OH OH - William 'Bill' Comeans, 14, Columbus, 7 Jan 1980 - #1

[GoingByMyGut]

I could really use some sleuthing help. I'm not very knowledgeable about accessing old newspapers. Anyone know how I could get my hands on these?

http://www.columbuslibrary.org/cmlc...ctid=270439&original=Comeans, William&stype=O

I experimented to try to figure it out. When you click Save (to the left of an entry), then click View Saved Records (top right), you get this message:

"To locate the full text of an article or obituary found in the Columbus News Index, please call the Library's Magazines & Newspapers division at 645-2ASK(2275). "

IOW, you can't get there from here.

 

[pdxmama]

Heartbreaking blog post from Bills big brother:

http://ishouldhavecalledinsick.com/2013/03/11/murder-anguish-hope-and-i-try-to-survive/

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Original post trimmed by me (TBM):

Originally Posted by GoingByMyGut
(2) While many places report him being strangled with just his scarf, I read on his sister's twitter page that he was strangled with an inner tube. Was this just lying around? Was it taken from Bill's bike (seems an unlikely adaptation, in light of the need for speed). Or did the killer(s) carry it with him/them? Is it in evidence?

Original post TBM:

2. I got the impression (from his sister's Facebook) that the inner tube was used in the second attack that he survived. She said an inner tube was wrapped around his neck, a plastic bag placed over his head and he was left for dead in the woods.

I think you are right about this. I misread it, thinking he lived in a coma after the final attack, but the post I read it in is the same one I think you are referring to, dated Sept. 1979. For clarity's sake, here's the FB post (September 5, 2012 at 12:24pm):

"This night, 33 years ago, I was home, but my brother Bill wasn't. He had been attacked, his body left in the woods to die... a trash bag tied around his head with an intertube. Bill was 14 years old, in 9th grade at Westland, his whole future ahead of him and someone felt the need to hurt him, to try to kill him. Bill made it through this attack. I can only imagine the fear he felt that night. How he must have felt every day and night after that for the next 124 days of his life. Bill, I miss you with my whole heart"
​

However, this is actually more worrisome to me. The earlier attacks were not small change! This one seems like foiled attempted murder.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

According to this channel 10 broadcast:
[video=youtube;N1we7tEoWPQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1we7tEoWPQ[/video]
A cold case detective says they found bodily fluids on the scarf and plan to send it for DNA testing, but that has not been done yet. Since there isn't a big sample, they are waiting for a new test to become available (ETA: One that is expected to become available in the early months of this year).

 

[katydid23]

Wow. those earlier attacks were quite brutal. They were attempted murders. What could a 14 yr old have done to anger someone so much. Maybe it was more of a thrill kill or even a sexual satisfaction type of experience.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Wow. those earlier attacks were quite brutal. They were attempted murders. What could a 14 yr old have done to anger someone so much. Maybe it was more of a thrill kill or even a sexual satisfaction type of experience.

BBM1: Agreed.

BB2: Or perhaps the early experiments of a psychopath who may have reloacted as he perfected his M.O. One thing about the nature of all of the attacks: Someone wasn't playing around. They were going for the kill from the beginning. I have heard strangualation referred to as "personal," in that the killer has to engage in the kill directly (versus indirectly by way of a bullet). It's hands-on. Not for the squeamish. And it doesn't suggest your ordinary teenage bully to me. Seems more like someone who wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone, was pushing himself to "achieve" it. It must have been brutal for this boy and his family to experience.

 

[pdxmama]

Original post trimmed by me (TBM):

Original post TBM:


I think you are right about this. I misread it, thinking he lived in a coma after the final attack, but the post I read it in is the same one I think you are referring to, dated Sept. 1979. For clarity's sake, here's the FB post (September 5, 2012 at 12:24pm):

"This night, 33 years ago, I was home, but my brother Bill wasn't. He had been attacked, his body left in the woods to die... a trash bag tied around his head with an intertube. Bill was 14 years old, in 9th grade at Westland, his whole future ahead of him and someone felt the need to hurt him, to try to kill him. Bill made it through this attack. I can only imagine the fear he felt that night. How he must have felt every day and night after that for the next 124 days of his life. Bill, I miss you with my whole heart"
​

However, this is actually more worrisome to me. The earlier attacks were not small change! This one seems like foiled attempted murder.

BBM - So disturbing. I definitely do not get the feeling that this was just a couple of instances of bullying that got out of control the third time. Someone was definitely targeting him and trying to kill him. Could he have been a witness to something?

 

[GoingByMyGut]

BBM - So disturbing. I definitely do not get the feeling that this was just a couple of instances of bullying that got out of control the third time. Someone was definitely targeting him and trying to kill him. Could he have been a witness to something?

BBM: JMO, but with all the time between attacks, if this were the case I would think he would have put that together and mentioned it. Of course, someone could have thought he witnessed something when he didn't.

It's human nature to look for reasons, but I'm more disturbed by the people out there who don't need reasons to kill ... also, the notes suggest that he was not the only target of interest.

 

[katydid23]

This killer or killers must have gone on to other victims. I wonder if we can track him that way?

