Murder of Josh Jones

On December 31, 1890 Ike and Josh Jones would get into a drunken fight near Woodbine, Texas. This would result in Ike stabbing his brother. Josh would not immediately die as he would live for 10 days and would die on Jan.9, 1891, in his father's home.

There is not much information in this case that I could find.

SOURCES:
The Gavelston Daily News Jan. 10, 1891
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jan 11, 1891
Wise County Messenger Jan 31, 1891

Missing: Marion Alice Morton

2010 photo of Marion's home she was believed to be last seen alive.

On December 30, 1937, 52/52-year-old Marion Morton was reported missing from Georgetown, Delaware. THere's very little information in this case.

Her ex-husband was Bennet Carlton Morton. In the April 12 1930 Federal Census Marion was listed as the head of the house with her son Ralph (19 at the time) and school teacher Lewella Cain was a tenant in her home in Newark, New Jersey.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Missing Child: Melvin Charles Horst

On the afternoon of December 27, 1928 4-year-old Melvin Horst was playing with four neighborhood friends. They were playing at a vacant lot off of Chestnut St. in Orville, Ohio. The area was near the railroad tracks. At some point, Melvin decided to walk home alone because he only lived a block away. He was carrying his small red truck a gift he got on Christmas.

At 4:30 Zora decided to call him home from dinner and sent her oldest out to search for him at his friend's homes. He was not found.  He must have at least made it to his front yard as it was found his truck. They waited till his father Raymond got home and they searched the neighborhood at 6 p.m.

By 7 the police helped and they initiated the search at 8:30. The search was led by Roy who was Raymond's brother and village marshal. It was hoped that Melvin was mistaken as a child of a wealthy family and a ransom would come, but it never did.

Some theorize that his disappearance was to deal with Roy. The prohibition was going on at the time and Roy was zealous at getting bootleggers and enforcing liquor laws making several enemies. He was living with the family at the time and one of the bootleggers decided to get revenge. This included Elias Arnold and his children William, Arthur, and Dorthy McHenry and Dorthy's husband Bascom.

On Jan 2. 1929, the group was arrested for Melvin's disappearance. Elias had been in jail for the most part of 1928 and had a grudge against Roy. Later Charles "Junior" Hannah Elias 8-year-old nephew and a 9-year-old friend of Junior claimed to have seen Melvin go into the Arnold's house. Elias and Arthur were convicted and spent three months in jail when they realized the children had lied.

In 1930 Junior admitted that his father Charles Hannah and a neighbor Earl Conold had told him to lie. He said that they had killed Melvin and told the children to lie about seeing Melvin going to the Arnold's home. The men confessed, but it was coerced by Law Enforcement.

Some believe that it could be possible he was hit by a car and his body hid. That he was kidnapped and murdered. Or someone kidnapped him to raise as their own. None of these theories could be confirmed though.

Melvin was 4 years old at the time. He was 3'1" and 49 lbs. He had blue eyes and brown hair. He has a jagged burn scar on his hip. He was described as having an upturned nose and stocky build. He was wearing a checked sweater, a brown overcoat, and a stocking cap.

SOURCES:
Charley Project
NamUs
Daily Record
Daily Record

Strange Company

The Gatton Tragedy: Murder of the Murphy Siblings

Norah              Michael                Ellen

On the night of December 26, 1898, around 8 p.m. 27-year-old Norah, 18-year-old Ellen, and 29-year-old Michael Murphy left their home at Black Fellow's Creek outside of Gatton, Australia in a two-wheeled cart. Michael was driving his sisters to a dance held at the Gatton Divisional Hall and hoped to arrive by 9.  

The trio didn't know that the dance was to be canceled due to the lack of female attendance. They arrived and realized it had been canceled and headed back home. But they were to never return. 

Their mother had gotten worried and knew something was off. She sent her son-in-law William McNeil into Gatton to see why the siblings didn't return. That morning he found them after following his Sulky's distinctive track marks (due to a wobbly wheel) on the road. He followed them and found their bodies in a horrifying sight.  The police were soon contacted. 

