Ackroyd heaved his body out of the chair. It was the day before Christmas. She said her son was shy around women. We encourage you to research and examine . Why did you decide to tell it in the omniscient third person as you do so much of the story? Bewildered by the explanation, the men watched as Ackroyd washed up. Over the course of the investigation, he acted strangely. Then Ackroyds teenage stepdaughter disappeared and a new group of investigators reopened Kayes case. Trauma had seared these details into her memory. I wanted to absorb all of the material I had collected and then tell the story with authority. How did you decide which characters to include in the epilogue? What was the justification to go ahead and use them in a family newspaper?. Shed need evidence so police could find him later. 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. He was willing to talk. It was a poignant detail in a horrifying account. John Ackroyd killed Kaye Turner, he replied. Ackroyd shuffled into the courtroom, where Byron sat in the gallery clutching a photograph of his sister. I produced a separate online version of the story with more than 150 footnotes showing the interviews and records that supported crucial passages. Thats when Ackroyd picked up a woman from the side of the road, dragged her into the woods and raped her. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. She was at turns enraged and guilt-stricken. Hopefully for many of you, to bring back some fond memories and get your foot tapping. Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. Detectives moved on. The reports dont shed light on why they doubted her. At one point, Kelley Benham French was a consultant on the series. Pronunciation of John Arthur Ackroyd with 1 audio pronunciation and more for John Arthur Ackroyd. . They pressed him again and again about his interactions with Kaye. One time, she made a scene when it was time to go. The television was on. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? I kept approaching the local cops, detectives, some quite elderly, retired. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. Most of the narrative was constructed looking back. Over the course of hours of interviews with The Oregonian/OregonLive, she unburdened herself of every ugly detail. Armed with an ax or hatchet, he attacked the women, both students at Yale University. One man committed all the crimes and he is held responsible for the first time here. is there quicksand in hawaii. Linda and John Ackroyd left for work, she as a housekeeper at Black Butte Ranch, a resort community about 30 minutes away, and he as a highway mechanic. It wasnt far from where the teens remains were found. If you had to characterize the way the system worked in the Rachanda Pickle case, what words would you use? Burly and barrel-chested, Ackroyd favored jeans and blue work shirts from the local Sears. Why do you suppose that was the case? Later that morning, the door to the house opened unexpectedly. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/OregonLive Explore genealogy for John Ackroyd born 1839 Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom died 1921 Temuka, South Canterbury, New Zealand including father + descendants + more in the free family tree community. At . His shirtsleeves were rolled up. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. When cops went back to her years later, she apparently felt more at ease talking about what really happened. After Rachandas disappearance, