Rhonda Johnson and Sharon Shaw, both of Webster, Texas, spent August 4, 1971 on a Galveston Bay beach in Galveston. The girls were seen leaving the beach, but they did not return home.Eyewitnesses reported last seeing the girls walking on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston.
On January 3, 1972, two boys fishing in Clear Lake discovered a human skull floating in the water, which they had initially believed to be a sports ball. Six weeks later, searchers discovered the rest of the body, along with that of another girl, in a marsh near the lake. The skull found in the lake was determined via dental records to have belonged to Sharon Shaw.Additionally, a crucifix found wrapped around the jawbone of the skull was identified by Shaw's mother to have belonged to her daughter.The other body found in the marsh was positively identified as Rhonda Johnson
In May 1972, a tip was received from Glenn Price, a city councilman, to look into Michael Lloyd Self, a gas station attendant and sex offender in Galveston. Self admitted to recognizing the girls, but stated that he did not know them.
Things start to get worse after this: According to Self, Chief Michael Morris held him in confinement for hours, remarking that Self would not leave until he had made a confession. Self also stated that he was tortured and threatened. Self eventually agreed to confess, and he was forced by Morris to handwrite a confession to the murders.He made several confessions with many discrepancies. Anyway, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 2000.
In 1980 a man in Taylor Lake, Texas walked into the local police department and claimed to have been responsible for the murders. In his confession, the man allegedly mentioned having tied the girls down with electrical cord, a detail that had not been released to the public. The man was eventually dismissed by police.
In 1998, serial killer Edward Harold Bell wrote multiple letters to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris Counties, confessing to the murders of numerous young women. In August 2015, Bell admitted to murdering a total of eleven girls, whom he referred to as the "Eleven that went to Heaven," and claimed to have been brainwashed and forced to kill by a secret organization. He named Shaw and Johnson among the girls he admitted to murdering; however, Bell was never charged in the murders of either Shaw or Johnson. He died in prison in April 20, 2019.
The case is oficially unsolved.
Here are some articles on the case:
Some suspect serial killer in 1971 Galveston deaths
Texas killer's death leaves unanswered questions in girls' slayings
https://crimesinprogress.com/f/a-serial-killer-on-the-waterfront-alfred-paige
Killing field road where bodies of 40 women have been dumped by serial murderers
Authorities take another look at Galveston's cold case killings | ABC13 Houston | abc13.com
The highway of death: How human dumping ground gets its name
On January 3, 1972, two boys fishing in Clear Lake discovered a human skull floating in the water, which they had initially believed to be a sports ball. Six weeks later, searchers discovered the rest of the body, along with that of another girl, in a marsh near the lake. The skull found in the lake was determined via dental records to have belonged to Sharon Shaw.Additionally, a crucifix found wrapped around the jawbone of the skull was identified by Shaw's mother to have belonged to her daughter.The other body found in the marsh was positively identified as Rhonda Johnson
In May 1972, a tip was received from Glenn Price, a city councilman, to look into Michael Lloyd Self, a gas station attendant and sex offender in Galveston. Self admitted to recognizing the girls, but stated that he did not know them.
Things start to get worse after this: According to Self, Chief Michael Morris held him in confinement for hours, remarking that Self would not leave until he had made a confession. Self also stated that he was tortured and threatened. Self eventually agreed to confess, and he was forced by Morris to handwrite a confession to the murders.He made several confessions with many discrepancies. Anyway, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 2000.
In 1980 a man in Taylor Lake, Texas walked into the local police department and claimed to have been responsible for the murders. In his confession, the man allegedly mentioned having tied the girls down with electrical cord, a detail that had not been released to the public. The man was eventually dismissed by police.
In 1998, serial killer Edward Harold Bell wrote multiple letters to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris Counties, confessing to the murders of numerous young women. In August 2015, Bell admitted to murdering a total of eleven girls, whom he referred to as the "Eleven that went to Heaven," and claimed to have been brainwashed and forced to kill by a secret organization. He named Shaw and Johnson among the girls he admitted to murdering; however, Bell was never charged in the murders of either Shaw or Johnson. He died in prison in April 20, 2019.
The case is oficially unsolved.
Here are some articles on the case:
Some suspect serial killer in 1971 Galveston deaths
Texas killer's death leaves unanswered questions in girls' slayings
https://crimesinprogress.com/f/a-serial-killer-on-the-waterfront-alfred-paige
Killing field road where bodies of 40 women have been dumped by serial murderers
Authorities take another look at Galveston's cold case killings | ABC13 Houston | abc13.com
The highway of death: How human dumping ground gets its name
