Details of weather, moon and sun data, and temperatures came from U.S. Geological Survey data, newspaper weather reports, and Farmers Almanac for 1946 in online archives. When data were not available for Texarkana, the author used that for nearby Shreveport, Louisiana. The Texarkana City Directories and 1946 telephone book provided other information. In addition to interviews and archival material, the Texarkana Gazette and Daily News were among the major sources for the events and, especially, headlines. MeasuringWorth.com was consulted when translating 1946 dollars into present-day values. Comparisons, of course, are approximate.
Early Texarkana history: “that lively railroad village,” Leet, Texarkana, A Pictorial History, p. 33. “Texarkana is the gateway.” quoted in Leet, p. 38. Paragon Saloon tragedy, pp. 33-34.; “great majority . . . gamblers, gunmen,” Images of Texarkana, p. 6. The city’s 88 saloons: Texarkana Gazette, Sept. 26, 1948. The crimes described were reported in the Texarkana Gazette of relevant dates. Tillman Johnson’s files and memory covered the O’Dwyer and Hasselberg murders. “As a puzzle”: Kent Biffle to Mark Moore, July 7, 2008; “most notorious and intriguing”: Deborah Bauman (Segment Producer for The Ultimate 10) to Jerry Atkins, Aug. 14, 2000.
Events of late 1945, including the Fulton shootout, and early 1946 came from articles in the Texarkana Gazette. The author personally viewed the movie, Three Strangers, on Turner Classic Movies. The night of the attack is based primarily on an unpublished manuscript, “The Texarkana Phantom Killer” by James M. Hollis, an eyewitness first-hand account in which he recalled his exact thoughts from the beginning of the ordeal, a copy of which is in the possession of the author. His memoir was supplemented by contemporary Gazette and Daily News accounts, including an interview of Mrs. Larey published in May 1946 in the Gazette. James Hollis’s background came from a variety of family sources: an ex-sister-in-law from his second marriage Mary Ann Williamson, a niece Diana Burris, his widow of his last marriage Peggy Francisco, as well as marriage and divorce records in Union County, Ark., along with census records. Mary Jeanne Larey’s background came from census records, marriage and divorce records, and relative interviews.
Billie Presley Edgington provided many details about her father, Bill Presley. His brother, J. A. “Alex” Presley, recalled the Red Springs community in which they grew up. Other material came from a Gazette feature as the sheriff was leaving office in 1948. Hollis recalled his hospital experiences in his unpublished memoir. That article and newspaper reports of the Texarkana Daily News and Gazette combined to fill out his post-hospital period. The Gazette reported the Hooks house fire, as well as the two-car crash on Highway 67 around that time. Mary Ann Williamson told of the gunshots startling Hollis. The Gazette reported on the returning servicemen, crimes, and social events, as well as the arrival of baby chicks at the post office.
Richard Griffin’s background is based on interviews with his brothers, Welborn Griffin and David Griffin. Polly Ann Moore’s information is based on interviews with her brother, Mark Moore.
Mark Moore and Patti Bishop provided details of the tragic day Polly’s body was found. Texarkana Gazette stories contained some details of the couple’s activities. The Gazette reported accidents at the Canary Cottage. Most of the accounts of individuals mentioned came through interviews with those persons; for instance, Byron Brower, Jr., Mark Moore, Patti Richardson Bishop, Ray Rounsavall, Sandy Burnett (then Sandy King), David Griffin, and Welborn Griffin. A physician’s report that she was not “criminally assaulted” appeared in the Texarkana Gazette, supported by Max Tackett’s interview that there was no rape. Verdicts were written in death certificates of each victim. In addition to accounts at the time, Texas DPS records provided details of the murder weapon, to which Max Tackett and Bill Presley also contributed. The filing label for the bullets is specified in numerous DPS letters then and subsequently, as in Fred R. Rymer, firearms examiner, to W. H. Presley, Aug. 12, 1948. The finding of the Spanish-made revolver three years later was reported in the Texarkana Gazette, Oct. 17, 18, 19, 1949, confirmed by telephone interview with Marie Barlow Tammen. Mrs. Larey’s trip to Texarkana was told in a May 1946 Gazette interview.