The scene was marked off, but townspeople hearing of the murders came to the scene. It was contaminated by onlookers. The bodies were brought to a local hotel for autopsy. 

At the scene, Ellen and Michael were laying back to back while Norah lay a few yards away on a neatly spread rug. The girls had them hands tied behind their backs with handkerchiefs. Micheal had been both beaten and shot to death. He may have had his hands tied together at one point.The girls had been sexually assaulted and then they were beaten to death. Norah may have also been strangled. Nora had a hames strap tightly wrapped around her neck. Their horse had been shot and killed and 15 shillings were missing from Michaels purse. His purse was in his hand and a breeching strap nearby. 

Some suspected maybe they were killed by family members or they had been killed by a local priest as someone heard a woman screaming "father" that night. But the police believed that it may have been a transient who was in the area who killed the three.

They had two main suspects one was man name Richard Burgess, but he had a solid alibi and the other was a man named Thomas Day. Thomas's hut was near the scene and someone claimed to see him wash the blood from a pullover days later. But there was no clear evidence of who the murderer or murders were. No one was charged with this case and will remain unsolved. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia
Gatton Murders
Western Mail
Daily News
Huff Post

Murder of Hannah Brown

Hannah Brown lived in an apartment owned by Elizabeth Corney. She said that Hannah was a good tenant and lived there until December. Hannah told her landlord that she was going to get married on Christmas.

Hannah said her future husband wanted her to get pocket money from selling her things as where she was going they would have enough stuff. On December 24th a man came to her apartment and placed her trunks in a hackney-coach. She told Elizabeth that she wasn't going to hand over the keys yet because she had something still there and would be there Monday to pick it up.

 She never told anyone who he was, Except for a friend, Hannah Davis, someone supposed to participate in the wedding. They had dinner that her home All they got was the name Greenacre from Hannah and him. He promised to bring her to America to his property in Hudson Bay.

James Greenacre came to the friend's home on Christmas. They were all ready for the wedding. He asked her if she had seen Hannah. They stated no. He told her the wedding was off as he didn't want to pull them both into poverty after finding out Hannah had no property. He refused to come into the house and thanked them for the dinner they were invited to on December 22nd.

He then told her brother's mistress the same thing. He said that Hannah lied about having money and made him go into debt. She tried to get him to talk to Hannah's brother, but he refused. He was in a hurry to leave.

Hannah never arrived that Monday. Instead, a boy came with the key and told Elizabeth that a man had given him the key to give to her.  When she went in there was only a birdcage. The rent at the apartment was done weekly and was paid on Tuesdays.

On December 28, 1836, A man found Hannah's torso in a bag on Edgware Road in London, England. It was 20 yards from Pineapple Gate behind a flagstone, there was a cord that closed the mouth of the bag.  Inside the bag were bloody rags and a torn child's frock.

On Jan. 6, 1837 Hannah's head was found in a canal near Stepney. Her face seemed to have been mangled. Her legs were then found in Camberwell. She was left unidentified for 10 weeks. Her brother and wife then went to go see the face of the murdered woman. Fearing it was Hannah.

The face was mangled, but they were able to recognize her. There also other things that pointed to her identification. There was a bite mark from a dog that had bitten her on the leg, and her ear had been torn at some point.

Investigators found that the to be husband was James Greenacre. He was in bed with another woman when the police came. He rented a room and the woman and a child rented the other room in the home. Hannah's things were found in the home. He initially denied that he knew her, but soon admitted he did.  He told the Investigator that he was lucky he got him that night as he was leaving the next day.

He said he found that Hannah was trying to buy some silk nightgowns in his name. On Christmas-Eve she came to his home and seemed to be drinking with some coachmen. She asked for some Rum and tea and he obliged as they drank together.

He then brought up the silk gowns and that she misrepresented herself. She retaliated and told him they were declined and that he was lying about his worth. She was rocking her chair back and forth during this conversation and he put his foot against her chair. She fell backward.

Her head his a chunk of wood and he claimed it had killed her. He tried to shake her awake, but it failed. He then dismembered the body and pretended to look for her to tell her the wedding was off.

