MI MI - Bigfoot KILLINGS, Detroit, 1975

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Name given to a man who raped, beat and killed seven prostitutes and other women in Detroit's Cass Corridor in 1975. Survivors said their assailant had enormous feet. The killings remain unsolved


does anybody else have any other information about this case
 
Detroit Free Press - July 25 1975 - Cass Corridor

I don't have paid subscription so this is difficult to read AND I don't notice reference to "Bigfoot", it actually mentions "noticeably large hands" BUT it might be related:


https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98212656/

THE RAPIST is described by police as a black male, SO to 35 years old, I to 6'a feet tall; with a muscular build, medium complexion, a medium nappy afro; mustached with an unshaven look and noticeably large hands. Bv TERRY ZINTL FrM Prut Staff Writer Two Detroit women's groups are planning a demonstration at police headquarters Monday to protest what they say is police indifference to the Cass Corridor rapist -murderer. The killer is believed responsible for five murders in the Cass area. At least seven other women have been beaten or sexually assaulted, police say. The Women's Defense and Education Committee which organized the June 25 benefit for Joann Little and Inez Garcia and the WOMAN (Women's Organization Moving Against Narcotics) drug rehabilitation center don't think the police are doing enough to catch the man. If the six killings "happened in Grosse Pointe, it would be national news," said Jane Mannette of the WOMAN center at 4105 Cass. She said that by emphasizing the fact that many of the victims were prostitutes, the police are saying: "It's not a good women's problem, it's a bad women's problem." AS AN EXAMPLE of the police department's lackadaisical attitude, Ms. Mannette said a police flyer describing the killer gave a telephone number to call that does not answer at night. The police only belatedly added the telephone number for the main homicide desk, she said. of the 13th Precinct, which covers the Cass Corridor, said his officers are "doing the same kind of job on these killings as we would on any others." Bowron said the precinct has not added any extra patrols in the area, but is doing its best "to drive the girls off the street. Wherever you've got a lot of prostitution, you've got a lot of other crime," he said. Bowron said the prostitutes have complained to his officers that the police are not working hard enough to catch the killer, but "they're irresponsible, unstable people and that's ' the way they talk." THE DEMONSTRATION will be held at police headquarters, 1300 Beaubien, Monday morning at 11:30, Ms. Mannette said. She also said the WOMAN center will act as a focal point for community efforts to catch the killer. The Cass killings are the first local issue taken up by the Women's Defense and Education Committee, which was organized to raise funds for Joann Little and Inez Garcia. Ms. Little is on trial in North Carolina for killing a jail guard who allegedly tried to rape her while she was in the Buford County, N. C, jail last August. Inez Garcia is a California farm worker who was convicted of second-degree murder last October for killing a man who she said held her down while his companion raped her. I m II 7 M'LI AT livirnois II ; MM , J - J I EASTLAND CENTER sl uwm nlfllafk I Birmingham M eif 1 lllllIfrB thi viLtAoa plaia m 111 I lWl lifV DEARBORN M H Af ylvr NORTHLAND mm Sgt. Cynthia Eggers of Squad Seven, which Investigates felony murders, said the department has about 12 people working on the Cass Corridor killings.
 
Detroit Free Press July 20 1975 Snippet of the report:

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98210044/

"... the three women were prostitutes. Police said the rapes occurred mostly in the Cass Corridor near downtown Detroit. The suspect, police said, cruises the area in his car. He approaches a known prostitute on the street and offers her money. When the victim gets into his car, the man threatens her with a knife, drives to a nearby alley where he forces her to disrobe and beats, rapes and sodomizes her, police said. mm AP Photo to A motorcyclist pushes 'his hike through a heavy sandstorm just north of Palm Springs take it from the top and go through a sun - sational summer routine in air-cooled polyester cotton gauze. Shaping up into three of the trendiest big tops around. All colored in new transitional tones that lead you well into fall. Roll-up sleeved pullover has mandarin collar and lace trim, $11. Tie-front top has big bat sleeves and lace trim Balloon-sleeved.top has woodsy buttons and a fabulously full bodice, $14, For junior sizes S-M-L. n Police Thursday hunted Detroit's sleazy Cass Corridor for a Jack the Ripper who, they believe, killed three prostitutes and raped, sodomized and beat at least seven others. Police said he had strangled one young streetwalker, fatally stabbed another and beat a third to death since May 1. He was described as black, between 30 and 35, between 6-feet and 6-feet-6 and muscular. Police said he wore his hair ina medium afro, wore a mustache and had an unshaven look. He dressed in dark clothing, possibly some sort of work uniform, police said, and was armed with a knife. The women he had assaulted all remarked on his noticeably large hands. Police want to question him about the slayings of Regina Foshee, 19, of 2202 W. Euclid; Naomi Hall, 22, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Eoria Dick, 22, of 2305 Park. MISS FOSHEE'S nude body was found May 1 on the kitchen floor of a vacant house at 4736 Lincoln. She had been strangled. Two days later Miss Hall was found beaten to death, lying in a nightgown across a bed in the Foster Motel, 165 Sibley. Police said she had been staying at the downtown Royal Palm Hote but registered at the motel under a phony name on April 29. Miss Dick's nuded body was found June 13 behind the J. L. Hudson Co. warehouse at Twelfth -and W. Jefferson. She had been stabbed to death. S g t . Cynthia Eggers of Squad Seven, which investi-gastes felony murders, said...
 
