by BobA. Troutt
*****
In the Light of Day
The Undertaker
It was early morning on December 9, 1962 in Walnut Creek, Arkansas when Detective Howard Hudson and Detective Darrell Durham arrived on the crime scene at the Traveler’s Rest Motel. The body of Linda Waller, the fourth victim of a rage of murders that held the whole town captive, had been found. It had just started snowing that morning and the forecast was calling for four inches of snow and ice over the next couple of days. The winds coming over the nearby creek kissed the early morning and sent chills to all along with the chilling thoughts of what would happen next. A serial killer was on the prowl in the town. He had already killed three other women by the names of Cheryl Ward, Chris Russell and Mary Wendel. He was called the Undertaker because of the way he left his victims. He sewed his victim’s eyes and mouth shut and placed their arms down by their side. Around their neck he hung a cross made of twigs hanging from a shoestring. He covered his victim’s nude bodies with a sheet exactly like they do in a morgue. The bodies of Cheryl Ward and Linda Waller were found in a motel room. Chris Russell’s body was found in a nearby field not far from town; she had been out jogging when she disappeared. Mary Wendel’s body was found in an old abandoned house outside of town. Walnut Creek was a small town about thirty-two miles southwest of Little Rock in Lincoln County. What in the killer’s past would lead a deranged killer on such a bizarre killing spree in Walnut Creek was the question on the detective’s minds. When they knew that, they would know the motive for his actions.
As the detectives tried to unravel the crimes, they searched for answers to a lot of unanswered questions. The detectives and the town were baffled by the murders and why the serial killer had chosen Walnut Creek. The detectives worked around the clock to find the killer before he killed again. The mayor advised all women to stay at home. But, if they had to go out he recommend they not go out alone. The detectives speculated the killer met his victims when they were out shopping or running errands. They were not sure if he abducted them or if somehow, someway he was able to talk them in to going with him. All the victims had been choked to death but none of them had been sexually assaulted. He was probably a very attractive man, a smooth talker and a charmer. Each of his victims seemed to have come from a troubled marriage. The detectives believed he stalked his victims for a while to find out what kind of relationship they were in and then he would make his move. It appeared he focused on women in troubled marriages. The detectives speculated he lured the women by engaging them in conversation about their troubles and heartaches. Once he got them with his charm, he killed them, left their corpses behind and moved on to his next victim. He appeared to be the kind of person you couldn’t say no to. He preyed on their weaknesses to get what he wanted.
It took Detective Hudson and Detective Durham a few hours to finish their investigation at the motel. However, they didn’t find any fingerprints or locate any eyewitnesses. From what the motel manager stated, Mrs. Waller paid cash for her room and he didn’t see anyone with her; she seemed to be alone. It was a couple hours after she checked in when he received a call from a man in the room next to hers. The man on the phone told him the people next door to him were arguing and fighting and he wanted to know if he could get them to calm down. However, when he went to her room, he didn’t hear anything. When he knocked on the door, it slightly opened. He called out her name but there was no answer. He slowly opened the door, saw her body lying on the floor and immediately left to call the police. The man next door to her told the detectives he hadn’t seen or heard anything and he hadn’t called the manager. The detectives believed it was the killer who called the manager.
As the detectives headed back to the police station, they went over some of their notes. All the victims were between 25 to 36 years old. All were blondes or bleached-blondes. And, they all had marital problems. When they got back to the station, they grabbed a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee and began to try to unravel the cases. On the bulletin board, they listed information from all the cases and tried to piece together the puzzle. It was up to them to put the puzzle together that would lead them to the killer. Hours later, they still hadn’t come up with much of anything so they decided to go and hoped they wouldn’t get a call during the night about another murder.
The chill of the long, bitter winter night and the presence of evil lurked about the town, terrorizing and paralyzing it. As the town slept, the night was peaceful but they still awoke with the feeling of evil haunting the cold winter morning.
Early that morning, the two detectives returned to the station to go over the notes of the murders to see if they had missed anything. One cup of coffee after another brought them no closer to solving the case. Luckily, through the night, the killer didn’t strike again. Baffled by the crimes, the detectives and the police department tried to come up with something but the killer had not given them much to go on; he had covered his tracks well. As the days went by, everything was relatively quiet. There had not been anymore killings but they were no closer to solving the murders. Everyone around the station was speculating he may have moved on or was just someone passing through town. Or, he could by laying low. No one really knew and they didn’t know what to expect next.
