The Mystery of the “Phantom Killer” of Texarkana

The Phantom Killer of Texarkana: (1946) Five dead, three wounded, zero arrests. 

 

February 22: Masked man pistol-whips Jimmy Hollis, assaults Mary Jeanne Larey with gun barrel. Both survive. 

March 24: Dick Griffin and Polly Ann Moore dragged from car, shot kneeling, bodies posed inside. 

April 14: Paul Martin shot four times, dragged 200 feet. Betty Jo Booker tortured two miles away—sax in ditch. 

May 3: Virgil Starks shot through window reading paper. Katie crawls 200 yards, survives.  

Clues: .32-caliber Colt slugs match three attacks. Size 10 footprints. Red flashlight at Starks'. White pillowcase mask.

 

Prime suspect: Youell Swinney, car thief. Wife Peggy confesses: 'He shot Martin four times... dragged Booker... burned bloody clothes.' But: Marries him, recants. 'I lied to save an innocent man.' No fingerprints, no gun. Life for theft. Dies 1994. Murders stop—coincidence?

Texarkana 1946: Guns sold out. Tin-can alarms. Drive-ins closed. Reopened 1960s-2010s: No DNA matches. Still unsolved.

  

Inspired The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976). Halloween patrols lit the dark.

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