Ghost of Highway 20 (Oregonlive)

[Vaultman]

Not sure if any of you are following the Oregonian's series on the Ghost of Highway 20... I am not an Oregonian Fanboy, but I think so far this is a very well written/produced piece. As someone that wasn't around this area then (or really even born yet) it is really interesting to read about something that is true and in a place I have spent a lot of time. And it is immensely sad to learn of a criminal repeatedly getting close to but not caught.

Not for the faint of heart. It is pretty mature content. But I thought some may want to read it...

The first section of the series is here:
The Ghosts of Highway 20

Read More

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

every time i walk out into the woods i always think "what if i find a body?"

 

[BDA.45]

I've been reading this......made the gf read it also.....

 

[Vaultman]

I've been reading this......made the gf read it also.....

I was watching the video portion in the 1st of the series and my Mrs. told me to headphone up, 'cause she didn't wanna hear all that bad stuff. I usually read that stuff to be 'in the know', but she would (in some cases) rather not know. I've learned in the years we've been together no matter how bad I think she should know it and read it, I am better off giving her the cliff notes version.

Glad another NWFA member is reading it too.

 

[JeremyK]

I got as far as the "trigger warning"... and then hit the big 'X'... I don't need a progressive rag like the Oregonian telling me that I may be offended by something...

 

[clearconscience]

I'm sure this is a tale we could tell a million times with different names. Pretty sick.

Just look up Gary Ridgeway the greenriver killer, his killings spanned from the 80s to possibly 2001.
He's thought to have killed over 90 women and confessed to 71 killings up and down the I5 corridor.

 

[The Heretic]

Stopped reading when it got into the first incident.

I don't like horror movies, in part because I don't need to be horrified - I already know there are real monsters out there and I don't need to be reminded of that fact; I've had family members who have suffered at the hands of such people.

 

[Stomper]

every time i walk out into the woods i always think "what if i find a body?"

Hope that she's cute and still warm.....








I'N KIDDING!!!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Hope that she's cute and still warm.....








I'N KIDDING!!!

LOL

 

[Mark W.]

Went to Grade school with a guy that become a serial killer luckily he was a moron and got caught

William Scott Smith


At least four women died in and around the Salem area between 1981 and 1984 at the hands of William Scott Smith. In February 1981, Terri Monroe stepped out of the Museum Tavern to get some fresh air and was never seen again. In July 1982, Sherry Eyerly disappeared while she was working delivering pizzas. Rebecca Darling vanished from the convenience store where she worked in February 1984 and, later that same year, Katherine Redmond borrowed a car from a friend on the way home from a party never to be heard from again.

Smith was arrested and convicted in the murders of Darling and Redmond, both of whom were found strangled to death, in 1984. It would be more than 20 years until Eyerly's case was solved after Smith confessed to her murder and several more years after that until he confessed to the murder of Monroe.

He is currently serving three life sentences.

He bullied my younger brother and most of the other younger kids He was a couple grades younger then me.

 

[Mark W.]

A bizarre side note the Oregon Museum Tavern is one of the two places I had my first legal drink (Sept of 1978) and also where one of Oregon more Notorious mass shootings took place May 7, 1981. One of the people killed in that shooting was a guy a class ahead of me in grade school (I held hands/went steady with his younger sister in the 8th grade) And at least one maybe two of the women's bodies were found near the house he grew up in (which was also about 1/2 mile from where William Smith lived when in grade school) Pretty weird stuff for a Grade school that had a total of 122 kids 1st through 8th that sits in the middle of farm country between Silverton and Salem.

 

[old11bravo]

I got sucked in. Of course I'm the same guy that watches Investigative Discovery any time I do have a few down minutes to actually watch any TV.

 

[BaggerRyder]

That was interesting and good timing as I just got done with a Podcast "Bear Brook" about a serial killer from the early 80's.
Baffling that people can be suspects, in constant contact with law enforcement, always in circumstances that would point right to them, and continue to commit heinous crimes without being charged.

 

[RicInOR]

In case you were, as I was, wondering

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I LOVE dateline and 48 hours. I'm a sucker for crime stuff like this. Love to hunt one of these perps down sometime.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Hope that she's cute and still warm.....








I'N KIDDING!!!

Um....??

 

[NW Backpacker]

......
Baffling that people can be suspects, in constant contact with law enforcement, always in circumstances that would point right to them, and continue to commit heinous crimes without being charged.

The article has very few dates so it is unclear when events that are described happened. The writer should include a timeline of every significant point on each of the 5 parts of the story.

To get to your point, the Friday story (part 3 of 5), on page A15 under the subheading "NEW INFORMATION FROM AN OLD WITNESS" says detective McAnulty of the Linn Co Sheriff's Office drove to California to question the wife of the suspects hunting buddy. The hunting buddy was with the suspect on the day of one of the killings. The wife and hunting buddy had divorced, and were no longer living together - detective McAnulty was hoping she would talk. She did.

The ex-wife told detective McAnulty that her husband said that the dead woman had been raped and shot, and that he threatened to do the same to her. (I assume she means that would happen if she told the police.)

So, the Sheriff's office was TOLD what happened! The suspect should have been arrested immediately! With no dates or timeline included in the story, it's hard to say how long it was before the suspect was arrested, but I get the impression it was several weeks at least - time enough for him to do more killing! Mind boggling.

EDIT - you can read this exchange about 3/4 of the way down this web page, just above and just below the mug shot:
GHOSTS OF HIGHWAY 20

 

[Vaultman]

The article has very few dates so it is unclear when events that are described happened. The writer should include a timeline of every significant point on each of the 5 parts of the story.

To get to your point, the Friday story (part 3 of 5), on page A15 under the subheading "NEW INFORMATION FROM AN OLD WITNESS" says detective McAnulty of the Linn Co Sheriff's Office drove to California to question the wife of the suspects hunting buddy. The hunting buddy was with the suspect on the day of one of the killings. The wife and hunting buddy had divorced, and were no longer living together - detective McAnulty was hoping she would talk. She did.

The ex-wife told detective McAnulty that her husband said that the dead woman had been raped and shot, and that he threatened to do the same to her. (I assume she means that would happen if she told the police.)

So, the Sheriff's office was TOLD what happened! The suspect should have been arrested immediately! With no dates or timeline included in the story, it's hard to say how long it was before the suspect was arrested, but I get the impression it was several weeks at least - time enough for him to do more killing! Mind boggling.

EDIT - you can read this exchange about 3/4 of the way down this web page, just above and just below the mug shot:
GHOSTS OF HIGHWAY 20

I thought the missing dates was poor as well. Though at the top of each portion (1 through 5) it gave a year. But then they had back story in each. The dates were done badly, but I think the rest of the series was well done.