She thought of how Kaye must have felt, the air so cold she could see her breath. Most of your sentences are short and simple; subject-verb-object, short sentences, short paragraphs. Melissa and Sheila joined a list of girls last heard from or seen late at night in coastal Lincoln County. He ripped off her jeans with such force, the pants split from the waist to the ankle along the inseam. Within weeks, Melissa and Sheila were dead. One of the best investigative reporters in the state had written episodically about it, but nobody had put it all together. I spoke with his coworkers and friends. Over time, Ackroyd added incriminating details to his account. One resembled the waffle soles of Kayes Nikes. Harmon tried to nudge Ackroyd. My mom was yelling at John to stop. Why? Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. I used a massive spreadsheet for reference. But, worried about the possibility of parole in the Turner case, they took their chances. Yes and it was something I struggled with. Beck and his wife lived in a trailer not far from Camp Sherman, where Kaye had disappeared. In late 2016, then-director of news Therese Bottomly was presented a freelance story about a retired prosecutor who ran every Christmas Eve in memory of a murdered jogger whose killer he helped put behind bars for life. I was able to reconstruct this scene based on a detailed interview with Marvin Laront, Was the use of such sickening details debated before the story ran? But as time went on and fresh eyes viewed the case files, investigators finally pursued justice for numerous victims. He sliced off her boots and her underwear and threw her to the ground. He was responsible for clearing wrecks, helping people whose cars broke down on the highway, and maintenance. I never got a clear answer about why it was sealed or who made that request. This scene has a cinematic quality cops gathering on an empty road days before Christmas reenacting an abduction using a woman deputy and then deciding to give the story their own happy ending. I have the audio of this conversation. Something, likely a struggle, had knocked out the stem, stopping the watch. I was the last one to see her alive.. The ending because you want to leave readers with a meaningful and hopefully memorable coda, the lasting impression. Rachandas green nightgown was on her bedroom floor. She wrote it down on a pack of cigarettes. We encourage you to research and examine . Even before hunters had stumbled upon the teens remains, Ackroyd told a friend: They are assuming its me.. These are important stories to be told, he wrote. My editor tells me I usually write with economy and directness, so it was also more of my natural style to hone and hone some more. She clung to her boots, which shed grabbed from the clearing. He was using a paddle at that time. So here: Whos responsible for this carnage? Great details, especially the belt. Read "John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer" by Ruth Canton available from Rakuten Kobo. But it works for me. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. Melissa had a turbulent life, too. How do we create a person's profile? Help advance the Nieman Foundations mission to promote and elevate the standards of journalism by making a donation. I thought about it, but I never done it.. I produced a separate online version of the story with more than 150 footnotes showing the interviews and records that supported crucial passages. We were smacked by paddles and a lot of people who are are like, Oh big deal, a paddle. No, there was paddles that were designed with holes drilled in them and stuff and they would brag about it helps cuts through the air and you get a harder spanking. Ackroyd was very predominant in discipline. His work meant long hours alone on Highway 20, the route that bisects Oregon from east to west. One of the victims, Terri Jentz, wrote a book about what happened and her search for her assailant. We bounced ideas off each other and checked facts. You should know. You aim to anticipate the next question theyll have. He returned to duty last year as a volunteer deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office. The project was a true collaboration. Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. Even with the verdict, investigators would never really know what unfolded the morning Kaye died. First: Marlene Gabrielsen, raped in 1977. She got this sustained ovation from the audience. This section could perhaps have served as a nut graf, placed much higher in the story. I can hear him on the recording that the detective made. The time had stopped. Some of these details were included in police reports. What was your source and why did you use it when so many other times you chose to paraphrase speech? Their cases lingered in the communitys collective memory, and the local district attorney decided to reopen them in 2012, eager to identify potential suspects. The lead prosecutor has a formidable memory and kept meticulous notes