The autopsy showed that she was dismembered shortly after death. That the injury to the eye may have been first and then the blow to the back of the head. He told the woman he was living with that Hannah had left all of her things in the home. He gave the things to her and had no idea of the murder as she was out of the home at the time.

James Greenacre was found guilty of the crime.

SOURCES:
History By The Yard
The Champion and Weekly Herald
The Leeds Intelligencer and Yorkshire General Advertiser

Murder Ballads: Murder of Delia Green

The murder of young African American Delia Young may have been the inspiration for the folk songs "Delia" and "Delia's Gone"

By Christmas Eve 1900 14-year-old Delia Green and14-year-old Cooney Houston (sometimes referred to Mose or Moses) had been dating for months by then. The two were at the home of Willie and Emma West on 113 Ann St. which was one block from Delia's home in Savannah, Georgia.

The West's were having a Christmas Eve party at their home. There were quite a few people who joined the party. At 3 A.M. on Christmas day Delia and Cooney were still at the party. It was said that Cooney was loaded. There are contradictions on whether he was the only one drunk or not at the party.

Witnesses claimed that Delia was mad at Cooney. He was teasing her, calling her his wife. He was joking around that they'd had a sexual relationship and wasn't talking to him at the party. Sometime during the argument, she called him a "Son of a Bitch." This angered the boy.

A shot was fired into Delia's groin area. She was dead and Cooney had the gun. He decided to run. Willie West then caught the 14-year-old and handed him over to patrolman J.T. Williams. J.T. Williams said that Cooney confessed to shooting her. That they had gotten in a fight and she called him a son of a bitch. This angered him and he shot her and said he would do it again.

At his trial, he wore shorts to make people realize he was young. He also backtracked on his confession and claimed that the gun had gone off accidentally. He said the Willie West asked the boy to retrieve his pistol from the gunshop. He still had the gun on him when he came back from a second errand of getting more alcohol. Willie Mills told the court that he witness Eddie Cohn and Conney fighting over a gurn and it accidentally went off.

Other witnesses called out the lies. They stated that Willie Mills wasn't at the party at the time. He had left earlier. Eddie had also left the party earlier and didn't even struggle with the boy over a pistol. No one believed this story.

He was found guilty, but because of his age, the judge gave him life in prison instead of the death penalty. He was then paroled by Governor John M. Slaton 12 years later 1913. His life is unknown, but he had died in New York City in 1927.

The ballads never state or ignore the fact that the two were in their early teens. The Delia's gone version (found above) makes it seem as if  Cooney or the killer was intentionally seeking out to kill Delia that night. Which wasn't true it was a bad and childish decision. It's doesn't excuse Cooney's crime, but it wasn't intentional. But now you know the tragic background to this murder ballad.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Country Daily 
Murder By Gaslight 
Find a Grave
Haunted Savannah Tours

MISSING: Ricky "Jeanie" Bryant

On December 19, 1949, 4-year-old Ricky Bryant who went by Jeanie was home with two of her siblings and grandparents in Mauston, Wisconsin. One of her siblings were at school at the time and her parents were out of the house as her grandparents watched. That was when a fire broke out in the home.

Her brother who was 5 at the time said that Jeanie was standing in the yard with him. During the fire, a woman drove up in an expensive car and she got out of the car. She distracted Jeanie's brother by telling him they needed to get help and pointed down the street. Leaving Jeanie alone. When her brother returned Jeanie was gone.

The grandmother contradicted and said that only two of the three siblings had gotten out of the house. That Jeanie had still been inside and when the Grandmother went in she couldn't find her. She called out to Jeanie and got no response.

Most authorities believe that Jeanie had died in the fire, but being that there was nobody and the bone fragments found couldn't conclusively be determined to Jeanies they've opened a case. Her siblings think it's possible that the fire was on purpose and that Jeanie was taken and hidden by family members, or that it was possible she may have had a different father and was sent to live with her biological father.

Jeanie was 4 at the time and is a white female. She was 3'4" and 40 lbs. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes.

