Again, he didnt respond. Sense of smell is so evocative, yet writers rarely take advantage of its power. Then he started swinging at her with his hand.. I dont know that its the theme. I am totally innocent, he said, his breathing labored, and Ill say that until the day I die. Kayes gold Timex watch with the vinyl band was there, too. He eluded police even as their suspicions about him deepened. The Question and Answer section for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. My editor tells me I usually write with economy and directness, so it was also more of my natural style to hone and hone some more. Lucinda Williams The Ghosts of Highway 20, One of the victims, Terri Jentz, wrote a book. Beck left Oregon. What lay behind that decision? We felt and processed their profound grief. He seemed to relish gruesome speculation about what harm had come to her. The project won the integrated storytelling award from the national Society of Features Journalism, while The National Womens Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation awarded it the National Journalism Impact Award. . I knew from his coworkers that his truck likely didnt have AC. Crombies lean prose, set off by stretches of staccato dialogue between investigators and their elusive suspect, relentlessly draws the reader into the mystery and misery behind Ackroyds killing spree. John Arthur Ackroyd (died December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and may have been a serial killer. How did you decide on these and did they form part of the narrative strategy? She wanted to make sure he knew what was coming. Why? She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. For more than a month in late 1993, Ackroyd sat impassively in a courtroom at the historic Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Madras, about an hours drive across the high desert from where Kaye had disappeared. Mike Harmon, a longtime investigator with the Linn County Sheriffs Office, worried Ackroyd had a shot at parole. Ackroyd obviously is the catalyst of destruction. John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. But detectives long suspected Ackroyd preyed on women who disappeared along or around Highway 20 from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. The next day, Hanlon hopped in a car with a Jefferson County deputy for a briefing on the search for Rachanda. It was a great detail that I needed to work into the story. Some of these details were included in police reports. Back to John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer. They pressed him again and again about his interactions with Kaye. He told Linda to wait until the next day to call police. I heard the river on one of those trips and took the liberty of saying he would have heard it too if his windows were rolled down. John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton - Ebook | Scribd She said no and he left. She clung to her boots, which shed grabbed from the clearing. But none of these seemed to work. He is most likely one of the Ghost of The Ghosts of Highway. Theyd been dumped off the highway along Ackroyds route from the coast to Sweet Home. We were smacked by paddles and a lot of people who are are like, Oh big deal, a paddle. No, there was paddles that were designed with holes drilled in them and stuff and they would brag about it helps cuts through the air and you get a harder spanking. Ackroyd was very predominant in discipline. Hanlon, whod spent his career practicing law in rural Oregon, knew of Ackroyd from reading a slim three-ring binder stashed in a cardboard box left behind by his predecessor. This is a dramatic scene Ackroyd walks into the Sweet Home shop spattered with blood and offers a strange explanation. His confidants were a pair of child molesters serving long prison sentences. It was just a hell of a story. This spectral photograph opens Ghosts of Highway 20, a stunning multimedia narrative series published last December by The Oregonian/OregonianLive. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 - December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. But as we approached publication, Therese (Bottomly) said I needed to connect with Noel. And narratively, the detectives and their work showed connections among all the cases. Among the witnesses was a young woman who was running in Camp Sherman on the same day as Kaye. st thomas the apostle catholic church mass schedule Her body had never been found. He worked overseas as a mechanic and was caught stealing equipment. What are the chances that two serial killers were active during the same time and place? He was the middle child between two sisters. More than two years later, another set of investigators went looking for the police report detailing Marlenes account. Ackroyd knew, too, the dirt spurs that led off the highway and into the forest. The breadth of his crimes has never been revealed until now. I was so bewildered by this I was unclear where this was going and then he said, And when he entered his plea. You can hear me echo him on my recorder, When he entered his plea? I was so stunned that (Ackroyd) had done that, a no contest plea, and that there was no record of that in the court system. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? Source? In 1986 he became the . Later that night, Marlene and her husband argued when he said he wanted to head off with a couple of friends. I dont think we talked about that because he died so early in my reporting. Another Oregon courthouse provided the backdrop for Ackroyds second prosecution. I wanted to absorb all of the material I had collected and then tell the story with authority. Was that a conscious decision? It was my way of acknowledging to the reader that this has been an epic tale that wont have a Hollywood ending. Ackroyd considered her for a long moment, then reached into the back of the truck and held out a dingy pair of plaid pants. So while I did the interviews, reporting and wrote the stories, their work helped elevate the project into something pretty special. On one of our many reporting trips along Highway 20, the three of us tracked down the approximate location of the attack based on Marlenes account and police reports. Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Didnt do anything to Kaye Jean Turner? McAnulty asked, his voice cool. Like Mark Foster, one of the cops who worked on the Kaye Turner investigation. She thinks those factors played a role in their handling of the investigation. I did not have any models in mind. Piecing Together the Story of an Oregon Serial Killer My footnotes for this passage: Oregonian interview with Byron Pickle: They had paddles. But they knew Ackroyd was a killer. If I put 50 dollars on a gamble that there wasnt punishment in a week I would lose that 50 dollars. When John snapped, it was scary. Her husband was abusive and she drifted from Ackroyd. Today, both men insist they should have done more to protect Sheila Swanson and Rachanda Pickle from a killer. I lied like hell back then, she told McAnulty. This United States biographical article related to crime is a stub. Marlene slowly stood, wearing only her T-shirt and jacket. Sheilas ankles were bound with leggings. We bounced ideas off each other and checked facts. His name was John Arthur Ackroyd, who would join the ranks of Ted Bundy, Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, and other notorious predators who have trolled the Pacific Northwest for vulnerable and marginalized women. We gobbled up newsroom resources and space online and in the paper, but theres a limit and thats the reality of the job and format. I relied on interviews with a detective and the woman deputy to reconstruct this scene. I never got a clear answer about why it was sealed or who made that request. His friends became sick at the sight and left. If police had believed her, she might have been his last. The men at first said theyd hunted coyotes but later changed their stories to say they were poaching deer. It is . She read some drafts early on. Investigators suspected the rivet a quick fix used in field repairs had fallen out of the pocket of her attacker. Why did you go to this trouble? I knew this would be an essential scene. Faryion Wardrip born March 6, 1959, was an American murderer who raped and killed a total of five . Read "John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer" by Ruth Canton available from Rakuten Kobo. He mentioned it only after a pair of state police troopers approached him a couple of weeks later. She thought of how Kaye must have felt, the air so cold she could see her breath. I knew this would be an essential scene. It made sense to make Highway 20 a central theme and to tell the story chronologically, using the highway as a guide. The clue bore a chilling similarity to two of Ackroyds earlier assaults: Rape victim Marlene Gabrielsens boots and underwear were sliced and so was the waistband on Kaye Turners yellow jogging shorts. There was so much information to move through. They matter because some of their stories have never been told. This time, the DA and the cops who believed Ackroyd had gotten away with Kaye Turners killing were determined to get the highway worker off the street for good. He had an older and younger sister. Plus reading it aloud again and again and producing a condensed online timeline helped uncover themes and discrepancies. They dont want the stigma and the shame associated with these crimes. Local cops tracked down Sheilas mother. June 12, 2022 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. Ending with her in this way allowed me to highlight her resilience. I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. On a personal level, after the project ran, the Northwest Film Center hosted a free screening of the documentary. It took weeks the woman had changed her name since the early 1990s but she remembered the men and their names. Roger Beck was also found guilty in the murder of Kaye Turner at a separate trial. The DA knew Ackroyd had changed his story and admitted he had talked to Kaye the morning he encountered her on a run. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. Structurally, what was your intention? Then Linda tells her that Rachanda has been gone for 24 hours and the dispatcher stumbles a bit. My footnotes for this passage: Oregonian interview with Byron Pickle: They had paddles. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. A report from the trial in the Bend (OR) Bulletin. The trackers noticed two sets of footprints preserved in the frozen ground. Hed returned to Sweet Home to live with his mother and split for good with Linda. Serial Killer John Arthur Ackroyd was a true monster. [1][2] They lived at Santiam Junction, a state highway division compound at Oregon 22 and U.S. Highway 20. Murderer John Arthur Ackroyd - YouTube His partner, Detective Will McAnulty, sat nearby. Showing : Public Libraries K-12 Schools Library Name Distance. Then he started swinging at her with his hand.. Most of what I came up with centered on Ackroyd. His parents worked as a maintenance man and as an office worker at the police department. Ackroyd heaved his body out of the chair. At this point in the story, I didnt want to reveal too much about why the cops were taking another look at Marlenes rape. Read John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton with a free trial. It was on one of them that hed raped Marlene Gabrielsen a year before Kaye Turner disappeared. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. The district attorney said they had enough to take the case to a grand jury. First: Marlene Gabrielsen, raped in 1977. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Her father, Richard Sanders, kept her jewelry box, which looked like a miniature china cabinet, under a counter in the old trailer where he lived outside Sweet Home. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother was a homemaker. Its amazing how much serendipity plays a role in this story, isnt it? It was my way of saying the state felt they had enough to prove this case and thats as close as this case would get to justice. This is another of the few times when we read extended dialogue, a hallmark of classic narrative. How did you track down Laront? It lets the reader know that this could be an important turning point in the story. Kayes killing serves as the cliffhanger at the end of Day 1. Pretty much all the details of the attacks and deaths are sickening in the series. Plows stood ready to rumble onto the mountain pass during winter storms. I like how direct, clean and certain Hanlons quote is here. The couple had since divorced and Pam had moved to California. She often wore a black leather jacket that her parents paid for on installments. Do you or any of the detectives have any suspicions why it was sealed? sat and waited to hear his fate. John Arthur Ackroyd Free Company Director Check They had to get him. Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. 1977-1992. Ackroyds explanations of his encounter with her never added up, but detectives found no physical evidence directly tying him to the killing. Linda Monville left Oregon twenty-six years ago and now lives in San Bernardino, California, where she remarried and built a new life after her daughter, Rachanda Pickle, disappeared from the Department of Transportation compound where they lived together with Linda's third husband, John Ackroyd. Goodreads members who liked. His parents worked as a maintenance man and as an office worker at the police department. John Arthur Ackroyd (1949-2016) - Find a Grave Memorial It took a lot of force to break them. What was the justification to go ahead and use them in a family newspaper?. Rachandas brother, Byron, still sees her so clearly, her sweet features framed by brown hair. We talked to grieving loved ones. It was the last time any cop talked to Ackroyd. Yes and it was something I struggled with. Its amazing how much serendipity plays a role in this story, isnt it? The larger person had dragged the smaller person away. John Arthur Ackroyd Photos, News and Videos, Trivia and Quotes - FamousFix GHOSTS OF HIGHWAY 20 - oregonlive He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. Why did you write it and place it here? This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. The annotated version that ran online was a much shorter version of my own footnoted drafts of this story. We talked to grieving loved ones. Was the passage longer and, if so, how did you revise it? There was so much information to move through. After Rachandas disappearance, Ackroyd was transferred out of Santiam Junction, where his connection to the case and his behavior made women uncomfortable. And then there was Ackroyds eerie talk of hunting. The trial came to a close and Ackroyd, dressed in cowboy boots, jeans and a studded belt with John in silver letters, Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. The rest haunted investigators who had pursued him through the years. I am not going to gamble this guy getting away with it, Byron thought. I was punching way above my weight from the start. It was a sensational crime that remains unsolved. His wife, Pam, said the two men were around the trailer for most of the morning, which helped give Ackroyd an alibi. ILMO Maria Beloved wife of John Edmund Ackroyd who died at "Milethorn . About: John Arthur Ackroyd - dbpedia.org The nut graf is: One woman was raped, four others disappeared. We chose to go with the legacy of the investigation. Most of the narrative was constructed looking back. It was one of those details I tucked away knowing Id use it somewhere. She rode her bike in the lane just outside the door and took a bus to grade school in Sweet Home. Kaye Turners killing became a faded memory. 