In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Its ugly to describe and imagine these killings. It was so essential to the chronology that the cash-strapped county that tried Ackroyd years later flew in a Timex exec from the East Coast to testify about the watch and its timekeeping. The language of the story is spare and lean. It was a sensational crime that remains unsolved. 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. I remember him spanking her over one of those old school windup alarm clocks and it got broke and he was trying to fix it in and stuff and him and mom were talking about it and they were both getting heatedmom said to line them up and spank them until (one confesses) They were getting ready to line us up. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal . Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. You know, he said, both of you sitting there pointing your fingers at me, and I didnt do nothing.. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. We had a lot of discussion about the ending. Most of your sentences are short and simple; subject-verb-object, short sentences, short paragraphs. most spectacular scenery from the Cascade foothills to the coast. Investigators suspicions deepened as his story began to shift. Margaret (Haberman) agreed and suggested that we pare them down to a manageable number for publication. Hed returned to Sweet Home to live with his mother and split for good with Linda. The dialogue and scene-setting details how Ackroyd tapped his leg with his knife, for instance came from interviews with Marlene. When it concluded, the judge sealed the court records. The case went cold. Highway worker after highway worker said they werent there that night, they couldnt vouch that it had happened. He rolled up the window and slammed the door. She wore the buckskin boots her husband bought her even though the couple couldnt afford them. This section could perhaps have served as a nut graf, placed much higher in the story. It was scary. A couple of weeks later, Marlene sat in the back of an unmarked police car as two officers drove her to the lie detector test. Do investigators believe Ackroyd was responsible for these unsolved deaths? A dozen or so work crews called the junction home. Vacuum the house. The project was a true collaboration. He said her body was lying in the same wooded area where scraps of her clothing and bits of bone were found. Guilty. I was the last one to see her alive.. We will go through the lives and deaths of Kaye Turner, Rachanda Pickle, Melissa . Kaye Turner's killing became a faded memory. It was the last time any cop talked to Ackroyd. Police photos showed her watch in the woods near where her partial remains were found. Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders were murdered in 1992, in Lincoln County, Oregon. Her description provided a distinct sense of place. Both reports are attached to this post. "This . What was your source and why did you use it when so many other times you chose to paraphrase speech? The girl, 13 years old, had never been found. That may have also played a role in their response. When parent conferences rolled around, no one showed up. The subject matter is horrific. The spring camping trip to Newport was supposed to mean time with family, but she and Sheila took off the first chance they got. We talked all along about how graphic to be. And this guy basically got away with it.. Yet neither man confessed to police. I was able to reconstruct this scene based on a detailed interview with Marvin Laront, Was the use of such sickening details debated before the story ran? When cops went back to her years later, she apparently felt more at ease talking about what really happened. Armed with an ax or hatchet, he attacked the women, both students at Yale University. Despite having a rape kit showing evidence of the assault, her story was disbelieved by authorities. A new prosecution would be too expensive. Forensic experts and search-and-rescue workers spent nearly a week looking for her remains. The men were told to drop it. One man committed all the crimes and he is held responsible for the first time here. Its a testament to taking a second or third look with fresh eyes and newer forensic techniques at old crimes. I wanted him to know that the reporting was continuing and that a story would likely appear sometime in the coming months. She answered right away and was willing to tell me about her experience so the three of us headed to Salem to interview her. I asked him for an interview. Great verb choice! We needed to say that. In the courtroom, she turned to face Ackroyd. He claimed hed reached down to touch the slain womans arm and hair. Beck left Oregon. A few days later, I received a handwritten letter from Noel. How and why did you settle on that approach? Its a combination of rhythm the variety is more interesting and simply finding ways to weave in the necessary details of who, what, when, where and why without overwhelming readers. She invited us in and we waited for Noel to return from running an errand. There was something really hinky about it. One detective took time to sketch Ackroyds loose connections to Melissa and Sheila how he and the teenagers knew some of the same people in Sweet Home, his hometown. When he got home, I explained the purpose of our visit, what the series would report and how it would include details about his wifes killing that would be upsetting. I know from watching Dave Killens powerful documentary that much of what you summarize in the story, especially peoples voices, appears there instead of the print narrative. Narrative is not typically what Ive done. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. John Arthur Ackroyd (died December 30, 2016 at age 67) was an American murderer and a serial killer. The details surrounding the assault are terrifying enough. Two were Jane Does. The grand jury returned an indictment on a single count: murder. Two more young women disappeared about a month before Ackroyd was arrested and charged in Kayes death. The annotated version that ran online was a much shorter version of my own footnoted drafts of this story. They didnt hear from Ackroyd, who had decided not to testify. Ackroyd stopped. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. He had already raped a young mother by the time he happened upon Kaye the day before Christmas in 1978. [3] In 1978, along with an accomplice, Roger Dale Beck, abducted and murdered Kaye Turner. If you would like to . Old coworkers told Benson and Snow how theyd seen Ackroyd around a highway project near a gravel logging road off Highway 20. In our meetings early on, I filled every square inch of the board with dates, victims, themes, etc. The details throughout are extraordinarily vivid. Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. Read Full Profile. Yes, we saw Highway 20 as its own theme and character. In other scenes, Beck grabbed her as Ackroyd looked on. There was stuff I wanted to say about them that didnt really fit in elsewhere so this seemed like a good spot for that. The sisters knew why she was afraid. Thats when Ackroyd picked up a woman from the side of the road, dragged her into the woods and raped her. . This detail is so specific. There was the rivet found near Sheila and a beaded seat cushion used at the time in cars and trucks. This was looking forward. The watch played a key role in helping to pin down when she was killed. Shes finally believed and theres satisfaction that comes with that. So here: Whos responsible for this carnage? And so the case reached a quiet end in the fall of 2013. The Highway 20 Serial Killer Unexplained Oregon. Kayes husband Noel remarried. Detectives didnt dwell on the highway worker. On Christmas Eve morning in 1978, she went out for a run in Camp Sherman, where she, her husband and friends planned to spend the holiday. Although many versions exist of the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir . They wrote down his habit of taking time off around the disappearances, as hed done with Kaye and Rachanda. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? He basked in attention from police. Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. There were days when we were depleted after doing interviews or looking at these files and crime scene photos. By now, investigators knew who they were dealing with. Harmon was more direct when he returned to the prison a second time. Ackroyd returned to the periphery. It made sense to strip it down. I spoke with his coworkers and friends. She spotted two young women she knew. Marlene flew out of the pickup, a blur moving toward the house. I would describe it as unsatisfying and extraordinary. He was convicted of a sex crime in Minnesota, served seven months in prison, and moved to California. Seemed like the most hopeful note on which to end a series that didnt offer much light. I tried to picture this scene. Why was it important to do so? Tagged: The Oregonian. Their connections to Ackroyd were never made public. All these years later, the Turner trial would be the first step in bringing the killer to justice. He lies down in the dirt and stares up: Is this what his sister saw before she died? Like Kayes watch and her hair in the birds nest, this Fireball detail is one I knew I would use. Their stories have another connection: John Arthur Ackroyd.A highway mechanic who targeted women on the long stretch of highway that he know so well from endless trips.Calm and collected on What lay behind this approach? Ackroyd was born on October 3, 1949, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. She always made the project a priority and didnt make me feel like, Oh, God, Im not contributing or my colleagues are having to pick up the slack. It was a great detail that I needed to work into the story. I can hear her bafflement on the 911 audio, which Ive listened to over and over. www.opendialoguemediations.com. 