SOURCES:
Missing Unidentified and Victims
NBC
NamUs
Charley Project

Kidnapping and Murder of Marion Parker

On December 15, 1927, 19-year-old William Edward Hickman went to Mount Vernon Jr. High School in the Lafayette Square section of Los Angeles, California. He went to the office and told the registrar, Mary Holt, that Perry Parker the father of  12-year-old twins, Marion and Majorie.

He asked for Perry Parker's daughter. This confused The registrar as Perry had two daughters. He stated that the smaller one was who Perry wanted to see. It turned out that William didn't know that Perry had twin daughters or even their names. Regardless they trusted the man and handed over Marion to him believing his story was suspicious but true.

His story was all a lie and Perry was perfectly fine. It wasn't noticed that the girl was kidnapped until she was supposed to arrive home. She was reported missing and ransom notes came to the family. In the ransom letters, He asked for 75 $20 gold certificates which would equal $1,500 (this was equal with $21,887 today). The ransom letters were signed with "Fate", " Fox" and "Death"

The original meet was supposed to happen on December 16th and they were given instructions on how it was supposed to go. William had seen a policeman in the area and fled. A third letter was sent stating.

“I will be two billion times as cautious and clever, as deadly from now on. You have brought this on yourself and you deserve it and worse. A man who betrays his love for his own daughter is a second Judas Iscariot – many times more wicked than the worst modern criminal."
At 7:30 p.m. on December 17th Perry arrived at West 5th St. and South Manhattan Place in Los Angeles alone. He had the ransom money and hoped for the safe return of his daughter. He went over to a parked dark Ford roadster with a young man (William) sitting inside. William pointed a gun at Perry and when Perry asked to see Marion William pointed to the passenger seat.

Marion was sitting and unmoving and wrapped up to her neck. William told Perry that Marion was sleeping. Perry assumed that it meant she was chloroformed. Perry gave the stranger the ransom money. William accelerated his car about 200 feet and kicked Marion out.

It had turned out that she was dead. Perry quickly held his daughter in his arms. She had been horribly mutilated. Her legs and arms had been cut off and she had been disemboweled and stuffed with rags. He had sewed his eyes open with wires. Her back had shown evidence that she had been whipped.

He had strangled the girl and slit her throat before dismembering her. He later stated that he believed that Marion was still alive when he dismembered her though. He then wrapped the arms and legs up in newspaper and left them in Elysian Park where they were found on the 18th.

Police had no idea who had kidnapped the girl at first. All they knew it was a young man around 25 years old, about 5'8" and weighing 150 lbs. He had a shaved face and thin features with dark wavy hair. He was driving a dark Ford Roadster.

A break came in the case when a laundry mark that was on a towel used to stuff Marion had on it. It traced back to an apartment complex in Los Angeles. More than 100 police officers came to search room to room for the suspect. This was when they found Donal Evans (William Hickman) who was staying in one of the rooms.

They interviewed him and he stated that he hoped they find the fiend who killed the girl. They had no evidence against him and left him. This was when the man they knew as Donald Evans fled. Police found the roadster and inspected it. It had been stolen from Kansas City weeks before. Fingerprints in the vehicle belonged to a man named William Edward Hickman.  He was a career criminal.

The motive of the kidnapping was found. He was an employee of Perry Parker and was an assistant cashier. He had been fired for forging checks at the bank and Perry testified and opposed probation against him. This caused him to serve a brief time in jail.

Now knowing who the kidnapper was William's mugshot was plastered in many newspapers. After seeing the mugshot in the newspaper the landlady confirmed that Donald Evans was, in fact, William Hickman. Others in the apartment said they witnessed him carrying newspapers out the night of the Ransom pickup. Blood was found in the apartment.

William had stolen cars on the way heading north. One of the marked bills was found in Seattle and the man who did it matched the his description. Another showed up in Portland Oregon and on December 22 he was caught by police in Pendleton, Oregon.

 William denied being the man at the apartment. He claimed he had an accomplice, but the man he claimed that was with him was in jail at the time. He had claimed that this accomplice was the one who killed Marion to shut her up. Police did not find such an accomplice, and it was believed that he did this on his own. He stated that the kidnapping was so he could get money for college, but the police didn't believe him and thought it was actually revenge. At one point he asked if he would be as famous as "Leopold and Loeb."

