James Ellroy - Silent Terror

Since shredded plastic was mentioned among trace elements found at crime scene, I think this is a major lead. (Washington being held at 19th Pct. drunk tank in case further questioning deemed necessary.)

From the Kalamazoo, Michigan , Standard-Leader, September 10, 1980:

The body of a Kalamazoo resident known for his eccentricities was found in the shallow water of Lake Michigan near the Benton Heights Pier three days ago. Although decomposition was close to complete, bullets embedded in the skull pointed to shooting as the cause of the man’s death, and a teletyping of his unique dental bridgework to local dental labs yielded a rapid identification. The victim was Rheinhardt Wildebrand, 72, of Kalamazoo.

Wildebrand, a lifelong Kalamazoo resident, was an inventor who lived off of royalties from tool and die devices he developed back in the 1930’s. He was a local “character” who lived in a big gingerbread house at 8493 S. Kenilworth, flew the flag of his ancestral Austria on American holidays, seldom left his block and kept a 1953 Packard in his driveway — but never drove it. He was assumed to have no living family (his parents and one sister having died in the ’40’s), but recently a man who he told neighbors was his “nephew” was staying with him — and Benton Heights and Kalamazoo Police are now searching for that man as Wildebrand’s presumed killer.

The retired inventor’s neighbors told police that the nephew arrived sometime in early August, and that they often saw him with Wildebrand on the latter’s front porch, but that the man, like his alleged uncle, kept to himself. Neighbors described him as being “tall and strongly built, early thirties, dark hair and eyes and full beard.”

Lieutenant Loren Kelleher of the Kalamazoo Police Department, which is aiding the Benton Heights P.D. in its investigation, told Standard-Leader reporter Bob Shaeffer: “We’ve checked out the records on the Wildebrand family. The old man had one sister, a spinster, who died in 1941, which in all likelihood is before our suspect was born. So we know the ‘nephew’ stuff is baloney. We think robbery is the motive. The so-called nephew in all likelihood gained Wildebrand’s confidence, then stole his money and killed him. The old man was rumored to have large sums of cash hidden in the cellar. Right now we are going over the house for physical evidence and showing mug shots of Michigan, Illinois and Ohio criminals to neighbors in an attempt to identify the ‘nephew.’ ”

As for the neighbors themselves, they mourn the fact that there seems to be no one mourning the late inventor. “Rheinhardt was a strange old bird,” a Kenilworth Avenue resident told our newsmen. “But nobody — not even a weirdo like that — should have to get shot and dumped in the drink.”

Details on the investigation will be forthcoming.

Liaison Memorandum, sent to the Homicide Squad, Benton Heights Police Department by Lt. Loren Kelleher of the Kalamazoo Police Department.

9/15/80

Officers—

On the Kalamazoo end of Wildebrand, Rheinhardt J. — a big zero along with some interesting stuff.

A. — Victim’s bank accounts not hit — savings balance $41,000, checking balance $12,000 (R. W. Sent out large checks to credit-card companies before he disappeared).

B. — No turn-up on stolen or sold .38 with defective parts & no matchup on the shells (I ran statewide).

No ID on the “nephew,” & no one saw suspect with a vehicle.

C. — Canvassing of local res. — zero.

D. — Victim’s house searched, no wallet or ID found (probably floating in Lake Mich.). No money found, which confirms robbery as motive.

E. — The clincher on “nephew” as our man — all 3 stories, 12 rooms of house completely wiped clean of latents — washcloth marks everywhere. Nephew knows his stuff.

F. — Will you call me with feedback from your end soon? — Lt. L. Kelleher.

From the Baltimore, Maryland, Sun, May 19, 1981:

The shocking murder of Carol Neilton, found raped and brutally hatcheted in her apartment last week, appears to be the fourth in a series of slayings that began in Louisville, Kentucky, over two years ago.

In April of 1979, Kristine Pasquale, a nude dancer, was discovered in her Louisville apartment, butchered exactly like Ms. Neilton; Wilma Thurmann was killed in Des Moines, Iowa, similarly, on October 1 of that year; and last May 27, Candice Tucker of Charleston, South Carolina, met an equally gruesome end in that city. The physical evidence is identical in all four homicides — and there is an identical absence of clues. Baffled, the four police agencies involved in the investigations are discussing pooling their information in the hopes of avoiding a fifth death.

Time is working against them, however. Captain Reynolds Conklin, second in command of the Baltimore P.D. Homicide Division, told a media assembly last night: “These four homicides have spanned two years, and the official investigations on the first three are, in police parlance, cold. No suspect names have turned up in more than one city in the mass of paperwork thus far collected. No airplane, bus or train reservation lists have the same men visiting the four cities on the applicable dates, and right now we are simply doing paperwork and running with hypothetical footballs. That is how this case will be solved.”

But after how many more victims, Captain?

Inter-Office Memorandum, found under “Miscellaneous Reports” in Baltimore Police Department Case File # 199-5/81.

Skipper—

You said I should be candid, so here it is — nothing, except some decent theorizing from reading through Xeroxes of the Louisville/Des Moines/Charleston case files and talking on phone to two officers previously involved (Sgt. Ruley, Louisville — Sgt Brown, Charleston).

Both these (smart) officers feature a cop impersonator who got access to the victims by threatening shakedowns or arrest if they didn’t come across sexually. This would explain how killer entered pads of vict’s 1, 3, 4. Also, impersonating cops seems to be popular among psychos these days — witness that Hillside Strangler scumbag out in L.A.

I’ll take the reconstruction one step further — suppose the killer actually is a cop? Since the killings originated in Louisville, a check of airline/train/bus records for applicable dates of last 3 killings cross-checked against L.P.D. officers roster (unexplained or unusual officer absences too) might be in order. Needle-haystack stuff, but something to do.

Off the record — I think we should keep going through the standard motions, then bury this thing. Neilton was a hooker, this guy will never kill in our jurisdiction again, and Homicide has got eight major gang/killings & robbery/ killings running hot — they should be our priority. I’ve heard the feds are setting up something big called the Serial Killer Task Force (they’re going to be soliciting data from Municipal & State F.D.’s on old unsolveds, computer-checking them, etc.). Maybe that’s our best bet.

See you for the Orioles next Tuesday — Jack.

From the Columbus, Ohio, Telegram, May 30, 1981:

Sunbury, Ohio, May 29:

Workmen digging up a stretch of land with high-powered, earth movers uncovered the buried body of a transient ex-convict yesterday morning. The man had been dead for over a month, Columbus County Coroner Roger Diskant told reporters, and although “90 % decomposed,” an identification was made from his fingerprints. The man was William Rohrsfield, age 33, a vagrant with convictions for burglary and soliciting homosexual acts. The death was listed as a “gunshot homicide,” and the Ohio State Police are now investigating.