The Phantom Killer
Subtitle: unlocking the mystery of the Texarkana serial murders : the story of a town in terror
By: James Presley
Edition: Large print edition.
Series: Thorndike Press large print crime scene; Thorndike Press large print crime scene
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 659
ISBN-13: 9781410488077
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Large type books; Serial murders; Cold cases (Criminal investigation); History
Description: The salacious and scandalous murders of a series of couples on Texarkana's "lovers lanes" in seemingly idyllic post-WWII America created a media maelstrom and cast a pall of fear over an entire region. What is even more surprising is that the case has remained cold for decades. Combining archival research and investigative journalism, historian James Presley reveals evidence that provides keys to unlocking this decades-old puzzle. Dubbed "the Phantom Murders" or "the Texarkana Moonlight Murders" by the press, these grisly crimes took place in an America before dial telephones, DNA science, and criminal profiling. Even pre-television, print and radio media stirred emotions to a fever pitch. The Phantom Killer includes details from an unpublished account by a survivor, and rare, never-before-published photographs. Although the case lives on today on television, the Internet, a revived fictional movie, and even an off-Broadway play, with so much of the investigation shrouded in mystery since 1946, rumors and fractured facts have distorted the reality.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 643-647).
Table of contents: title: Stranger in the dark; title: Conflicting perceptions; title: Double death in a car; title: A baffling case; title: A boy, a girl... and a gunman; title: Palm Sunday horrors; title: Rising terror; title: A legendary ranger; title: Fear stalk by night; title: Murder strikes home; title: Nobody is safe!; title: A media invasion; title: Law and disorder; title: Behind a serial killer's facade; title: An accidental break; title: Incriminating revelations; title: The primary suspect; title: Tightening the noose; title: Mounting pressures; title: A quiet "solution"; title: Behind walls again; title: Back in court; title: On the witness stand; title: "Beyond belief and incredible"; title: Life after "life"; title: Cracking a cold case.