At trial, he claimed not guilty due to an insanity plea. It was up the defense to prove that he was insane at least at the time of the crime. They put his mother on the stand and she claimed that insanity ran in the family. Several alienists (psychologists) came to see him, but the majority believed that he was sane.

The original judge was known to not have people hang. William made a comment along the lines that even if they don't find him insane the judge wouldn't hang him. The judge hearing about this comment disqualified himself from this trial.

After a 10 day trial, a verdict was made on the case. The jury did not believe he was insane at the time and that he was guilty. He was smiling when he heard the verdict. He was asked how he felt about it and his response was "The state won by a neck".

He was then sentenced to hang. On October 19, 1928, William walked 13 steps up to the gallows. A priest was standing up there and said: "Lord, have mercy on us." William responded, "Christ have mercy on us." A black hood was placed over his head  On the way down he hit his head on the gallow and violently shook as he hanged. After a few minutes, he was pronounced dead.

SOURCES:
Find A Grave 
The Malefactors Register
LA Times
Wikipedia
Rare Newspapers

Suspicious Death of Elsje Bengale

Susanna van Bengale was a slave of the Dutch East India Company in Cape Colony (modern-day South Africa). On June 17, 1699, 29-year-old Susanna gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Elsje. On December 8th little Elsje had died.

Susanna was interrogated about the girl's death on December 11th. She only confessed after she was tortured with thumbscrews. She claimed that she had strangled her daughter from desperation because she was unable to feed her. She said that her pleas for help were ignored.

She went to trial on the 12th and was found guilty and sentenced to death. Susanna was originally sentenced to have her breasts be ripped off with hot irons and to be burned alive. This was changed to her being sewed into a rock weighted sack and tossed into the Table Bay. She was then executed this way on December 13th.

SOURCES:
Executed Today
Of Warriors, Lovers and Prophets: Unusual Stories from South Africa's Past

First Fifty Years 

Murder of William "Curly" Shelton

On December 4, 1957, 32-year-old  William "Curly" Shelton was found lying face down in the front seat of his convertible. The vehicle was behind VFW Club on  U.S. 41A and 3 miles South of Henderson, Kentucky. He had been beaten to death and the murderer seemed to have only used his fists and stomped on him. He had a fractured skull and a broken leg and the beating resulted in his death. He was seemed to have been beaten outside of his vehicle and then thrown into the vehicle after the beating. 

Curly was a T.V. star in Evansville, Indiana. He was a regular on "Hillside Hoedown" a popular Saturday night country music variety show that aired on  WEHT-TV in northwestern Kentucky and Southwestern Indiana, and Eastern Illinois. He was a guitarist and vocalist.

He was kind of a playboy and was involved with several women. Some of who were married or in a relationship. He was also a heavy drinker and in deep debt, but police said robbery doesn't seem to have been the motive. It could be possible one of the women he was involved with's boyfriend or husband killed him. This case has never been solved.


SOURCES:
Kentucky State Police
WKYT
News 14
Messenger-Inquirer
The Messenger 

Murder of Difficulty Talby

Difficulty Talby was born in 1635 to Dorothy and her husband  John in Salem, Massachusetts. The couple had moved to Salem from Lincolnshire, England in 1630. They were active church members in the Puritan community. Their 6th child Difficulty Talby was born in 1635 and was baptized in October of that year.

Dorothy was a faithful and respectable member of the church but she had a history of spiritual delusions.  At one point because of her delusions, she was cast out of the church. She had attempted multiple times to harm her husband and children. Even refusing meat. She had assaulted her husband in April of 1637 and failed to show up to court and was bound to a post till she "learned her lesson". She was again punished for infractions against her husband in July 1837 and was publicly whipped. She seemed to improve for a while, but it became worse. 

In November of 1638, Dorothy strangled and broke Difficulty's neck. She claimed that God had told her to do it. 

She was found guilty at trial and was hanged on December 6, 1638. It was said that she tried to make it less painful by putting the cloth covering her head under the rope and she was hanging she tried to grab onto the chair to save herself.