Sue McCrossen told of Girl Scout hikes; Bill Horner, of park water beliefs. The Gazette reported the stolen car of April 11. Tillman Johnson explained how to hot-wire a car. Jerry Atkins and Bill Manning described the band and the atmosphere at the time. Mrs. Grace Guier contributed details of Betty Jo Booker’s life. Tillman Johnson supplied insight on the background and death of Betty Jo’s father. Bessie Booker Brown’s taped interview with Georgia Daily provided additional details, as did Bob Mundella’s interview with Mrs. Brown. Paul Martin’s background came from his sister-in-law, Margaret Martin, Herbert Wren, Thomas Torrans, Bob Matthews, and Tom Albritton, as well as newspaper accounts. His correct age, repeatedly reported as seventeen, was established as sixteen on his death certificate, information given by his mother. Sophie Anne White Redditt told of the afternoon swim and the evening’s band performance; Jerry Atkins also contributed. Bessie Brown’s taped interview described Paul Martin’s visit. Jim Morriss explained the little-known cancelled date. Both Tom Albritton and Ramona Putman Ruggles gave versions of the Saturday night that went awry. Charlsie Schoeppey Boyd remembered her fellow students dancing in Spring Lake Park.
The ordeal at the Brown home came from Bessie Brown’s interview by Georgia Daily. Janann Gleason verified that the slumber party, which Betty Jo failed to attend, was at her home. What Tom Moores heard was reported in the Gazette and confirmed by his son, Richard Moores. Ernest Browning’s and the Weavers’ reports were in the Gazette. The Gazette provided details of the death scene for Paul Martin. Bill Presley told the author of the unpublished report of the evidence he recovered nearby, of Martin’s date book, which no one else knew of. Jerry Atkins’s memories were shared in an interview with him and his own unpublished account of that weekend. The site where Martin’s car was found was toured with Bill Horner, who visited it the day of the murders. Tom Albritton and Herbert Wren told of the Sunday morning receipt of the bad news. Charlsie Schoeppey Boyd told of the discovery of Betty Jo Booker’s body by the search party. There also was an account in the Gazette in 1996. Jim Morriss recalled the morning and his reactions.
The death certificates provided the coroner’s comments. The author examined the DPS report regarding the condition of Betty Jo Booker’s body. The FBI memo of April 20, 1946, reported findings of semen, noting it was not known if Polly Ann Moore was raped. A copy of the Ernest Browning report by the Texas Rangers came from Tillman Johnson’s papers. Other details came from newspaper articles and from the Texarkana City Directory and 1946 telephone book. Grace Guier told of her husband Nathan Guier’s plans to photograph Betty Jo upon his return from New York. Sue Phillips MaGouirk told of the woman holding up the child at Betty Jo’s funeral. J. Q. Mahaffey explained how the brand, Phantom, came about. Texarkana newspaper ads documented the familiar use of the term Phantom at the time, in the movies, the comics, and wrestling.
Captain Gonzaullas’s biographers published background and a variety of details, as did a number of newspapers and magazines. A major source was Brownson Malsch, Captain M. T. Gonzaullas: Lone Wolf, The Only Texas Ranger Captain of Spanish Descent (Austin, Texas: Shoal Creek Publishers, 1980), especially pp. xiii-xvi, 1-2 ff., 159-168, 206-209. Chapter XV (159-168) deals with the Texarkana murders. Mike Cox’s Texas Ranger Tales features the Texarkana case in a chapter, “Lone Wolf Versus the Phantom,” pp. 246-265. Several oral histories from the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame E-Book Project added details, especially those of Gonzaullas himself and Lewis Rigler. The author also spoke with Gonzaullas by telephone in 1976 during research for another book but in no detail about the murders. Louis Graves offered his memory of Gonzaullas’s first news conference in Texarkana. A copy of the all-points bulletin was in the Tillman Johnson papers. Weldon Glass and J. Q. Mahaffey provided details of the investigation and the type of suspects picked up. Mahaffey recalled the incoming newsmen and Wick Fowler’s anecdote. Billie Edgington told of her father Bill Presley’s feelings about the outside lawmen. Sue Wilson McCrossen told of Gonzaullas’s approaching her father to acquire a secret meeting room.