The town laid dormant as it nervously anticipated when the killer would strike again. Then, it happened. Another murder interrupted the night. The haunting cries of the sirens echoed throughout the darkness of the chilly night. The eerie sound of the night hovered over the town with a driving fear until the early morning hours. The victim, Mrs. Gracey Pierce, was found in some bushes in the park. She, too, was found like the other victims; her eyes and mouth were sewn shut and her arms were down by her side. The cold of winter had set hard on Walnut Creek which made the detectives job that much harder. But, this time, they got their first big break. When news broke about Mrs. Pierce’s death, a good friend of hers contacted the detectives and told them about a man Mrs. Pierce had been seeing. The detectives got her to come to the station to describe him to a police sketch artist. Even though she had only met him a brief moment, the day before Mrs. Pierce was killed, she was able to give the sketch artist a pretty good description of the man. After he finished the sketch, the detectives sent the sketch to police departments across the state and news outlets seeking information about the man. They were instructed to contact the detectives at the Walnut Creek police department if anyone recognized or knew anything about him because he was a person of interest in some murder cases. Ann Rivers, the friend of Mrs. Pierce, told the detectives the man was nice looking, well mannered, attractive and a smooth talker. But, despite those characteristics, she told them there appeared to be a dark side to him. She couldn’t put her finger on it but he made her uncomfortable.
It took a couple of days after the detectives sent out the police sketch before they received any information but it wasn’t from any of the police departments. They got a call from a woman, Lois Bills, who had been attacked by a man. He attacked her, not too far from her house, when she took her dog out for a walk. The detectives rushed to her house to get a statement from her. She told the detectives she met the man shortly after she left the house. He initiated a conversation with her by asking her what kind of dog she had. They talked a few minutes before she became uncomfortable. When she started to leave, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her off toward the woods. When her dog started attacking him, he let her go and took off through the woods. She hurriedly ran back home, crying and upset, to call the police. This time, the victim was different. She was 56 years old with brunette hair and her husband was deceased. Was it the killer? Had he changed his pattern? When the detectives showed her the police sketch of the man Ann Rivers, Mrs. Pierce’s friend, had described, she was sure it wasn’t him. The detectives believed Mrs. Bills’ attacker was trying to pull off a copycat attack. Within a couple of hours, the police brought in a suspect
they believed was the copycat attacker. Mrs. Bills was brought in to pick him out of a lineup. She looked at the men and picked out her attacker. It wasn’t the person in the sketch. The detectives interrogated the man to see if he would incriminate himself in the murder cases but he didn’t. The man, Benny Walters, was indeed trying to be a copycat killer; he was only trying to get attention and he did. He was arrested and charged for assault on Mrs. Bills.
A couple of days later, after the copycat attack, a woman by the name of Mrs. Amanda Webb came forward and told the detectives she might know the man in the police sketch. She was a retiree from Missouri who moved to Walnut Creek a few years ago. Mrs. Webb told them she had worked at a mental hospital, Missouri State Asylum, in Flat Creek, Missouri. The man in the sketch favored a man who was a patient there. She wasn’t for sure if it was the same man or not but she thought it favored him a whole lot. It had been a while since she worked there and she wasn’t for sure if he was still a patient there. She couldn’t remember his name but for some reason he stuck out in her mind. The detectives who had no good leads to go on were grasping for straws. They had no choice but to check out the tip. After talking with Mrs. Webb, the two detectives decided they would head to Flat Creek early the next morning to check out her story.
It was a cold winter day and snow had already blanketed the ground for three days and the weatherman was calling for two more inches; the temperature was in the teens.
Depending on the number of stop they made and the weather, it would be about a twelve hour drive to Flat Creek. The detectives left around two o’clock that morning and arrived in Flat Creek about three o’clock that evening. As they headed to the Missouri State Asylum for the mentally ill, they both wondered if they would find their man. When they got there, they talked with several nurses and doctors to see if they recognized the man in the sketch. He did look awfully familiar to some of them but they weren’t’ for sure if he had been a patient there or not. A lot of them they talked with hadn’t worked there long. Plus, the hospital was so big he could have been a patient in another ward. The name, Charles Brandon, came up a few times but no one was for sure if he was the man in the sketch. A doctor by the name of Alex Bray did recall a patient who favored the man in the sketch. But, he didn’t believe he was still there because seven years ago several patients were released from the hospital. It was determined the patients had been rehabilitated and appeared to no longer be a threat to themselves or society so the state released them. He invited the detectives to come to his office so he could look through some old files. The state required the hospital to keep their files on patients for at least ten years before they were destroyed. It took him about thirty minutes to find the file he was looking for. The patients name was Charles Brandon. The detectives compared the picture in the file with the sketch. They were astonished by the similarity of the pictures. The detectives didn’t know for sure if it was their man but they were definitely going to check him out, if they could locate him. Dr. Bray looked over the notes in Charles’ file. It appeared Charles Brandon had killed his mother not long after his dad committed suicide; he was a teenager at the time. Charles was crazy about his daddy. He loved him so much. A few months after the death of his daddy, he turned on his mother and choked her to death. Unable to stand trial because of incompetency due to mental problems, he was placed there. But, after several years of shock treatments and medications, he seemed to be well enough to re-enter society.