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. I was able to reconstruct this scene based on a detailed interview with Marvin Laront He offered no explanation. So instead of hundreds of footnotes, we ran about 150 in a separate version of the story that also links to original source material. What sources did you rely on to reconstruct the events of your trial? We bounced ideas off each other and checked facts. It was my way of acknowledging to the reader that this has been an epic tale that wont have a Hollywood ending. The responsibility of speaking for Rachanda rested with her brother, Byron Pickle, then 37. Highway workers told them the rivet was a common part they carried on the job. So Dave and I drove a couple hours south to the Turner home Noel had remarried in the years after Kayes death and knocked on the door. How do we create a person's profile? I found her through Nexis, I think. If you change your mind and want to show me, Harmon called out, let me know.. Eventually, the investigation stalled. I would imagine there were several possible structures for the series. Ackroyd was abusive to both Byron and Rachanda. I lied like hell back then, she told McAnulty. Detectives moved on. I used a massive spreadsheet for reference. Something bad happened to her. Their stories have another connection: One man is linked to all five crimes. She thinks those factors played a role in their handling of the investigation. 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. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. st thomas the apostle catholic church mass schedule Over time, the two made painstaking progress. Why? Why did you open the series this way? My goal all along was to limit reader confusion. Covering thought leadership in journalism, 2023 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, It was pure serendipity. By his account, Rachanda was gone when he returned a couple of hours later. I have the audio of this conversation. She recalled how Marlene had arrived at her house, sobbing, saying something terrible had happened. She listened to pop stars Debbie Gibson and Wilson Phillips in her bedroom and teased her brother, who was her protector and playground companion. A cop once mentioned to me that Ackroyd always had a bunch of these candies in his pocket and would pop them into his mouth during interrogations. The ending because you want to leave readers with a meaningful and hopefully memorable coda, the lasting impression. It was a real weight. Dried blood covered his arms and hands. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the junction. The cause: heart disease. Why did you go to this trouble? Her father waited a few more days before calling police, then the FBI. Noel Turner drove through Camp Sherman to look for his wife. Search by city, ZIP code, or library name Search Learn more about precise location detection. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother was a homemaker. The report was a summary of what he told police. Finding no sign of her, he panicked and called police. He drew an orange grid, each column dedicated to a victim assaulted or killed, likely by Ackroyd. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for John Arthur Ackroyd . The story, photos and documentary took home five Northwest Regional Emmys, the Bruce Baer Award for Oregons best investigative reporting, and was a finalist for the Scripps Howard multimedia journalism award. This time, the DA says come on down and I met with him and his chief deputy and they basically walked me through the grand jury presentation. For now, I just want the reader to know something triggered their interest in what happened to Marlene and leave it at that. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. Why? Now, a woman had gone missing, triggering a massive search that made headlines clear to Portland: Husband fears kidnap: Turner searchers losing hope, one read in The Oregonian four days later. Without the film, do you think you would use more voices? These are important stories to be told, he wrote. This is a messy story that jumps around in time. Sheila often slept away from home but stayed in touch with her mother. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. Sheilas parents had died, leaving her younger brother to carry on alone with his grief. A cinnamon candy? Hed planned to fix snowplows but decided to take the day off after learning parts hadnt arrived, a claim that baffled his supervisor, who said there was plenty of work to keep Ackroyd busy. Then Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyd's 13-year-old stepdaughter, disappeared. He wouldnt admit to killing the girl, but he wouldnt deny it either. Then, two decades later, in 2010, another detective picked up the file. Plus, in an era of smartphones, a Timex wrist watch gives readers the sense that this crime happened in another era. A father himself now, Byron gets a catch in his voice when he talks about it. The cops cheered. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. It also won best special section in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associations annual awards. Shed be back in an hour, in time for breakfast. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. The beginning because you have to engage and explain but not overpromise, all the while getting the tone right. Rachandas brother, Byron, still sees her so clearly, her sweet features framed by brown hair. The sheriff declined to comment last year and has since retired. Was that a conscious decision? The last time the two saw each other, Rachanda was in the backseat of a Chevy Blazer headed home. Hanna was returning to his place in Camp Sherman after working the night shift.
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