Travis Elliott recounted the case of “Sammy” and his examination under hypnosis. Newspaper accounts were sources for numerous incidents. Max Tackett’s comments were made in an interview. Byron Brower, Jr., told of his mother’s reaction to the visitor. A feature in the Texarkana Gazette described the French war bride’s arrival in Texarkana. J. Q. Mahaffey’s interview by Georgia Daily provided his reaction to the fatal plunge of the woman from the hotel. The event was confirmed by examining a Gazette article. John Norman Henshaw recalled how his classmate Betty Jo Booker’s chemistry lab book remained in place. Max Tackett in 1971 told of stopping the motorist.
Background on the Starks couple and their farm was compiled from a variety of sources, census reports, marriage license, city directory and telephone book, oral history, correspondence, and newspaper reports. Max Tackett told of his and Charley Boyd’s itinerary and observations. Parts of Katie Starks’s version of the shootings were in the Gazette the next morning; Max Tackett and Tillman Johnson also provided details. Bill Presley recalled the night. Tillman Johnson’s papers include photos at the Starks house. Johnson, in numerous conversations, reviewed the night and the community. J. Q. Mahaffey remembered the experience in an interview with Georgia Daily. Arkansas State Police Lt. Carl Miller’s reports are in the ASP files. Calvin Sutton’s letter to the author explained how he sent the news onto the Associated Press wire.
Tillman Johnson described his investigation and the tracks. Forrest Sutton, for one, told of the cigarette butts found near the car’s parking spot. Howard Giles explained the fingerprinting setup in Texarkana, Ark. Max Tackett told of the forensics lab report on the .22 caliber weapon. Death certificate for Virgil Starks cited facts of his death. Calvin Sutton and J. Q. Mahaffey described the flashlight photo and its distribution. The Gazette interview with Dr. Anthony Lapalla was a major article three days after the Starks shootings. Paul Burns described flying Lucille Holland to Oklahoma to interview Mary Jeanne Larey. Holland’s story of the interview ran on page one the following morning.
J. Q. Mahaffey and Louis Graves cited Kenneth Dixon’s arrival and his much-quoted lead. Dixon background came from Wikipedia entry and other sources. Mahaffey read his speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors into his taped interview with Georgia Daily. Time and Life: Sheet of instructions for producer in Wayne Beck collection. Morris Arnold’s memory of the times was printed in the Texarkana Gazette’s series in 1996, marking the 50th anniversary of the murders. “UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL” Garrison to Gonzaullas, telegram, May 15, 1946, Wayne Beck collection. A Newsweek article ran May 20, 1946. Bob Carpenter: Mahaffey told of the MBS broadcast from Texarkana. Gonzaullas to visiting press: “Ranger Asks ‘One Little Break’” under byline of Dick Allen, newspaper clipping, May 9, 1946, publication unknown. Photocopy of AP newspaper story, undated but apparently in mid-May 1946, quoted an unnamed officer as claiming the killer smeared his hands in the blood on the floor, which didn’t happen, according to reliable sources. Mahaffey’s interview with the author described the attempt by an unknown man to enter his house one night. Jo Hurst, Bettye Matthews, and Leslie Greer described aspects of Phantomania. Mahaffey recalled the Gonzaullas anecdote at KCMC in an interview with the author. Mahaffey and his son John Mahaffey told of the reactions from afar.
Tillman Johnson told of the unshuttered house on County Avenue. Louis Graves recalled the “bodies” in a yard. A number of far-off crimes were investigated for possible Phantom connections. News reports provided most of the incidents, while others came from official files, such as Texas DPS correspondence. For instance, data on Fort Lauderdale, Florida, murders came from correspondence: Glen H. McLaughlin to Walter E. Clark, Oct. 11, 1946, and Glen H. McLaughlin to M. T. Gonzaullas, Oct. 23, 1946, and a clipping, Dallas Morning News, Oct. 12, 1946. The Black Dahlia case in Los Angeles received front-page attention over the nation, one example of which was Dallas Times Herald, Feb. 10, 1947; the elimination of a Fort Dix, New Jersey, soldier as a suspect in the Phantom case, having been overseas at the relevant times, is in Gonzaullas to Glen H. McLaughlin, Feb. 24, 1947. Regarding a couple assaulted in a suburb of Los Angeles, United Press report, April 21, 1950; Glen H. McLaughlin to W. A. Worton, April 27, 1950; W. A. Worton to Homer Garrison, Jr. Across McLaughlin’s April 27 letter copy he had printed boldly, ELIMINATED; a double murder in Amsterdam, New York. United Press report, Oct. 3, 1950 (in typescript); Glen H. McLaughlin to W. E. Kirwan, Oct. 4, 1950.
Re letters to Gonzaullas, Texarkana Gazette feature by Sally Reese, May 19, 1946. The Tresnick divorce was in the Miller County Circuit Clerk’s records; the marriages cited, from the Miller County Clerk’s books. Georgia Daily remembered the comment: “If the Phantom ever walks into John’s Place.” “Ten thousand dollars worth”: Mahaffey interview. “I’m not going to leave” Tillman Johnson recalled his conversation with Gonzaullas while riding with the other officers. Incidents with Gonzaullas told the author by the women involved. Lights in Starks house and Tackett-Gonzaullas conflict came from Mahaffey interview. Louis Graves supplied information on Texarkana Bears. Tillman Johnson recalled how touchy it was to approach law-abiding citizens at night in the line of duty. Bill Presley told of stakeout in interview, Texarkana Gazette, May 31, 1970. He told the author of falling asleep on his feet.
Accounts of the Alexander Pichushkin case: Texarkana Gazette, October 2007; Associated Press, August 14, 2007. Definition of serial killings and material from the FBI Symposium: Morton, Robert J., and Mark A. Hilts, eds., Serial Murders—Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators. Symposium, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2005, San Antonio. FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime; types of multiple killers, with quote by John Douglas, from Douglas and Olshaker, The Anatomy of Motive, pp. 190-191. Re organized and disorganized offenders, Ressler, 130; “He thinks he will never be caught,” Ressler, 139-141. The author interviewed the Texarkana psychiatrists in 1971. Another insight is by psychologist James Grigson in Carlton Stower’s excellent article, “The Phantom Menace,” Dallas Observer, Feb. 1-7, 2001. Thought preceded the act: Robert K. Ressler, Ann W. Burgess, John E. Douglas et al., Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives (New York: The Free Press, 1988), pp. ix-33; “the way they think,” Ressler et al., 40, 43; re accomplices, teams, Levin, ibid. 31-34; James Alan Fox and Jack Levin, 80, 101; on driving at night, Douglas and Olshaker, Mindhunter, 57; “It is not that serial killers want to get caught,” Dr. Jack Levin, Serial Killers and Sadistic Murderers: Up Close and Personal (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2008), 56. Experts: “a complex process” FBI symposium. See also Morrison, My Life Among, cf. psychopath, 67, 71-72, 128-9, 194. “Serial killers may be compensating,” Levin, 34. “Taunting law enforcement,” Levin, 31. Levin quote, target strangers, Levin, op. cit., 157; re changing MO, re copycat: beliefs: Morrison, 137, Levin, 38-39; “branch out,” Fox and Levin, 101; re sociopaths: Fox and Levin, 65-66; quote on p. 69. Paul Bloom quote in Leanne Italie, Associated Press article keyed to Bloom’s book, Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil, in Texarkana Gazette, Nov. 17, 2013, contained a quotation not in the book. Telephone interview with Dr. Shervert H. Frazier. See Shervert H. Frazier, “Violence and Social Impact,” in Joseph C. Schoolar and Charles M. Gaitz, eds., Research and the Psychiatric Patient (New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1975, pp. 183-194. Rehab of serial killers, Fox and Levin, 71; Levin quote, 186.
These events have been reconstructed primarily around interviews with Max Tackett and Tillman Johnson. Peggy Swinney’s background data—birth, previous marital status, her recent marriage—all came from official documents, including 1930 census, two marriage licenses, divorce records. A great deal of information exists on marriage licenses. Similar information for Swinney was also required for their marriage license. Sources for the Atlanta, Texas, portion of the chase included Ollie Jaynes, Nancy Partain, Paul Boone, Ralph Allen. Ray B. Fultz’ s Oct. 2, 1977 article in The Atlanta Times provided additional information. Tackett and Johnson corroborated each other’s version of the chase and arrest.
In the photograph, Hibbett Lee previously has been identified as “Mr. Partain,” but Partain remained at the car lot in Atlanta. Those acquainted with the incident agreed Hibbett Lee is the one photographed.
A tour of the old Miller County jail, in the company of Johnson, then in his nineties, with County Judge Roy John McNatt, clarified the layout of the jail, by then no longer in use for its original purpose.
Swinney’s statements to FBI agent Calhoun came from ASP files. Swinney’s note to Peggy is in the ASP files pertaining to Swinney and the Starks case. Copies of Peggy Swinney’s statements are in Johnson’s papers. Details of the movies showing at the Nashville theaters were found in ads in the Nashville News, courtesy of Cecil Harris. The plot and critic’s comment on Jesse James are in the online Wikipedia entry about the movie. The author viewed the film on Turner Classic Movies.
Copies of her statements are in the Johnson papers. The trip to Dallas with Peggy is documented in the ASP files, with report by Dallas detective Will Fritz. Bill Presley related the scene in Spring Lake Park where Peggy Swinney confirmed that Martin’s datebook had been taken from his pocket and thrown into the brush, a fact not reported in the newspapers and not known to anyone else, a critical bit of evidence assigning definite credibility to her on that specific matter. Bessie Brown’s statement about Swinney returning to the room after the Griffin-Moore murders and laughing is from Georgia Daily’s interview with her.
The 1920 census contained the data about Swinney’s family and himself as a child. The Swinney parents’ divorce records are in the Miller County Circuit Clerk’s office. Myrtle Swinney’s marriage records are in the Miller County Clerk’s office and divorce from Travis in Miller County Circuit Clerk’s records. Additional material came from Clarence Swinney and Joyce Swinney Ward.
Because he was a juvenile, at twelve years of age, there is no regular record of young Youell Swinney’s 1929 brush with the law. However, it was reconstructed by comparing his name on the Bowie County District Court’s docket, which does list him by name, and the front-page news story in the Texarkana Evening News, September 25, 1929. There can be little doubt but that this is the same boy, for both match in age and all other aspects.
His FBI rap sheet documents the subsequent arrests and dispositions. Swinney’s 1941 Arkansas conviction: Miller County Circuit Court, Case # 5463, State of Arkansas vs. Youell Swinney, page 174, Criminal Court record, Volume N. The Texas prison system roll of inmates, in the Texas State Archives, contains detailed data about each prisoner as he’s processed in, including such matters as Swinney’s tattoos and scars. Data about the other inmates from Bowie County at that time also came from the prison rolls. Tackett’s reports to his supervisors, in the ASP files, provided details of the once-damp shoes and other information. Swinney’s statement to the Arkansas State Police is in ASP files. The Texarkana City Directory of that year contains addresses and residents of the Rose Hill community where Youell and Peggy lived briefly.