“Let me see here,” said Dr. Bray. “It should be in here. Oh, yes, here it is. Charles Brandon was one of several patients released seven years ago in 1955.”
“Does he have any family living in the area we could possibly talk with?” asked Detective Hudson.
“I really don’t know for sure if his family still lives around here or not,” replied Dr. Bray. “Now, if I recall correctly, his grandmother used to come and visit him pretty regularly. But, I don’t know if she is still living,” he said. “I believe she may have passed away.”
“Before he was released from the hospital, did anyone else visit him?” questioned Detective Hudson.
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Dr. Bray as he continued flipping through his file. “Oh, wait a minute. There was a cousin who always brought his grandmother to see him. He didn’t talk about her a lot.”
“Do you have her name and an address for her?” asked Detective Durham.
“I might,” he said. “Her name should be on his visitor’s list. However, it has been years ago so her address may not be accurate. Detectives, Charles Brandon was a complex man. He had a lot of serious problems when he was here; he was bipolar and schizophrenic. But, after several series of electric shock treatments and daily medications, he appeared to get better. I put him on lithium while he was here and he was supposed to continue taking it when he was released. If he wasn’t taking his medicine on a daily basis, he very well could have gotten much worse than when he was here. If he did, there is no telling what he is capable of. Oh, yes, here is her name and address. I don’t know if this will help you or not.”
“Well, thank you, Dr. Bray,” replied Detective Hudson. “Anything is better than what we had. You have been very helpful and we appreciate your help.”
After talking with Dr. Bray, the detectives were on their way out when a woman stopped them to talk about Charles Brandon. She was a janitor there at the hospital and had overheard them asking questions about him. She had been there several years. She remembered Charles and also knew his cousin who used to bring his grandmother to visit him. His cousin was a good friend of hers. They met while Charles was in the hospital and became good friends. She often talked to her when his grandmother was visiting him. They hadn’t been in touch in a couple of years but she did know where she lived.
“Is she still at this address?” asked Detective Durham.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, “I believe so. The last time I talked to her she was.”
After thanking the lady for the information, the two detectives left the hospital to see if they could locate Mrs. Tammy Marshall, Charles Brandon’s cousin. It was a longshot but what did they have to lose. They just hoped it would pay off. When they got there, they knocked at the door; a little boy came to the door.
“Does Tammy Marshall live here?” Detective Durham asked.
He replied, “Yes. Mama someone is at the door for you!” he yelled.
A woman holding a baby in her arms appeared behind the little boy.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“We’re here to ask you a few questions about your cousin, Charles Brandon,” Detective Hudson replied as both detectives held up their badges.
“Um, what has he done?” she questioned hesitantly.
“Right now, we’re not sure he has done anything,” Detective Hudson replied. “But, he is a person of interest in some cases we’re working on and we just have a few questions for you.”
“Okay, I guess that will be all right. Come on in, detectives, and have a seat.”
“When was the last time you saw or spoke with Charles?” Hudson questioned.
“It has been about three years since I heard from him. When he got out of the hospital, he stayed with me for about a year and a half. I tried my best to take care of him and for a while he did good. He took his medication daily and had his blood checked regularly. Unfortunately, about a year ago, he decided he didn’t need the medication anymore and quit taking it. He started to get messed up again and became hard to handle. Actually, I became afraid of him. I was afraid for myself and my children. He was a mild-mannered person and was very helpful to me while he was on his medication. After he stopped taking it, he was a totally different person; it was like night and day. I tried and tried to get him back on his medication but he would just laugh at me and tell me he didn’t need it anymore.”
“What about his parents?” Detective Hudson asked.