1946, in Atlanta, Georgia. Why did you choose to end the narrative with Marlene Gabrielson? When you have one you really hang tight to them. What role did she play? There was nothing in the record that showed where this request came from or why it had been sought. He said he didnt know. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. I wanted to show that at this point Ackroyd was a very sick man. Her face and name are tattooed onto his left bicep, a memorial to the aunt his children never knew. I can hear her bafflement on the 911 audio, which Ive listened to over and over. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. To promote and elevate the standards of journalism, An old logging road just off Highway 20 on the Oregon coast near where Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson's bodies were discovered in 1992 by local hunters. For convenience, the salient portion of each report is transcribed below. Yet neither man confessed to police. I had some of these details from my initial interviews with Marlene, but Kelley pressed me to go back for more, to really flesh out that evening in detail. I asked my colleagues if they thought readers would know about Fireballs and the consensus was yes. Ackroyd disclosed yet another curious detail: He hadnt been alone on Christmas Eve morning. Theyd noticed that Ackroyds truck was still parked outside and his work rig wasnt there. (Getty Images) If you've been following the five-part story of John Ackroyd, its conclusion might leave you hanging. A father himself now, Byron gets a catch in his voice when he talks about it. John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer - Rakuten Kobo I dont know that its the theme. Investigators suspicions deepened as his story began to shift. I spent considerable time trying to answer this very question. Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. They tracked down Marlene Gabrielsen, who easily could have been the killers first victim but managed to escape after Ackroyd brutally raped her in 1977. His stretch of it twisted through Bend, logging towns, Corvallis and on to the coast. My sister was denying it. Melissa and Sheila had waited until dawn to leave the familys campsite. They mingled with another set that belonged to what appeared to be a large man. I sought to write a driving narrative that relied on detail, dialogue and description with a bedrock of reporting and research. State (s) Oregon. For years, only those in the room would know what had happened. This detail is so specific. Due to his connection with Rachanda's disappearance, many women at Santiam Junction were uncomfortable with his behavior and he began to work out of Corvallis.[2]. After one year, the couple divorced, but they continued to live together with Linda's children. He was based in Santiam Junction, about 25 miles from Camp Sherman, and said hed gotten off work at 6:30 a.m. A while later, he drove through the camp, planning to hunt coyotes. She got this sustained ovation from the audience. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. Why did you open the series this way? How did you find out she tied her hair back and that the couple couldnt afford the buckskin boots she wore, and what she told her daughter? Each of the multimedia elements in powerful in its own right. The district attorney delivered his decision on whether to prosecute. She had tried to warn police about Ackroyd. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. I tell new reporters not to do what I did; its a ridiculously inefficient way of amassing documents for a big project like this. A sadistic killer goes around killing people, taking girls off somewhere? Why? The woman demurred. He went inside to get a soda and use the bathroom. He knew how to navigate the hills and hairpin turns during winter, when fierce storms swept through the Cascades. Libby; Sora; Kanopy; Help . He said very little that day but thanked us for making the trip. At first, shes just taking the info from Linda Ackroyd. Why? It was late spring. It was earlier in the year, though he couldnt recall the date. Rachanda disappeared on July 10, 1990. Chasing ghosts that will forever haunt - Nieman Foundation He had an older and younger sister. I wanted the reader to hear Ackroyds reaction when confronted with the detectives suspicions. He was beset with chronic health problems and hadnt left his cell much. That was something that kept me up at night, having to describe this landscape, these small towns, how to breathe