The several witness statements are in Arkansas State Police files, in regard to the Starks case. Tillman Johnson and Max Tackett each independently related how they collected samples from the welding shop to compare with slag found in the shirt pockets. A copy of J. Edgar Hoover’s message is in Johnson papers. Johnson described his search with the laundry mark and his visit with the brothel madam. Tackett’s log of Swinney’s day-to-day activities is in Tillman Johnson Papers. Sandie Olson, director of the Waynoka Historical Society, supplied the Waynoka, Okla., background.
Tackett’s reports also are in the state police files. Tackett’s attempt to find out what happened to a painter picked up by Swinney is in Tackett to Scroggins, Sept. 27, 1946, ASP files. Other reports from ASP files include O. D. Morris to W. B. Jones, Oct. 1, 1946; W. L. MacGregory to W. B. Jones, Oct. 5, 1946; Albert O. Calloway, Oct. 4, 1946; MacGregory to Jones, Oct. 5, 1946, W. B. Jones to Sgt. O. D. Morris, Oct. 11, 1946; Morris to Scroggins, Oct. 13, 1946.
Regarding tracing of the pistols Swinney had disposed of and the Waynoka scene: Arkansas State Police files—Morris to Homer Garrison, Nov. 25, 1946; Morris to Scroggins, Nov. 26, 1946; Carl Miller report, Oct. 27, 1946; Tillman Johnson report, in Miller report, Oct. 27, 1946. Tackett notes in Tillman Johnson papers.
Memo drawing down Ranger force in Texarkana: Gonzaullas to Rangers, Aug. 15, 1946 (Johnson papers). Subsequent letters: Presley to Gonzaullas, Oct. 10, 1946, and Gonzaullas to Garrison, Oct. 12, 1946. Material in this section regarding the Reverend Stanley Swinney and family is based on Swinney family correspondence in Clarence Swinney papers, with each item of information coming from a letter, most of which the Rev. Mr. Swinney wrote. One of Youell’s sisters, Mildred Whetstone to her mother, Myrtle Chaffin, Sept. 15, 1946. “If something is not done.” Stanley C. Swinney, Sr., (SCS) to Cleo Swinney (CS), Sept. 20, 1946. “Perhaps we may.” Claude E. Love to SCS, Sept. 22, 1946. “something must be done . . .” SCS to CS, Sept. 23, 1946. re Supreme Court on appeal, SCS to Maxine Whetstone, Sept. 26, 1946; ibid., Sept. 27, 1946. re reward money, SCS to CS, Oct. 4, 1946; re the minister’s case involving missing funds, SCS to Maxine Whetstone, Oct. 4, 1946. Substitute suspect, SCS to CS, Oct. 5, 11, 19, 1946.
Discovery of saxophone: Texarkana Gazette, Oct. 25, 1946: Gonzaullas to McLaughlin, Oct. 26, 1946; Glen McLaughlin to W. H. Presley, Oct. 29, 1946. re insanity plea, McVey to CS, Nov. 4, 1946. SCS affidavit, same date. SCS’s “substitute Phantom” and insanity plea are in SCS to CS, Nov. 4, 1946. McVey’s tirade, McVey to Goldman and McDonald, Nov. 9, 1946. His letter to John Frederick, Nov. 9, 1946. Judge’s order is in Book O, p. 120, Docket 5968, Miller County Circuit Court. Swinney’s records at the Arkansas State Hospital are also in Swinney’s files from Texas State Archives. Tackett and Johnson told of their own memories of the trip to Little Rock and impressions at the time.
