The Texarkana Phantom Killer

“In 1946 a man killed five people today he still lurks the streets of Texarkana”. Texas has had its fair share of famous criminals and murders happen in the state. Famous criminals like Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, famous murders like that of President John F. Kennedy. In the year of 1946 the small town of Texarkana on the border of Texas and Arkansas would be plagued by a series of attacks and serial murders carried out by a masked man the local newspapers would dub, the phantom killer. The killers attacks would last between February thru May of 1946 and would leave 5 people dead and 3 others wounded. This case is one of the earliest examples of serial murder in the United States before the public even knew what a serial killer was. The case is also one of the earliest examples of cooperation between multiple law enforcement agencies, the Bowie County sheriffs department in Texarkana Texas, the Miller County sheriffs department in Texarkana Arkansas and the Texas Rangers. Even with all these law enforcement agencies and a excessive manhunt the killer was never caught leading to the question still plaguing researchers today, who was the phantom killer? And why was he never caught?

In his book The Phantom Killer Unlocking The Mystery Of The Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of A Town in Terror author and historian James Presley attempts to unlock the mystery of the Phantom Killer. Presley has a personal interest in the case because his uncle Bill Presley was the sheriff of Bowie County Texarkana during the period of the phantom killers attacks giving the reader first hand accounts of this terrifying killers reign of terror.

The first attack by the killer occurred on February 22, 1946. The victims were young couple Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey. The couple met for a double date with Hollis’s younger brother Bob and his date Virginia Lorraine Fairchild. The two couples went out for dinner and a show at the local Texarkana movie theater, the two couples would say their goodbyes to each other around a quarter after 10. Hollis and Larey did not know what horror awaited them on the ride home. On the surface this sounds like a normal evening in a normal small town in the American south. Lyn Blackmon of the Texarkana Gazette once described the town of Texarkana as a normal nice town in the following quote. “ In good weather, families in nice residential sections sat on their front porches after supper, sipping iced tea. They swung on porch swings rocked in rockers and spoke to neighbors walking home from a movie or from a church… Few people locked their doors or windows. The only shades pulled down were in bathrooms or bedrooms”.

Later that evening Hollis and Larry drove into the night until they found themselves in a known lovers lane near Richmond Road just outside of town. All seemed nice and peaceful and the moon was bright. At some point that evening Hollis exited the car, he later told police he was examining the stars, when suddenly without warning a flashlight was shining in his face. Standing before Hollis was a tall man wearing a white burlap sack over his face with holes cut out for his eyes and mouth. The masked man had a flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other. Bill Presley describes this altercation in his book The Phantom Killer Unlocking The Mystery Of The Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of A Town in Terror. “ Take off your fucking pants!” The killer ordered this to Jimmy Hollis who did not know what to make of this situation. Hollis responded “ Fellow you’ve got me mixed up with someone else. You’ve got the wrong man.” According to Presley this only made the masked man angrier. The masked man pointed his gun right at Hollis and shouted. “ I don’t want to kill you, fellow so you better do what I tell you! Take off your goddamned pants. Now!”. From the car Mary Jeanne cried in fear and pleaded to jimmy “Jimmy please take them off, Hollis did as the masked man asked and took off his pants, no sooner did he do that, the masked man moved closer to Hollis and began beating him across the face and head with his gun. Fearing that Hollis was dead Larey attempted to get out of the car and flee for her life. As she did the masked attacked came upon her with his gun drawn. She begged for her life pleading that they didn not have any money, this only infuriated the attacker. The Phantom yelled at her to run away and even yelled at her when she tried to run into a nearby ditch “Not that way! Go up the road”. As she ran the Phantom went back to Hollis and began beating him. Larey would run for her life but the night was dark and she became disoriented and turned around. Eventually the Phantom would catch up to her and according to the police report she would later give, the masked man attempted to sexually assault her with the barrel of his gun. Had it not been for a cars headlights in the distance the Phantom most assuredly would have killed them both. Larey made her way to the nearest house she could find and had the homeowners call the police and an ambulance picked Jimmy Hollis up who miraculously was still alive. The first officer on the scene was Bowie County sheriff Bill Presley, uncle of author James Presley. This case was indeed a bizarre one, from some accounts this seemed to be a simple robbery. But the assailant hadn’t taken any money from either victim, and why had he insisted Jimmy Hollis take off his pants. What made this situation even odder is how both victims gave different descriptions of their attacker. Jimmy Hollis described the attacker as a tall tanned white man, whereas Mary Jeanne Larey described him as a tall light skinned African American man. The only common thread in the story was the white mask the attacker wore to protect his face. The Texarkana Daily News would release an article the next day entitled Masked Man Beats Texarkanian and Girl. The people of the town were shocked but tried to shrug it off as a simple albeit bizarre robbery. This was not the case for the victims of this horrible attack Jimmy Hollis knew better, he knew they were dealing with a crazed killer. “That mans dangerous, he’s a potential murderer. The next one he gets ahold of will be killed. Evidently he thought he killed me that night. I know he was crazy. The crazy things he said. I know his mind was warped.” In this time period the thought of a serial killer didn’t make sense to local law enforcement, why would someone attack two innocent lovers if they were not after money? The thought of someone attempting to murder someone simply for pleasure was beyond their comprehension. they police would look after every angle, some thought the masked man was an someone with a grudge against Jimmy Hollis. Others pointed their finger at Mary Jeanne Larey, thinking the attacker could have been a jealous ex- lover she was protecting, all theories would lead to no arrests or further clues.