life into people who died a long time ago, these investigations that were very old. A few days later, I received a handwritten letter from Noel. Will McAnulty, one of the detectives, suggested they run through the scene one more time. Help advance the Nieman Foundations mission to promote and elevate the standards of journalism by making a donation. He was raised in Sweet Home, a modest logging town along Highway 20. She didnt talk much about what had happened. Bottomly teamed up Crombie with Killen and Nakamura to run the mystery to ground. I spoke with his coworkers and friends. His relationship with Linda ended and he moved in with his mother in Sweet Home. They raised three kids. You were here with her.. In fifth grade, something shifted. When cops went back to her years later, she apparently felt more at ease talking about what really happened. He lies down in the dirt and stares up: Is this what his sister saw before she died? I also was liberated by knowing the companion photos and video would fill in many of the details in a different way. His wife sat by his side. Once, when a clock fell off a shelf, he beat her with a homemade paddle. Her father waited a few more days before calling police, then the FBI. They were scrappy and streetwise high school dropouts. She listened to pop stars Debbie Gibson and Wilson Phillips in her bedroom and teased her brother, who was her protector and playground companion. Peter Ackroyd | Biography, Books, & Facts | Britannica Acclaimed biographer Peter Ackroyd vibrantly resurrects the legendary epic of Camelot in this modern adaptation The names of Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Galahad, the sword of Excalibur, and the court of Camelot are as recognizable as any from the world of myth. I burned through so many leads before landing on this one. They assumed the two had gotten a ride from friends. The interview sputtered to a halt. How and why did you settle on that approach? The detectives who handled her disappearance retired. I had to rely on their description of what he said. Over time, the two made painstaking progress. Ackroyd was born on October 3, 1949, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He pointed a handgun at her and ordered her to stop. We were smacked by paddles and a lot of people who are are like, Oh big deal, a paddle. No, there was paddles that were designed with holes drilled in them and stuff and they would brag about it helps cuts through the air and you get a harder spanking. Ackroyd was very predominant in discipline. Finding no sign of her, he panicked and called police. Hed pored over Ackroyds police interviews from 1979 when the highway worker admitted he was the last person to see Kaye Turner. Here is the . Its not a transcript. adrian ackroyd - 28 wellington road burton joyce, nottingham adrian ackroyd - 8 bowmans way sedgebrook, grantham adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester alan ackroyd - 8 holmfield, ossett The annotation: Storyboards questions are in red; Crombies responses in blue. The answer was no. It wasnt far from where the teens remains were found. I was able to reconstruct this scene based on a detailed interview with Marvin Laront Then one finally offered: Try a woman who worked at the Sweet Home shop back then. www.opendialoguemediations.com. He was anxious and beaded with sweat even though the afternoon heat had faded. There was a tremendous amount of secrecy. The Highway 20 Serial Killer Unexplained Oregon. He took out an envelope of old photos of Ackroyd, his pickups and Santiam Junction all from the original police file. The Turner case file filed a metal file cabinet and was a reporters dream as far as narrative details. This is heartbreaking. Going West: True Crime: Highway 20 Killer // 117 on Apple Podcasts Four years after they started, Benson and Snow had strung together enough evidence to take the double murder to a grand jury. Ackroyd was raised in the small logging town of Sweet Home, Oregon. Their stories. I can hear him on the recording that the detective made. We encourage you to research and examine these . carteret county, nc arrests Load the dishwasher. The series linked Melissa and Sheilas disappearances to Ackroyd for the first time. Jane, then 24, was on her bicycle, headed home from a waitressing job when she noticed Ackroyd standing near his pickup parked along the side of the road in Camp Sherman. I checked that with Byron, Rachandas brother. Books similar to John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer: A collection of Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results John Ackroyd (1850 - 1913) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer - Barnes & Noble She planned an 8-mile run. Investigators Ron Benson and Linda Snow, with the Lincoln County District Attorney's Office were preparing to present the evidence against Ackroyd for the murders of Swanson and Sanders to the grand jury when Ackroyd passed away. Rachanda was so uneasy living at Santiam Junction that she routinely brought a change of clothes to school hoping to stay with friends.