McLaughlin, re “strawberry blonde,” Mike Cox, Texas Ranger Tales, 261. Presley’s letter to Gonzaullas, Nov. 19, 1946 (Johnson Papers). Copies of Peggy Swinney’s statements at Austin are in Johnson Papers, as well as in other hands. McLaughlin’s assessment of Peggy’s polygraph questioning is in Cox, 261-262. The author applied Mark McClish’s techniques, as detailed in his book, I Know You Are Lying!, to analyze the statement. McClish supplemented the analysis with his own comments, e-mailed to the author. Cleo visits Youell Swinney in jail, McVey remarks, McVey to CS, Nov. 25, 1946. McVey’s theory of crimes and instructions, McVey to CS, Dec. 3, 1946; McVey on his substitute villain and analysis, McVey to Love, Dec. 3. McVey’s contact with Gov. Laney and his bill, McVey to CS, Dec. 2, 1946.
Bill Presley told the author about taking condemned prisoners to Huntsville. Sources for material on the Swinney family reactions and strategy in Youell’s case came from the Clarence Swinney papers, consisting, as in a previous chapter, of correspondence among the various members, as well as the attorney McVey. The extradition request by Texas Gov. Coke Stevenson to move Swinney from Arkansas to Texas is in: Record of requisitions and extraditions, 1939-1965, Texas Secretary of State fugitive records, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Extradition, call to Gov. Laney, Frederick’s reactions and conversation with Maxwell Welch reported in McVey to CS, Dec. 10, 1946. Youell Swinney’s postcard of Dec. 9 is in Clarence Swinney papers. Details of the Titus County jail and the sheriff came from Robert Russell. “Phantom Lead . . . Dud,” Gazette, Dec. 11, 1946; two suspicious characters, McVey to CCS, Dec. 12, 1946; SCS to CS. undated (circa Dec. 12). McVey suspicious, etc., McVey to CS, Dec. 18, 1946. Tackett and Johnson escape death, Texarkana Gazette, Dec. 23, 1946. SCS and Seconal, SCS to SC, Nov. 17, 1946; Nella Swinney to CS, Nov. 24, 29, 1946; Rev. Swinney’s loss of pastorate, SCS to CS, Jan. 11, 1947. Rev. Swinney advice to Youell Swinney, enclosing letter from Elmer Lincoln, Jan. 13, 1947; Rev. Swinney belief in light sentence, asks for Seconal. SCS to CS, Jan. 17, 18, 1947; Rev. Swinney advice to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, SCS to CS, Jan. 22, 1947. Buzz Hallett related what he saw and heard in the courtroom during his testimony years later at Swinney’s evidentiary hearing on a writ of habeas corpus. Hallett’s address is in the Texarkana City Directory of that time. The judge’s charge to the jury is a part of the evidentiary hearing documents. “This thing is not over,” McVey to CS, Feb. 17, 1947. “They have done exactly,” SCS to CS, Feb. 26, 1947.
The Texas prison roll, a part of the Texas State Archives, contains the inmate’s information as noted. Inmate photos are in Texas Department of Corrections files. The elder Swinney remained, CSC to CS, May 6, 1947. “I am wondering,” McVey to CS, Dec. 17, 1947. In midsummer 1948, SCS to CS, July 31, 1948. “Would you get me . . .” SCS to CS, Aug. 13, 1948. Elmer L. Lincoln to Youell Lee Swinney, #108586, March 10, 1948 (Clarence Swinney papers). Donaldson suicide, death certificate; Ted Asimos, Jerry Atkins interviews. Peggy Swinney’s divorce, remarriage: divorce records, Bowie County District Clerk’s office; marriage license, Miller County Clerk’s office. Bench warrant, Bowie County District Court docket, which provides no details; other documents providing more details could not be produced; Henslee testified to the trip to Huntsville during Swinney’s evidentiary hearing. Inez Martin to Garrison, March 14, 1949; Garrison to Martin, March 18, 1949, Johnson papers. The correspondence of Swinney’s sister with Patman is in the Youell Swinney folder, Wright Patman Papers, LBJ Library, Austin, Texas: Maxine Childs to Wright Patman, Jan. 12, 1959; Patman to Childs, Jan. 16, 1959; Patman to Jack Ross, chairman, Board of Pardons and Paroles, Jan. 16, 1959; Childs to Patman, Jan. 19, 1959; Ross to Patman, Jan. 22, 1959; Patman to Childs, Jan. 27, 1959.