“Dewight and Anita did the best they could,” she stated. “Charles was crazy about his daddy and Dewight was crazy about his son. They were not only daddy and son, they were best friends. He was so happy and a good boy when his daddy was alive. Dewight and Anita had a lot of problems. You understand about troubled marriages don’t you, detectives. Everyone experiences problems in their marriage at one time or another. They argued and fussed most of the time. Anita got pregnant with Charles at an early age. She didn’t want the baby or the marriage because she was a party girl; she like the wild side of life. She didn’t want to be tied down with a husband and kid. But, to save face, she married him and had the baby. Things were never the same after Charles was born. Anita blamed Dewight and Charles for ruining her life. As the years went on, things got worse between them. Dewight hoped and believed things would eventually work out but it only got worse. Later on, after several years of affairs, Dewight gave up and killed himself. After that, Charles, an already troubled child, became even worse. He never could accept his daddy’s death and he was never the same. He kept to himself; he became very distant and more troubled than he already was. We tried to help him but we could not reach him. His mama didn’t care too much for him. She had no time for him since she was too busy partying. Unexpectedly, one night, he turned on her and choked her to death. That’s when he was placed in the hospital where he stayed for several years. His grandmother, bless her soul, never gave up on him. I took her to visit him from time to time. We both hoped and prayed the treatment and medication would bring him out of it. After his grandmother died, I was the only family he had left.”
“Do you know where he might be?” questioned Detective Durham.
“I don’t know. I came home from work one day and he was gone. I haven’t seen him since. The last contact I had with him was when he sent me a card and told me he was working at a funeral home and that he was all right. The card was postmarked from some town in Oklahoma. I don’t remember the name of the town. That was the last time I had heard from him. You said he was a person of interest in a case you were working on. What do you think he might be involved in?” she asked.
“He’s a suspect in some murder cases,” replied Detective Hudson.
“Oh, my God,” she cried out.
“We don’t know for sure,” said Detective Durham. “We just want to talk to him.”
“Do you think he did it?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” Detective Hudson answered. “But, we desperately need to find and talk to him. Is there anything else you can think of?”
“Not right off,” she replied.
“Thank you, Mrs. Marshall, for your help and your time,” said Detective Hudson. “If you can think of anything, please give us a call at the station,” he said as he wrote the number down for her.
With tears streaming down her face, she walked the detectives to the door and told them if she thought of anything else she would give them a call. The detectives left and made the long drive back home. When they arrived back at Walnut Creek, they put out an APB for Charles Brandon and hoped they could find him before anymore murders took place. They believed he was the man they were looking for. If he wasn’t, they would be back to square one. Late on evening, they got a tip that Charles had a girlfriend by the name of Janet Massey living in Walnut Creek. When they went to talk to her about Charles, they found her laying on the floor in her bedroom; she had been severely beaten. The detectives called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Her next door neighbor told them she was pretty sure her boyfriend had beaten her because he did it all the time. The detectives showed her a picture of Charles but she couldn’t make a positive identification. She told them it kind of resembled him but her boyfriend had a beard, long hair and a scar down the left side of his face.
“Janet, I believe is her name, moved in a couple of weeks ago,” the neighbor stated. “They fussed and argued a lot. Several times, I wanted to call the police but I figured it wasn’t any of my business. Her boyfriend didn’t live there. Well, at least I don’t think he did because he was in and out a lot. He was a strange man with the look of evil in his eyes. I don’t see what she saw in him. I knew he was trouble when I met him.”
“Thank you, ma’am, for all your help. We’re going to head to the hospital to see if we can get a statement from her,” Detective Hudson said.
“Yes, sir, detective,” she replied. “I hope she’s going to be okay.”
The detectives left and headed to the hospital to talk with Miss Massey. When they arrived at the hospital, it was too late. Miss Massey had slipped in to a coma and later on that night she died. The next morning, a call came in to the station that a man resembling the police sketch was seen hanging around an old abandoned warehouse near the train tracks on Southwest Street. Quickly, the detectives and the police took off to hopefully catch their man. When the detectives arrived at the warehouse, the police already had it surrounded. Not knowing what to expect, the detectives cautiously moved in. When the detectives found him, he had hung himself. The detectives didn’t know if he was the killer or not. Dental records and fingerprints did identify the body as Charles Brandon. With no solid evidence or proof to tie him to the murders, the case became a cold case and was listed as an unsolved murder.
Strangely enough, after his death, the killings stopped. Was it him or had the killer moved on? Even Ann Rivers, a friend of Mrs. Pierce, contacted the detectives after she saw his picture on the news and stated she believed he was the man she saw Gracey with the last time she saw her alive. If it was him, the detectives believed he would seek out women in troubled marriages, have an affair with them and then kill them. They also believed within his deranged mind, he thought he was killing his mother over and over again to revenge his daddy’s death. Nonetheless, it all was speculation. They really didn’t know and probably never found out if he was the killer or not.