that were part of the case file. Resources and contacts also are listed at the end of the story. Or go back to the people left behind, particularly Marlene, who had lived to tell her story and felt heard for the first time. This post is a long one, everyone. The hearing lasted about seven minutes. Gillmore knew Ackroyd had abducted a runner near Highway 20. To some, she seemed lost, almost invisible. The next day, Hanlon hopped in a car with a Jefferson County deputy for a briefing on the search for Rachanda. Was it important to use it here? Finding no sign of her, he panicked and called police. She was married to one suspect and romantically involved with the other. She was patient as I drilled down into the particulars of what she wore, her hairstyle and what it was like to leave her baby girl behind for the night. We were smacked by paddles and a lot of people who are are like, Oh big deal, a paddle. No, there was paddles that were designed with holes drilled in them and stuff and they would brag about it helps cuts through the air and you get a harder spanking. Ackroyd was very predominant in discipline. Read the story. On one reporting trip to the Oregon Coast, I walked the campground and stood in the area where the women made their final call. I remember him spanking her over one of those old school windup alarm clocks and it got broke and he was trying to fix it in and stuff and him and mom were talking about it and they were both getting heatedmom said to line them up and spank them until (one confesses) They were getting ready to line us up. We encourage you to research and examine . He had done all his talking to investigators during hours of interrogations after Kaye vanished. Their connections to Ackroyd were never made public. Some of these details were included in police reports. Im in real trouble, he confided. This is a crucial moment where Ackroyd is confronted with one of these crimes, in this case Rachandas disappearance. Later, Karens jeans, pages of her journal and the blouse shed sewn for a school project were found off a logging road. Bewildered by the explanation, the men watched as Ackroyd washed up. Ackroyd obviously is the catalyst of destruction. She had two children, Rachanda and Byron. By his account, Rachanda was gone when he returned a couple of hours later. It was on one of them that hed raped Marlene Gabrielsen a year before Kaye Turner disappeared. Its 41 years too late, but finally she is believed. Shed gone around town hanging missing posters but hadnt called police. Why the shift? Her sneakers and socks were still on her feet. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. The restive pair quickly grew bored and wanted their boyfriends to pick them up. Ackroyd told police that Marlene had seduced him in the front seat of his dirty truck. I am totally innocent, he said, his breathing labored, and Ill say that until the day I die. Their stories have another connection: One man - John Arthur Ackroyd - is linked to all five crimes. Wasnt it strange that he was the last person to see Kaye and Rachanda alive? In a 7,000-word series, its important at the start to clearly establish who and what readers will encounter as they stay with an unfolding narrative. Its got humanity and poignancy but it also lets readers know that ultimately some questions about the Turner murder were never answered. He was beset with chronic health problems and hadnt left his cell much. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped off this same stretch of lonely road in rural Oregon, which winds through some of the Northwest's most spectacular scenery. But as we approached publication, Therese (Bottomly) said I needed to connect with Noel. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. Here is the . Bottomly teamed up Crombie with Killen and Nakamura to run the mystery to ground. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. Ackroyd, too, hung out there. To read the story without annotations, click the Hide all annotations button, which youll find just below the social media buttons in the top right-hand menu, or at the top of your mobile screen. Rachanda declined, citing the chores her mother expected her to finish, he said. Margaret runs a very busy team that does all breaking news, all crime and justice coverage and enterprise. Some suspect he was but no evidence links him to these cases. A couple of weeks later, Marlene sat in the back of an unmarked police car as two officers drove her to the lie detector test. Though investigators were certain he was behind her disappearance, they couldnt prove it. I used a massive spreadsheet for reference. Ackroyd wasnt sure. Some of the most important sources never appear in the print component of this project. Showing : Public Libraries K-12 Schools Library Name Distance. When parent conferences rolled around, no one showed up. A stranger had driven his pickup over two young women as they slept at Cline Falls State Park, less than an hour southeast of Camp Sherman. He was willing to talk. It ended with a gripping five-part, 7,000 word narrative, a gallery of haunting photos and a heartbreaking documentary that leave no doubt about the guilt of a serial killer, but precious little solace for his victims. