from her body, probably with the same knife used to slash her throat. Her hands were bound behind her with hemp rope. Her killer had tried to cover her body with boards from a rotting cedar fence.

A bunch of deflated balloons hung Dali-like over a tree limb near Henry's body, having no apparent connection with her death but adding to the surreal quality of the grim scene."

 

[margarita25]

Note may hold clues in 'lovers lane' slayings
December 8, 2004 rbbm.
"The dog led police to Henry's body about 200 yards away. Her clothes, found nearby, had been cut from her body, probably with the same knife used to slash her throat. Her hands were bound behind her with hemp rope. Her killer had tried to cover her body with boards from a rotting cedar fence.

A bunch of deflated balloons hung Dali-like over a tree limb near Henry's body, having no apparent connection with her death but adding to the surreal quality of the grim scene."

Noting also from the above quote:

“Her clothes, found nearby, had been cut from her body, probably with the same knife used to slash her throat.”

(So sorry, mocity I hate this. Nobody should ever have to go through any of this, not Cheryl and Andy, and not their families. )

 

[jaejae]

So it appears the last age progression was May 16 2008?

The offender was also described by the witness as having olive skin which combined with a suntan may have made him appear more Mediterranean in his appearance than he actually was:

When Miller tracked the woman down in Galveston County, she still remembered her attacker's features through the fishnet stocking. On Friday, she described him for Lois Gibson, HPD's forensic artist.

She said he was a white man in his mid-30s, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes, a possible mustache and olive skin.

DNA may help break notorious 'Lover's Lane' murders

 

[margarita25]

Breaking this down in point format so I can “see it better”.

Cheryl:

•Her throat was slashed

•Her clothes had been cut from her body, probably with the same knife used to slash her throat.

• Her clothes were found nearby

•Her hands were bound

•Her hands were bound behind her

•Her hands were bound behind her with hemp rope.

•Her killer had tried to cover her body with boards from a rotting cedar fence.

—-

•note to self to break down point format for Andy and rape victim as well.

 

[margarita25]

@mocity, do you know if all her clothes/parts of clothes were recovered? I’m wondering if he may have taken a souvenir.

What about jewelry?

 

[dotr]

Breaking this down in point format so I can “see it better”.

Cheryl:

•Her throat was slashed

•Her clothes had been cut from her body, probably with the same knife used to slash her throat.

• Her clothes were found nearby

•Her hands were bound

•Her hands were bound behind her

•Her hands were bound behind her with hemp rope.

•Her killer had tried to cover her body with boards from a rotting cedar fence.

Why would the perp bother to cover Cheryl at all, it is not like he was trying to hide her body considering the attention grabbing deflated balloons hanging in the tree.
Andy was also tied with hemp rope to a tree, oddly the impression i always had, is that wood (natural) is of some kind of significance to the perp. ie. trees, cedar, hemp.
speculation, imo.

 

[margarita25]

Hi @Snoods, upstream you had mentioned iirc this the perp is left handed - how do we know this? Tia.

(I’m still going through all the reference material so maybe I missed it, still familiarizing myself with all the facts here, right now I’m still “collecting the dots”.)

 

[margarita25]

ETA: I meant to post this in Abby’s and Libby’s thread and was going to delete, but realize it could be applicable here as well so keeping the post here.


Serial Killer Ted Bundy Describes Dangers Of *advertiser censored* The Night Before His Execution

“*advertiser censored* Was A Factor
The night before his death, Bundy was interviewed by Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family. In one segment, Bundy told Dr. Dobson about the effect his *advertiser censored* addiction had on his life.

“Like most other kinds of addiction,“ he said, “I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material. Like an addiction, you keep craving something which is harder, harder, something which gives you a greater sense of excitement. Until you reach the point that *advertiser censored* only goes so far…”

Bundy added,

“I’ve lived in prison a long time now. I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence just like me. And without exception, every one of them was deeply involved in *advertiser censored*. Without question, without exception, deeply influenced and consumed by addiction to *advertiser censored*.”

Bundy was well-known for giving conflicting information and often changed his facts about the same story several times. So it cannot be known for sure to what extent *advertiser censored* impacted his life. But it certainly impacted other lives – those of his victims and their families.

Today, there is even more evidence of a correlation between *advertiser censored* and more severe sexual crimes.

Sex Crimes Are Often Based In *advertiser censored*
Studies support that *advertiser censored* does play a major role in sex crimes.

• A Michigan State Police report showed that in 41 percent of sexual assault cases, *advertiser censored* was viewed just prior to or during the crime.
• A University of New Hampshire study showed that the highest rape rates are in states that have high sales of *advertiser censored* magazines.
• Research found that adult *advertiser censored* was connected with each of 1,400 sexual abuse cases in Lousiville, Kentucky. The majority of them were also connected with child *advertiser censored*.
• Other studies found that heavy use of the type of *advertiser censored* sold at adult bookstores matched an increased willingness to commit rape or other forced sexual acts.

The FBI said *advertiser censored* is found at 80 percent of the scenes of violent sex crimes, or in the homes of the offender. Police officers say that *advertiser censored* use is one of the most common profile traits of serial murderers and rapists.