The author reviewed Swinney’s records at Texas Department of Corrections in 1971 and obtained extant records permitted under Freedom of Information requests subsequently. Items not released in the FOI request but seen in 1971 included a letter to the warden of his fear of becoming an “oral queer,” his short story, and records related to the sexual act, from which notes were taken. Documents related to Swinney’s application for writ are in the complete file of the evidentiary hearing, Texas State Archives. Visitor to Bill Presley in 1971, told by him to author.
The documents and transcripts of the evidentiary hearing and related motions and papers provide the details of this chapter, supplemented by interviews with Jack Carter, A. M. Adams, Tillman Johnson, and others.
The transcript of the evidentiary hearing provided the chapter’s material.
The proceedings in this chapter come from the transcript of the hearing and related documents, Texas State Archives. The five members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals at the time included Carl E. F. Dally, Leon Burr Douglas, Wendell Albert Odom, John Frank “Jack” Onion, Jr., and Truman Ernest Roberts. The court later was expanded to nine. Jack Carter told of the call from Lynn Cooksey and his meeting Bessie Booker Brown.
Judge Jack Carter recalled Swinney’s visit to his home. Swinney’s record after release from prison in 1973 has been documented from FBI files obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The files contained Swinney’s rap sheet, or record of criminal arrests, and statements from witnesses and federal agents related to his various activities. Robert Kerr’s review of the movie appeared in the magazine Arkansas Times, November 1986. He also published an excellent report on the case after forty years, along with a review of the movie, in the Texarkana Gazette, March 23, 1986. An online search yielded the foreign title versions. Other background came from Clarence Swinney and the short stories are in the Clarence Swinney collection.
Interviews with Glenn Owen presented his argument for closing the case by exception. Facts regarding closing cases by exception were found online. Among others, the FBI website details conditions for the process. Go to http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/frequently-asked questions/nibrs_faqs_inspec and then scroll to Exceptional Clearances, which lists the conditions to be met. Other searches offer information on how such a clearance is accomplished in various locales, as well as discussion about whether specific clearances were proper or abused. See, for example, the Goldwater Institute in Arizona and its brief, “Justice Denied: The Improper Clearance of Unsolved Crimes by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.” Similar searches may yield information about the process in Portland, Oregon, and Miami, Fla., the latter of which may be read in the article by Wanda J. DeMargo and Jay Weaver, “How reform turned into curse for sheriff,” The Miami Herald, posted March 13, 2005. For a breakdown of Clay County, Florida, 2005 crimes solved by arrest and by exception, see www.claysheriff.com/documents/AnnualUCR2005_ool.pdf.
Louis Graves told of his conversation with Jones Floyd in an interview with the author in Nashville, Ark. Mark Bledsoe recounted his experience to the Texarkana Gazette in 1996.
Tillman Johnson reported his dreams during several conversations. The transcript of Gonzaullas’s final interview, conducted by Bob Mitchell and Alva Steen on January 26, 1977, at his home in Dallas, is a part of the E-Book Project of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Waco, Texas. It was at this interview that he made the statement on the epigraph of this book, regarding the panic that he found in Texarkana. Andrea Anderson, Richard Griffin’s niece, made her remark at a Griffin family reunion in 2010 which the author attended as a guest and spoke about the case. Helen Morrison’s idea of a dignified memorial for serial-killer victims is in her book, My Life Among the Serial Killers, 213.