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/OregonLive It was scary. The cops cheered. Its not a transcript. He said very little that day but thanked us for making the trip. I knew from his coworkers that his truck likely didnt have AC. It made sense to strip it down. They were critically wounded but survived. His excuse for his bloody arms and hands around the time Melissa and Sheila vanished was that hed just gutted a roadkill deer. [3] In 1978, along with an accomplice, Roger Dale Beck, abducted and murdered Kaye Turner. They were investigating the killing of a young woman on an isolated stretch of road outside Sisters. They kept their exasperation in check, rarely raising their voices as they combed fine details for any new revelation. Detectives didnt dwell on the highway worker. Talking about some other people that are dead up in that area., Oh, said Ackroyd, now youre trying to lay some others on me?, No, Im just asking you, the detective said. In a 7,000-word series, its important at the start to clearly establish who and what readers will encounter as they stay with an unfolding narrative. The highway worker had hurt Rachanda, stuffed her into a garbage bag and hauled her away, Linn County Sheriffs Detective Jim Salsbery said during one of their interviews. On one of our many reporting trips along Highway 20, the three of us tracked down the approximate location of the attack based on Marlenes account and police reports. There was a tremendous amount of secrecy. I remember him spanking her over one of those old school windup alarm clocks and it got broke and he was trying to fix it in and stuff and him and mom were talking about it and they were both getting heatedmom said to line them up and spank them until (one confesses) They were getting ready to line us up. I tried to picture this scene. At a time when journalists credibility is under assault, extensive footnotes seemed like a compelling way to show our work. Laront remembered the night when a bloodied Ackroyd came into the shop. I was riding in another car with a couple of investigators. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer, rapist and most likely a serial killer. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. He picked her up 41 years ago at a campground outside Sisters, Oregon. She talked about how it was late spring. Like Mark Foster, one of the cops who worked on the Kaye Turner investigation. He got creative: What if cops and prison officials arranged for Ackroyd to share a Christmas or Thanksgiving meal with his family on the outside? Stockpiles of cinder rock towered near the buildings inside the complex. She talked about her plans to run in Camp Sherman, inviting a friend to join her that morning. Narrative is not typically what Ive done. When it snapped, he smacked her repeatedly with his open hand. A scrap from her blue pullover, her underwear and a remnant of the heel from one of her Nikes. These are key characters in this story. I found her through Nexis, I think. Marlene and Ackroyd agreed to be polygraphed. What lay behind that decision? He told police he was poaching when Kaye was killed. Its damning circumstantial evidence linking Ackroyd to the deaths of these two women, Melissa and Sheila. Kaye headed out alone, her feet pounding a two-lane camp road tinged red from volcanic ash. It took weeks the woman had changed her name since the early 1990s but she remembered the men and their names. Court and police files contained several references to Jane. Ackroyd, now 63, went over the timeline of the day Rachanda disappeared, spinning the same old lies. Their stories have another connection: John Arthur Ackroyd.A highway mechanic who targeted women on the long stretch of highway that he know so well from endless trips.Calm and collected on After one year, the couple divorced, but they continued to live together with Linda's children. She wore the buckskin boots her husband bought her even though the couple couldnt afford them. I dont think we talked about that because he died so early in my reporting. Hunters had found the bodies of two young women who had vanished during a camping trip on the coast. Kaye Turners killing became a faded memory. Their clothes were spattered with so much blood that she got rid of Becks jeans and shirt. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. Beck left Oregon. Please take me home.. Marlene put them on, holding tight to the waist to keep them from slipping off. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? It took 14 years to . The family lived at the state highway division compound at Santiam Junction, where U.S. 20 and Oregon 22 meet. Oh my God, her mother-in-law said, opening the door. I knew this would be an essential scene. There was stuff I wanted to say about them that didnt really fit in elsewhere so this seemed like a good spot for that. Marlene Gabrielsen was raped by John Ackroyd in 1978. Biography. She stepped into the sunshine, the frosty air heavy with the scent of ponderosa pine. A few days later, I received a handwritten letter from Noel. Peter Ackroyd, (born October 5, 1949, London, England), British novelist, critic, biographer, and scholar whose technically innovative novels present an unconventional view of history. She seemed withdrawn and tired. Was the use of such sickening details debated before the story ran? Kayes killing serves as the cliffhanger at the end of Day 1. It made sense to make Highway 20 a central theme and to tell the story chronologically, using the highway as a guide. In prison that day with Ackroyd, the detective took one last shot. In 1992 he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. It made sense to strip it down. My goal all along was to limit reader confusion. Its dramatic and I wanted to draw it out for the reader. John Ackroyd ended up dying in prison in 2016. He was caught trying to steal equipment and supplies. Marlene, dizzy from alcohol, watched as he reached through the open window to unlatch the door from the outside. The deputy ran at a steady pace, the thrum of the truck approaching her from behind. It was my way of saying the state felt they had enough to prove this case and thats as close as this case would get to justice. This time, he drove them up a logging road and into the woods. At other times, friends saw her with a black eye and a wound from where hed ripped out a patch of her hair. There was something really hinky about it. A hunter would likely overlook the bits of cloth and bone as nothing more than trash and animal carcasses. It was one of those details I tucked away knowing Id use it somewhere. His name was John Arthur Ackroyd, who would join the ranks of Ted Bundy, Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, and other notorious predators who have trolled the Pacific Northwest for vulnerable and marginalized women. He enlisted in the Army after having been accused of felony theft. They were restless and broke, living an itinerant existence, drinking too much and keeping dangerous company. The Oregon Department of Justice has additional information and resources for survivors of sexual violence. Anyone who is reporter, you said, knows that a good editor is hard to come by. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. adrian ackroyd - 28 wellington road burton joyce, nottingham adrian ackroyd - 8 bowmans way sedgebrook, grantham adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester adrian arthur ackroyd - 15 old mill court upton, chester alan ackroyd - 8 holmfield, ossett Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. His story about inviting the girl to photograph wildlife that morning never made sense to Rachandas family and friends. Her mother left behind a short list of chores. She was 13. Was it important to use it here? Reporting on this series was emotionally grueling. Why did choose to organize by chronologically, by victim? Rachanda disappeared on July 10, 1990. Her calendar at work noted recent liaisons with the men. She confided in two girls who were sisters. Or go back to the people left behind, particularly Marlene, who had lived to tell her story and felt heard for the first time. How did it affect you and your colleagues? Harmon thought back to the handful of cases from the 1970s that remained unsolved: the bodies or clothes of women and one young man found in the isolated wilderness of Linn County, not far from Highway 20, the route Ackroyd spent years traveling for the state. He hadnt told his wife the full story of Rachandas life and how he remained tormented that he hadnt hugged his kid sister the last time he saw her. Did she feel shed been raped? This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. If police had believed her, she might have been his last. These are heartbreaking stories of isolation., We asked Crombie to tell us about the process of producing the project, and the emotional toll it took, and then to help us annotate the reporting and writing of Ghosts of Highway 20.. . I knew I wanted to use this somewhere in this series. Why did you write it and place it here? Yet Ackroyd went on working for the state, responding to broken down cars, clearing wrecks and fixing state rigs along the highway, alone. Melissa and Sheila had waited until dawn to leave the familys campsite. A state police sergeant and a lieutenant from a local sheriffs office tracked down Marlene at home. Where did it and the other information about Kayes run come from? Occasionally, Ackroyd would reach for one of the Fireball candies he carried in his pocket. To do that in a way that was going to keep a readers interest through five installments was herculean. The two investigators crowded Bensons office with more whiteboards, scribbling fine points from each case. Then Ackroyds teenage