Life moved on in Texarkana after that. Residents tried to shrug the attack off as a rare bizarre instance in their little town, No one was prepared for the horror that would engulf this once peaceful southern town. On March 24 1946 the Phantom would strike again, this time committing his first acts of murder. Richard L. Griffin age 29 and Polly Ann Moore age 17 were found brutally shot to death in Griffins car. The two had only been dating a few weeks and the night of their murder had gone out for dinner and a movie with Griffins sister Eleanor Griffna nd her boyfriend Jesse A. Proctor. They would be the last people to see the couple alive. What exactly happened to the couple is sketchy at best but author Bill Presley using police files and interviews paints the picture best. “ We cannot be certain exactly what happened next. Eventually the gunman shot both Richard and Polly, first restricting Richards movement by forcing him to drop his trousers and then, inside the car, shooting him twice in the back of the head, spattering blood all over the inside of the car and probably onto himself. He shot Polly twice outside the car on a blanket. Her blood soaked the blanket and the ground beneath it. Outwardly there was no sign of a beating or of rape.”. The Phantom had gone from assaulter to murderer in just three weeks. This is very similar to the attack against Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey. Once again the Phantom went after a young couple parked out on a known lovers lane area. Both victims were in a car when attacked and killed with a .32 pistol and it seems in both cases the Phantom attempted to make the male in the attacks take of their pants. The main question that is still baffling to this day is why was Richard Griffin killed and left in the car and Polly Ann Moore placed outside of it on a blanket? According to historian Nancy Hendricks of Arkansas State University “Blood stains on the ground indicated they had been killed outside of the car and then put back in it”. Police were baffled and it now became clear that they were dealing with a dangerous deranged killer. Sheriff Bill Presley would reach out to the Miller County Sheriff’s department and the Texas Rangers for help in solving this bizarre case and putting an end to the Phantoms reign of terror before it escalated further. The Texarakana Gazette would report on this story as soon as the ness of murder had broken out with an article entitled Couple Found To Death In Auto. Bill Presley describes the sense of the town best in the following passage “In the new case, no suspect could be identified; no motive seemed to exist. Those who knew the victims couldn’t provide the slightest information that might lead to a suspect. The verdict of the justice of the peace remained valid: they had died at the hands of an unknown person for unknown reasons.”

Three weeks later on April 13th 1946 the Phantom would commit his second double murder claiming the lives of 15 year old Betty Joe Booker and 16 year old Paul Martin. Bettty Joe Booker was described as very smart and very popular by residents of the town. Young and talented she even played the saxophone with the local orchestra. In this case Betty Joe Booker was due to play with the orchestra at a local school dance and then go to slumber party at a friends house after. Paul martin an old friend of Booker’s asked her out to a midnight movie that night. According to members of her family Booker was not romantically involved or interested in Martins advances but due to him being an old friend she agreed to let him give her a ride to the her friends slumber party. Unlike previous cases the bodies were not found near the car. Paul Martins body was discovered 1 mile from his car and Betty Joe Booker around 2 miles from Martins body. Both bodies had been brutally shot to death, Sheriff Bill Presley was once again first on the scene. The new bodies had been left recklessly where they had been killed, Paul’s in full view of anyone driving along the road, Betty Jo’s in the woods where she had been taken: no effort had been made to hide or bury the bodies. The killer had heartlessly taken their lives as if they had been hunted animals”.

Unlike the previous attacks, in the case of Betty Jo Booker and Paul Martin the Phantom had changed his MO a bit. The victims were found far from the car from which they had been driving and there was a sense of sloppiness to the crime. One could speculate that the victims put up a decent fight against their attacker since they were both found so far from each other. Officers believed that Martin was Killed first and Booker second as she was found further away from him. What also interesting is that Bookers Saxophone was lost for some time believing to have been stolen by the killer. This would prove to be false as the case was found in the vicinity of the body eventually. It is possible in a struggle Booker dropped the case or even tried to use it as a weapon against her attacker. These murders would spread fear throughout the town it was becoming clear that this killer was crazed and the only way to stop him was to either catch him or kill him. Fear spread so quickly through the town that ordinary citizens of Texarkana began taking precautions. Sales for firearms skyrocketed at local shops. According to Unsolved Murders True Crime Stories who did an episode dedicated to the Phantom Killer, a local gun store sold every gun in stock and people were so afraid of the Phantom they would call someone first before coming over so as not to be shot by mistake. Captain M.T Gonzalles of the Texas Rangers describes the fear that gripped the town best “The people were panicky. They were really panicky. I had never in my life run into anything like it.”