Difficulty may be buried at the Kings Chaple Burying Ground in Boston. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave (Difficulty)

Find A Grave (Dorothy)

Executed Today 

Wikipedia

Winthrop's Journal

End of Watch: Murder of William Cole

On November 22, 1879, a warrant was out for Tom Leach an African American man who's brother Peter Leach was convicted of murder. Deputy Sherrif William Cole had gotten the warrant and spotted Tom with another one of his brothers Ben while walking down the street in Robeson County, North Carolina.

The young Sherrif Deputy Cole then came out with his Henry rifle and the warrant in hand. He went to talk to Tom with intent to arrest. When he confronted the two Tom asked William to read out his warrant. Tom then pulled a gun out of his sleeve and shot William in the forehead.

William fell onto the ground and Tom pointed the gun at Williams' chest saying "Damn you, take that." Then he shot him again in the chest before taking the victims Henry Rifle and fleeing to South Carolina.

I could not find any articles that stated whether or not they found and prosecuted Tom Leach for the crime.

SOURCES:
Officer Down Memorial Page
The Raleigh News
The Chapel Hill Ledger

Unsolved Murder of Carl Erwin DeLong Jr.

On October 30, 1956, 26-year-old Carl Delong Jr. was found unconscious Riverhills Drive east of 56th Street of Tampa, Florida. Carl had been beaten badly and his wallet with $70 in it was missing. His missing car was found at the bar he was last seen at. It had turned out he had gotten a ride from someone at the bar. It isn't stated whether or not if they think the people whom he rode with are suspects.

Carl would make it to the hospital, but unfortunately, never recover. He would stay unconscious for 22 days before dying from his injuries on November 20th. The motive for his murder seemed to have been robbery.


SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Hillsborough County Sheriffs
Tampa Bay Times October 31, 1956
Tampa Bay Times November 21, 1956
Tampa Bay Times November 23, 1956

Murder of Agnes, Maude, Eddie, Dorrie, Hughie, and Winnie Ching

27-year-old George David Silva who was of Cingalese decent was working as a farmhand for Charles Ching at Alligator Creek about 20 miles away from Mackay, Queensland, Australia. On November 16, 1911, Charles was away from the home at the time for supplies and money for George's wages. The three oldest children Florence, Henry and Henrietta were not living in the home at the time.

Maud (17) the daughter of Charles and Agnes (45) rejected George's advances. This angered George and went after the family. He shot Agnes and Maude in the neck with a revolver and a muzzle-loading rifle. He had beaten Hughie (5) and Winnie's (1) skulls in.  He dragged the bodies to the sitting room and placed them by a colored table and a table cloth placed on top of them.

He then took Dolly (8) and Teddy (10) away from the home and was witnessed by Grace Carey a schoolgirl who would walk home with the Ching Children. Once they got a mile and 1/2 he had shot and bashed both of their skulls in.

After the murder, he locked the door and waited for Charles. He told him that the family went to visit a neighbor and George and Charles had made dinner together in the kitchen house.  When his family didn't return Charles went to the neighbor he thought they were at. The neighbor stated they weren't there and to open a window for access to the house. So George and Charles did just that. Inside he found four members of his family dead. Two of the children were still missing.

George went to get the police and was carrying the bloody clothes that he wore during the attack. On the way, he burned the clothes, but they were later found.

George had tried to pass the blame to two neighbors named Dooley Khan and Charles Butler. There was no evidence to support that the two had killed the family. But after fearing a lynch mob would go after him, either way, he confessed to killing the family. He stated that Agnes wouldn't let him marry Maude.

George was found guilty and was executed on June 10, 1912. He was hanged at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane. 

SOURCES:

Murderpedia

INFANTICIDE: November 14, 1920 Wakefield/Woolley, England Baby Doe

On the afternoon of November 14, 1920, a farm laborer saw a green taxi-cab coming from the direction of Wakefield to Woolley, England. He said that the driver was wearing a uniform and that the nearside was a woman. He hadn't realized what the people in the taxi had done.

Another witness stated that while walking down Mill Lane towards Barnsley Rd. they saw the taxi pass the end of the lane. He saw someone closing a door and continued driving. It's believed that they tossed something out. What was left by the road was a pillow slip with a dead newborn baby girl inside.