stepdaughter disappeared and a new group of investigators reopened Kayes case. So while I did the interviews, reporting and wrote the stories, their work helped elevate the project into something pretty special. He stuffed his cell with food from the prison commissary dozens of packages of processed meats and cheese, candy bars and beans. View John Ackroyd results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Dave listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. Still, police seemed skeptical. Hanna was returning to his place in Camp Sherman after working the night shift. How did it affect you and your colleagues? This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. The men spent hours talking to Ackroyd. The details throughout are extraordinarily vivid. During the course of my reporting, I heard several references to this infamous Cline Falls attack, which took place around the time of Marlenes rape and Kayes murder. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in . The couple drove about 90 miles from their home in Lebanon and set up camp near the rodeo grounds. Just like with Kaye, detectives would never know what had happened to Ackroyds stepdaughter, Rachanda Pickle. His parents worked as a maintenance man and as an office worker at the police department. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. At the wrong place at the right time.. She spotted two young women she knew. By then, The Oregonian/OregonLive also was investigating Ackroyd. Ackroyd was spotted there at least three times after they went missing. Its a testament to taking a second or third look with fresh eyes and newer forensic techniques at old crimes. I knew I wanted to use this somewhere in this series. The aging killer headed to the door and returned to his cell. I asked her about his clothing. Investigators talked to Marlenes mother-in-law, too. They had to be named first it should be a shock to the conscience that women were vanishing like this and someone was getting away with it. Was that a conscious decision? She was at turns enraged and guilt-stricken. I had some of these details from my initial interviews with Marlene, but Kelley pressed me to go back for more, to really flesh out that evening in detail. Why did you write it and place it here? Jane, then 24, was on her bicycle, headed home from a waitressing job when she noticed Ackroyd standing near his pickup parked along the side of the road in Camp Sherman. Now he admitted hed not only stopped but also had spoken with her. No, the bewildered dispatcher said, thats not true, not with children. He was the only son of an office worker at the local police department and a maintenance man. She couldnt see the house number from the truck. [5] When the men turned them down, Melissa and Sheila said theyd hitchhike instead. How come he had all this blood on his hands?. So you dont know where shes at, he asked. The editing and revisions were often focused on fleshing out an idea and switching up styles so it wasnt all spare and lean if that makes sense. How do we create a person's profile? The men heard a truck pull into the yard. There was nothing in the record that showed where this request came from or why it had been sought. In the end, they identified four victims who investigators believe died by Ackroyds hands, and documented a history of police and prosecutorial incompetence that allowed Ackroyd to go on a killing spree for two decades. Laront didnt think of it again until that fall when he heard the news on the radio. Ackroyd had once speculated to police that his stepdaughter might not have been buried either. No evidence, physical or otherwise, ever linked Ackroyd to any of them, but their timing and proximity to Highway 20 prompted investigators to wonder if the mechanic had a hand in them. We worried about this constantly. At the beginning of my reporting, I wrote a letter to Noel Turner, the husband of Kaye Turner who had disappeared on the Christmastime run. st thomas the apostle catholic church mass schedule; Detectives wondered if he took a chance to kill again before his arrest. John Ackroyd had an unusual arrangement with Rachandas mother, Linda. They climbed back into the truck and continued west on Highway 20. The interview sputtered to a halt. But the work of discovery keeps you going as well as the realization (maybe anxiety) that you must make a fair and supportable case and do justice to the time involved, the expense and most of all, the material. Sense of smell is so evocative, yet writers rarely take advantage of its power. It was there that witnesses heard Ackroyd try to lure Melissa and Sheila to a party he said hed planned to host in Newport just down the road from where they would be camping. Like Kayes watch and her hair in the birds nest, this Fireball detail is one I knew I would use. His mother told a detective that shed peeked out the window that night and seen Marlene in the front seat of her sons truck.
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