Name given to a man who raped, beat and killed seven prostitutes and other women in Detroit's Cass Corridor in 1975. Survivors said their assailant had enormous feet. The killings remain unsolved


does anybody else have any other information about this case

your post seems to indicate the suspect has been named?

ETA: Oh wait, I get it, the name given to the suspect in these UNSOLVED cases is Bigfoot, got it now.

Why the curiosity? Have some ideas?
 
Victim, Regina Foshee (mentioned in report above) is also named in this article from 1980... as well as "... Detroit's "Bigfoot" prostitute killer in 1975, who was never caught, reflect not so much society's attitude toward prostitutes or women In general but instead... '

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98521100/


Jan 1976 (*note the BBM part ) Did they have a possible suspect??

"Mayweathcr may have been involved. ASKED SPECIFICALLY if Mayweathcr is the person tagged as Bigfoot for some or all of the seven rape-murders in the Cass Corridor last year, Tannian said, "We're not prepared at this point to make that absolute statement." Maywealher faces examination Feb. 6 in River Rouge and Feb. 9 in Detroit. Carl R. Mayweather Sr., the suspect's father, said Thursday that his son is innocent. "He's got girlfriends, so many girlfriends that he can't keep up with them. He doesn't need to go out and rape women." - The elder Mayweather, who lives on a cattle ranch he runs in Belleville, said his son left work at 9:10 p.m. Tuesday and he didn't think his son had time to commit the rape in Jail Inmate Hangs Self An 18-year-old prisoner was found hanged late Thursday night in his cell in the Wayne County Jail. Steve Alicia, who livod on Detroit's west side, was found dead by Deputy William Biakey as he was making a routine check of cells at 11:07 p.m. Lt. Eugene O'Grady, in charge of the midnight shift, said Alicia was hanging from the cell door by a bedsheet. Alicia was taken to Detroit General Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. O'Grady said he assumed the cell previously had been checked no later than 10:30 p.m. Normally the cells are checked about every half-hour, O'Grady said. Alicia was in the cell alone. He had been in jail since Dec. 19 awaiting trial on an armed robbery charge. MORE regular llavors! More diet flavors! And, Towne Club costs about HALF THE PRICE! rrs River Rouge. His-son is a vice-president in the family moving business, May weather's Mov- I ing & Delivery Co.. 7(542 W. McNichols, the father said. j "The younger Maj wether was arrested on a rape charge j II years ago and pleaded j guilty to a lesser offense in the : case, indecent liberties with a minor female, in July lilfil. He 1 received two year's probation ; and a $.10 fine. I The man known as Bigfoot I in the Cass Corridor chose j prostitutes as victims for rape and sometimes murder. Scien- tific methods will be used in ' an attempt to link the rape- I murders to Mayweather,... "

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98224832/
 
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/26735887/


Suspect Assigned To Court DETROIT (AP) — Carl Mayweather Jr., under investigation for a series of rape-murders, was bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court on Friday for trial in a Jan. 29 rape and armed robbery in the suburb of River Rouge. Mayweather waived examination on the three rape counts and o'ne armed robbery count. Detroit Police say Mayweather, who stands 6 feet 6 and weighs 235 pounds, is under investigation in the "Big Foot" siayings of several prostitutes. "Big Foot" reflects descriptions given by rape victims of an assailant with unusually big hands and feet. Police say Mayweather was "actually caught in the act" in the Jan. 29 rape in River Rouge. He also faces separate charges in an incident involving a different woman in Detroit.
 
It appears the "Bigfoot Killer"case actually existed but was never solved (at least it was unsolved as of 1980). I feel sure there are more old news reports out there... and they might be particularly helpful if one has a paid subscription.
 
