He Murdered His Fiancée’s Daughter on Halloween
By: Fatim Hemraj
Tags: History, Equality, Justice, Crime, True Crime

True Crime, Justice, Equality

He Murdered His Fiancée’s Daughter on Halloween

He fantasized about having sex with her dead body

Rebekah Gay, photo source.

When twenty-four-year-old Rebekah Gay went missing on Halloween 2012 residents of the small town of Mount Pleasant, Michigan were shocked. She was described as a loving and caring mother to her three-year-old son Conway. At the time of her disappearance, she had just been promoted to head cashier at her job and was working on building a better life for her and her son.

At Rebekah’s church, Christ Community Fellowship, Pastor John D. White asked the locals to pray for Rebekah’s safe return home. An investigation immediately took place, authorities scoured Isabella County for any sign of Rebekah.

Little did they know, John had all of the answers.

You see, John D. White was not always a man of God. In his younger days, he served in the navy before becoming a long-haul trucker. He was twenty-two-years old and married then, living in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Theresa Etherton. Photo source.

One day in 1980, John invited his seventeen-year-old neighbour Theresa Etherton over. He brought her down to his basement and while she wasn’t looking, he attacked her, stabbing her fifteen times and choking her. Theresa later stated John smiled while he stabbed her stating, “You’re going to go now. I’m really sorry you had to go like this, but what the f — , you’re just a woman.” Miraculously, Theresa survived the attack and reported John to the police. He pled no contest in 1981 and was sent to prison for ten years but he appealed and was out in two.

Vicky Sue Wall. Photo source.

In July 1994, John committed his first murder. His victim was twenty-six-year-old Vicky Sue Wall, his mistress. John and his wife had one child at the time, and another baby on the way but that did not deter him from having an affair with Vicky, a co-worker he met while working maintenance at a textile company.

Vicky was last seen getting into John’s black pick-up truck at three am in a grocery parking lot. John was brought in for questioning but he claimed he dropped Vicky off at her home that morning. Although the investigators did not believe his story, they did not have any evidence to charge him, so they let him go.

Vicky’s remains were found six weeks later in a rural wooded area in Kalamazoo County, two miles from the grocery store where she was last seen alive. She was naked with the exception of a t-shirt and a bra that was wrapped around her neck. Her body had been so badly decomposed, a cause of death could not be determined.

John’s vehicle was searched and investigators found blood in several areas but other evidence was lacking. He pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and received a sentence of eight to fifteen years. Investigators theorized John killed Vicky because she was pressuring him about their affair and he did not want his wife to find out about his transgressions. At the sentencing, John stated Vicky’s death was a tragic accident and that he loved her.

John D. White. Photo source.

While in prison, John told a psychologist he fantasized about violently murdering women and having sex with their corpses, but during his twelve-year stint in prison, he claimed to have been a reformed man. He had found God.

On February 11, 2007, he was released from prison and decided he would turn his life around. He relocated to a trailer park in Mount Pleasant and became a minister at the Christ Community Fellowship, the same church Rebekah went to with her mother Sally Gay, John’s fiancée.

The other members of the church knew of John’s violent past but believed his sins had been forgiven and that he was now a religious man trying to right his wrongs. Unfortunately, after five years of freedom, John could no longer hide his sexual fantasies and violent urges.

Rebekah Gay’s mobile home. Photo source.

Early Halloween morning in 2012 after becoming quite intoxicated, John walked over to Rebekah’s trailer home. He attacked her, hitting her in the head multiple times with a rubber mallet until she was on the ground and unconscious. He then strangled her with a zip tie, while her son Conway was in the next room. He dumped Rebekah’s body in a ditch one mile from her home, dressed Conway in his Halloween costume, and dropped him off at his father’s.

Rebekah with her son and her fiance. Photo source.

Rebekah’s co-workers began worrying when she did not attend work that day and reported her missing. That was when John made his heartfelt plea in church. He confessed to Rebekah’s murder the next day and led them to her cold and lifeless body. He told investigators he had fantasized about having sex with Rebekah’s dead body, but he could not remember if he had done so.

John D. White. Photo source.

At the murder trial, Sally stated John was not the same man she had once known and asked the court not to show him any mercy stating, “For 20 excruciating hours we prayed that Rebekah would come home. She was not yours to take. How dare you.”

On April 18, 2013, John was sentenced to fifty-six years in prison. Unfortunately, he would not serve even a third of his sentence, as he was found hanging from his prison cell on August 28, 2013.

He had taken his own life.