 

[pdxmama]

According to this channel 10 broadcast: channel 10 broadcast A cold case detective says they found bodily fluids on the scarf and plan to send it for DNA testing, but that has not been done yet. Since there isn't a big sample, they are waiting for a new test to become available (ETA: One that is expected to become available in the early months of this year).

Some other points from that video:

• There were no signs of a struggle and he wasn't robbed.
• There was a knife found at the scene, it was sent to a lab for DNA testing along with the scarf and a beer bottle.
• The type of DNA testing they wanted to try was new (available in Jan. 2013) so they waited until it became available to send in the small sample they found on the scarf.
• Bill's father believed it was bullies who were responsible for the prior attacks.
• The Attorney Genera's Office would not (could not?) confirm that the state crime lab was actually going to get the new, more advanced type of DNA testing.

 

[Tulessa]

Bob's faith in God has kept him going all of these years. Now with the help of our wonderful sleuthers? Maybe God will help us to find out who committed this horrible crime!

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Some other points from that video:

• There were no signs of a struggle and he wasn't robbed.
• There was a knife found at the scene, it was sent to a lab for DNA testing along with the scarf and a beer bottle.
• The type of DNA testing they wanted to try was new (available in Jan. 2013) so they waited until it became available to send in the small sample they found on the scarf.
• Bill's father believed it was bullies who were responsible for the prior attacks.
• The Attorney Genera's Office would not (could not?) confirm that the state crime lab was actually going to get the new, more advanced type of DNA testing.

BBM1: Which I guess means they think he didn't fight back? I wonder if that suggests he was surprised and strangled from behind. Since I believe the scarf was cut at the scene before LE arrived on the scene, I wonder if they were able to determine this. Maybe the injuries suggest the direction of attack -- or the family remembered the position of the scarf.

BBM2: Yes. I have the impression that this test was first promised early last year, making the family feel a little strung along, and that this could not happen early enough for their taste. It may not even become available this month, but preserving the sample may justify the wait. As frustrating as it must be, the age of the case may justify the wait as well.

 

[pdxmama]

Yes, a surprise attack from behind (in all three attacks?) would explain the lack of description of the suspects and the lack of a struggle. This kid must have been terrified.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Yes, a surprise attack from behind (in all three attacks?) would explain the lack of description of the suspects and the lack of a struggle. This kid must have been terrified.

One thing confuses me about this. The body was found close to home, but in a remote area near the RR tracks ... given the first two attacks, why would he go there alone? That suggests to me that he might have been forcibly taken there either before or after death.

Before death: If he was taken there while alive, you would assume he would struggle -- unless he was somehow incapacitated. Ether?

After death: If he was taken there after death, I find myself wondering -- if he was staying in safe locations -- how he could have been taken against his will or surprised and killed in that kind of location, prior to his body being moved/dumped.

I don't know that these questions have answers, I'm just thinking out loud. Tragically, the ideal timing could have presented itself, to Bill's misfortune. And I doubt anyone but the killer(s) know where he was killed.

But it would be interesting to know (and possibly map) the locations of the previous attacks in relation to the home. I have seen this kind of thing done on historic maps that reflect the build-out of the time, but I lack these skills myself. Hint, hint, to anyone who has these skills ...

 

[Tulessa]

I'm hoping Bob will sign up and become a member. He could answer a lot of these questions for us.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

I'm hoping Bob will sign up and become a member. He could answer a lot of these questions for us.

Do you know him personally, Tulessa? If so, you might want to engage a mod and become a "verified insider."

 

[Tulessa]

Do you know him personally, Tulessa? If so, you might want to engage a mod and become a "verified insider."

No, but I contacted him.

 

[Tulessa]

Also, where you guys are good at sleuthing, I'm good at communicating with people. I always try to reach out to the victims. I will NEVER EVER FORGET, how you guys reached out to me, during my nightmare. It saved my sanity! I'm just trying to pay it forward.

 

[katydid23]

the last place that Bill was headed was the bday party two doors away. Because of the previous assaults, I doubt he wandered away much further than that. So these killers or killer, was very brazen and came very close to the home.

 

[pdxmama]

the last place that Bill was headed was the bday party two doors away. Because of the previous assaults, I doubt he wandered away much further than that. So these killers or killer, was very brazen and came very close to the home.

That's right. In fact, in the video his sister said that she wasn't ready to leave so he went back home, took his dad some coffee out in the garage and then disappeared.

I haven't seen anything about time of day. At first I thought it was during the day but I looked it up and it was a Monday, an unusual day for a child's birthday party unless they were still out of school for winter break. Of course it could have been a late afternoon/ early evening party. If early evening, I wonder if it was already dark. We are at a similar latitude her and it is pretty dark by 4:30 or 5:00. I wonder if he was picking his sister up at the same time that other parents were.

It's amazing to me that he could have been abducted from in front of his house while his father was in the garage and other parents were possibly pulling up two doors down to pick their kids up from a party.

Also, Bill was not a small kid. He looked very strong and healthy. I just can't wrap my brain around how this went down.