The "Bigfoot" serial killer:

The perpetrator chose young girls aged 16 to 22 who prostituted themselves on the streets as victims. In early 1975, he committed at least four rapes, with his victims going to the police and describing his appearance, from which a facial composite was created. Between February 16th and October 20th, the offender killed a total of seven women, five black and two white. During the investigation, witnesses reported that the killer had driven a beige Oldsmobile, and after offering $15 in exchange for sexual services, he lured the victims to his car, after which he threatened them with a knife, beat, raped, sodomized and finally strangled them. He was described as a muscular, tall African-American with facial hair and an afro, likely between the ages of 30 and 35. According to police, he may have suffered from acromegaly, since, according to testimonies and other evidence, he had large hands and feet. As a result of this, he was nicknamed "Bigfoot".

After this information was revealed to the public, at the end of 1975, a number of NGO activists and several hundred residents of the Cass Corridor organized a rally in front of the police station, accusing the authorities of negligence due to the victims' social status. They appealed to the city's administrative bodies demanding an investigation and subsequent punishment of officials, because they refused to disclose information about the ongoing killings and were unable to take proper precautions. To back up their claims, the protesters showed a police leaflet describing the killer's appearance, which included a telephone number for communication, but was unavailable at night. Representatives of law enforcement denied these allegations, claiming that enough was being done.

During the investigation, a black Detroit native, 29-year-old Carl Mayweather Jr., was arrested on January 27, 1976, during an attempted rape of a woman in River Rouge and subsequently considered a prime suspect. Mayweather came from a rich family and held a leadership position in a small company owned by his father, but it was revealed that he had previously been prosecuted on charges of assaulting a woman, for which he was given a suspended sentence. Since he was tall, athletic, wore size 12.5 shoes and physically matched the killer's description, after he was charged with rape and robbery in February 1976, authorities looked into the possibility that he was the Bigfoot Killer.

However, over the following months, it was established that Mayweather had a solid alibi for at least four of the murders, and thus, no further charges were brought against him, eliminating him as a suspect.

The Bigfoot Killer was never captured, and remains unidentified to this day...

LINK:

 
Thank you for all the info on here. I grew up in metro Detroit and have been interested in this case since I heard about it as a teenager. I think the point about suspects being cleared prior to DNA is right on the money. An FOI request could get police records. I’m looking to know more about the victim Regina Foshee that was mentioned. Does anyone know anything else about the other victims or her? Maybe anyone out there who grew up in Cass at the time? If anyone knows anyone out there who lived or hung out in Cass at that time I would really like to interview them. Want to get the ball rolling. Hoping to make it to Wayne county records in the next few weeks. Thanks all! Any and all leads on info or tips are appreciated.
 
Detroit Free Press July 20 1975 Snippet of the report:

Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan on June 20, 1975 · Page 8

"... the three women were prostitutes. Police said the rapes occurred mostly in the Cass Corridor near downtown Detroit. The suspect, police said, cruises the area in his car. He approaches a known prostitute on the street and offers her money. When the victim gets into his car, the man threatens her with a knife, drives to a nearby alley where he forces her to disrobe and beats, rapes and sodomizes her, police said. mm AP Photo to A motorcyclist pushes 'his hike through a heavy sandstorm just north of Palm Springs take it from the top and go through a sun - sational summer routine in air-cooled polyester cotton gauze. Shaping up into three of the trendiest big tops around. All colored in new transitional tones that lead you well into fall. Roll-up sleeved pullover has mandarin collar and lace trim, $11. Tie-front top has big bat sleeves and lace trim Balloon-sleeved.top has woodsy buttons and a fabulously full bodice, $14, For junior sizes S-M-L. n Police Thursday hunted Detroit's sleazy Cass Corridor for a Jack the Ripper who, they believe, killed three prostitutes and raped, sodomized and beat at least seven others. Police said he had strangled one young streetwalker, fatally stabbed another and beat a third to death since May 1. He was described as black, between 30 and 35, between 6-feet and 6-feet-6 and muscular. Police said he wore his hair ina medium afro, wore a mustache and had an unshaven look. He dressed in dark clothing, possibly some sort of work uniform, police said, and was armed with a knife. The women he had assaulted all remarked on his noticeably large hands. Police want to question him about the slayings of Regina Foshee, 19, of 2202 W. Euclid; Naomi Hall, 22, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Eoria Dick, 22, of 2305 Park. MISS FOSHEE'S nude body was found May 1 on the kitchen floor of a vacant house at 4736 Lincoln. She had been strangled. Two days later Miss Hall was found beaten to death, lying in a nightgown across a bed in the Foster Motel, 165 Sibley. Police said she had been staying at the downtown Royal Palm Hote but registered at the motel under a phony name on April 29. Miss Dick's nuded body was found June 13 behind the J. L. Hudson Co. warehouse at Twelfth -and W. Jefferson. She had been stabbed to death. S g t . Cynthia Eggers of Squad Seven, which investi-gastes felony murders, said...
Wait okay, I just saw those victim names. This is really helpful.
 