After a few weeks of hectic investigation, a town curfew after dark and much panic, the Phantom would strike again… for the final time. On Friday May 3rd 1946 Virgil and Katie Starks would be attacked in their farm house. Virgil was 37 and Katie 36 making them the oldest victims of the Phantom killer. Katie miraculously would survive this ordeal and like the other victims Virgil would be shot to death. The two were also killed with a .22 rifle not a .32 pistol as the other victims had been. Bill Presley describes this horrible ordeal in the following passage. “Minutes later, an intruder wielding a .22 automatic weapon standing just outside the window, eighteen to twenty inches from the pane where he could the back of Virgil’s head shot twice, pulling the trigger immediately after the first shot, firing through the screen and windows pumping two bullets into the back of the homeowner’s head. The killer had to stand back because of the heavy hedge.” Virgil Starks was killed instantly after being shot in the back of the head twice. As soon as Katie Starks had seen what had happened to her husband she reached for the phone to call the police. Before she could do that the Phantom, still in his original spot fired two more shots into the house hitting Katie in the cheek and jaw. By a miracle she was still alive after being shot twice in the face. The Phantom then attempted to make his way into the house to finish off Katie Starks. Fearful for her life and fighting for survival Katie Starks resolved to get out of the house and make it to her sister and brother in laws farm who were right across the highway road. “Approximately two hundred yards away they were her closest and most obvious sources of protection. Was he behind her? Would he shoot her again? Would he kill her? Her overriding thoughts were of escape.” Katie Starks made it to her sisters home and unfortunately they were not home. So she ran to their next door neighbors the Praters, once awake the Praters called the police and fired a shot from they’re hunting rifle into the air to signal to the area that danger was afoot. Katie Starks would survive this horrible ordeal and it was determined that the Phantom was responsible for the attack, but there was some debate if he actually was. A .22 was used not a .32 , why the weapon change? Also the Starks were not young lovers parked in a lovers lane. After much debate it was decided the Phantom was responsible as no other rational idea could be reached. The day after the murders the Texarkana Gazette would print an article about the attack on the Starks entitled. Murder Rocks City Again: Farmer Slain, Wife Wounded. This would the final confirmed attack of the Phantom Killer, for some time there was an anxiety that built into the towns psyche around the killers sudden silence. Where had he gone? Why had he stopped? And more importantly who was he?

Throughout the case hundreds of people would be questioned and detained the authorities only had one major suspect, Youell Lee Swinney a career criminal and frequent jail bird. Many ex convicts were being investigated to rule out suspects and Swinney became a prime suspect when a pair of muddy shoes were discovered in his possession that looked to have been deeply washed, possibly to wash out mud from the lovers land and blood. Officer Tillman Johnson of the Miler County Sheriffs department recalls arresting Swinney for stealing cars in an interview with Bill Presley. “You think they’ll give me the electric car?” Officer Johnson said “Hell they don’t give you the electric chair for stealing a car”. Swinney responded “I know what you want me for”>. Swinney by all accounts fit the description of what we would think the Phantom could be. A career criminal with no respect for the law or human decency. Swinney had no alibi for any of the attacks but unfortunately there was no physical evidence against him. Because of this Swinney was never brought up on any charges in connection to the Phantom Killer.

Who was the Phantom Killer? Was it Youell Swinney? Maybe but we can never know. This case is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in Texas and Arkansas history. It has inspirited two films both entitled The Town That Dreaded Sundown. And many experts believe that the urban legend of the hook man killer of lovers lane was inspired by the Phantom killer. Cases like these are important to continue to examine as there are many lessons to be learned from the mistakes of the past. By studying the mind of a psychopath we can continue to learn more about how best to stop them from harming further innocent life.

• Holland Lucille,Mary Leanne Larey Declares Man to Attack Her on Feb. 22 Was Phantom, Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana Texas, May 10 1946
• TEENAGE COUPLE SHOT TO DEATH Betty Jo Booker Paul Martin Killed in Double Slaying, Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana Texas, May 10 1946
• James Presley, The Phantom Killer Unlocking The Mystery Of The Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of A Town in Terror, Pegasus Books LLC New York NY, 2014
• Roberts Casey, Phantom Killer A Rough Cut, Texas A&M University Texarkana
• Prudence Mackintosh, Texarkana Murder Mystery, Texas Monthly, December 2014
• Swinney Peggy Police Interview, Presley Bill, Bowie County Sheriffs Department,November 22, 1946
• Johnson Tillman, Interview, Miller County Sheriffs Department, September 4th 1946
• Michael E. Young, Review of The Phantom Killer Unlocking The Mystery Of The Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of A Town in Terror, James Presley, Dallas Morning News, 12/04/14
• Carter Roy & Wendy Mackensie, Unsolved Murders True Crime Stories, The Phantom Killer, 7/11/2016
• Iris Hulse, The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017