The girl had been born alive but may have died due to inattention at birth. It's likely that the baby was abandoned like this to hide the fact the mother was even pregnant.

SOURCES:
Unsolved Murders

UNIDENTIFIED: 1930's death of a Unknown mother and two children

 

Reconstruction of Jane Doe and the Younger John Doe

On May 15, 1935, a woman named Grace Dague and her daughter Inez Perry Masterson were looking for flowers in the forest in East Middlebury, Vermont. Off of a remote road leading to the Brookins/Blackmer hunting came the two stumbled upon the skeletal remains of three murder victims.

The bodies were of a woman 34 to 45-years-old and two children one being 13 to 15-years old the other 9 to 11-years-old. At the time it couldn't be determined the genders of the children. and it's still unknown. Later DNA suggested the older child and woman were mother and child making it possible that she was mother to the two children.

Each had been shot in the head likely with a Colt Automatic which fired .38 caliber bullets. It's likely the three were sleeping when they were killed. As they seemed to have been in pajamas as pearl buttons used on them were found with the bodies and feathers from a pillow (likely from being used to shoot through to muffle the sound).

It's believed they had been there up to 1932 as one of the legs of one of the victims was covered by a tree root and a hunter, Edward Munso, stated he was hunting in the area and smelled a terrible odor in November of 1932, but didn't investigate it. The family may not have been local and may have been from anywhere.

The bodies were found with green and buff-colored canvas awning with pullies attached. It is believed to have been used to help drop off the bodies where they were found. It was described as 20 feet big and was the type used on Yatches or porches at the time. The awning was believed to have been manufactured and sold outside of Vermont.

They tried to have Orthodontists from all over to look at the teeth of the Doe's to see if they could recognize them. Jane Doe and the older John Doe had dental work done on their teeth. This did not lead to an identification.

Jane Doe was a white female between 34 to 45-years-old. She was around 5'2" and weigh undetermined. She likely had dark hair. She also had molted teeth and a number of fillings.

Doe 1 is white between 13 and 15-years-old. He was around 4'11" at the time. The Doe had Tooth-straightening devices on teeth, described as gold bands, or brackets encircling the teeth in the upper jaw. They were done in a ribbon arch appliance.

Doe 2 was white between 9 and 11-years-old. He was around 4'4" at the time.

Does 1 and 2 are believed and often talked about as if they are male, but their gender is still undetermined.

SOURCES:
Doe Network (Jane Doe)
Doe Network( JohnDoe 1)
Doe Network (John Doe 2)
NamUs (Jane Doe)
NamUs (Doe 1)
NamUs (Doe 2)
Rutland Daily Herald May 21, 1935
The Burlington Free Press May 22, 1935 (part 1)
The Burlington Free Press May 22, 1935 (part 2)
Salt Lake Telegram May 25, 1935
Rutland Daily Herald May 29, 1935
Rutland Daily Herald June 6, 1935

Unsolved Murder of Barbara May Williams

In 1958 26-year-old Barbara Williams was working as a nursing assistant at the Tresillian Hospital on the corner of Edward and Tyrell streets in Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia. She has been working there for around two years and lived on the premises in the staff area in her own room.

At about 6:30 p.m. on 7 November 1958 Barbara finished work and told friends she intended to go to bed early. At 7 p.m. she was seen by a ward maid hanging her laundry. Barbara asked the ward maid to buy her a newspaper and gave her the money before going to her room. The ward maid knocked on Barbara's door at 7:45 p.m. to give her the newspaper, but she didn't answer and the room was dark.

Police believed that she left soon after going to her room to an unknown location. Her makeup, cigarettes, and handbag were left in her room. She was last seen still wearing her work clothing. A red topper, blue blouse, red skirt, and black shoes. She was not seen at the hospital the next day was reported missing on the 9th. 

On 16 November 1958, her body was found in a shallow grave in the sand dunes near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Ross Avenue in Sorrento Beach.

SOURCES:

The Sydney Morning Herald December 21, 1958

Crime Stoppers