The "Bigfoot" serial killer:

The perpetrator chose young girls aged 16 to 22 who prostituted themselves on the streets as victims. In early 1975, he committed at least four rapes, with his victims going to the police and describing his appearance, from which a facial composite was created. Between February 16th and October 20th, the offender killed a total of seven women, five black and two white. During the investigation, witnesses reported that the killer had driven a beige Oldsmobile, and after offering $15 in exchange for sexual services, he lured the victims to his car, after which he threatened them with a knife, beat, raped, sodomized and finally strangled them. He was described as a muscular, tall African-American with facial hair and an afro, likely between the ages of 30 and 35. According to police, he may have suffered from acromegaly, since, according to testimonies and other evidence, he had large hands and feet. As a result of this, he was nicknamed "Bigfoot".

. . .

During the investigation, a black Detroit native, 29-year-old Carl Mayweather Jr., was arrested on January 27, 1976, during an attempted rape of a woman in River Rouge and subsequently considered a prime suspect. Mayweather came from a rich family and held a leadership position in a small company owned by his father, but it was revealed that he had previously been prosecuted on charges of assaulting a woman, for which he was given a suspended sentence. Since he was tall, athletic, wore size 12.5 shoes and physically matched the killer's description, after he was charged with rape and robbery in February 1976, authorities looked into the possibility that he was the Bigfoot Killer.

However, over the following months, it was established that Mayweather had a solid alibi for at least four of the murders, and thus, no further charges were brought against him, eliminating him as a suspect.

The Bigfoot Killer was never captured, and remains unidentified to this day...

LINK:


Did Mayweather ever participate in a line up? Offhand I'd say that size 12 1/2 feet would not be described as unusually large, especially not on a tall man. Did Mayweather drive a beige Cutlass?

Thank you for all the info on here. I grew up in metro Detroit and have been interested in this case since I heard about it as a teenager. I think the point about suspects being cleared prior to DNA is right on the money. An FOI request could get police records. I’m looking to know more about the victim Regina Foshee that was mentioned. Does anyone know anything else about the other victims or her? Maybe anyone out there who grew up in Cass at the time? If anyone knows anyone out there who lived or hung out in Cass at that time I would really like to interview them. Want to get the ball rolling. Hoping to make it to Wayne county records in the next few weeks. Thanks all! Any and all leads on info or tips are appreciated.

I grew up in metro Detroit, but this case was a little before my time. I don't recall hearing of it before.

IMO, the prostitute murders probably wouldn't have stopped unless the perp died, went to prison, or was questioned by police. (We have seen a few killers go dormant once they get into a stable relationship.) There is a good chance that one of the suspects was the right guy. It was probably Mayweather.
 
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It says he was eliminated as a suspect in the slaying of Valinda Brown on Feb 16,1975 because he was in jail at the time. Does anyone know how long he was in jail? I wonder if they took and saved rape kits for the three victims mentioned above?

ETA: Being in jail is a solid alibi, but when it comes to cold case murders, any other alibis should be double checked very carefully. If it's just a spouse or girlfriend saying "we were together watching tv", they may change their mind about protecting someone after many years have passed.
 
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It says he was eliminated as a suspect in the slaying of Valinda Brown on Feb 16,1975 because he was in jail at the time. Does anyone know how long he was in jail? I wonder if they took and saved rape kits for the three victims mentioned above?

ETA: Being in jail is a solid alibi, but when it comes to cold case murders, any other alibis should be double checked very carefully. If it's just a spouse or girlfriend saying "we were together watching tv", they may change their mind about protecting someone after many years have passed.
Jail records aren't always correct.

Arthur Ream was cleared as a suspect in the abduction of Kim King because he was "in jail," but some 40 years later they finally figured out that he had been released earlier than they thought.

Even if he was cleared in the Brown case, I'd be looking at him hard for the others.
 
With such a distinctive description of the killer, how can this case still be unsolved? It is probably explained that the city of Detroit was a the verge of chaos in the those years and the police likely gave little priority to murders in the Cass Coridor.

Anyway, I take it that the "Bigfoot" description relates to the initial rape series, not necessairily to the murders, does it? Or were there witnesses to the killings that confirm the Bigfoot connection?
 

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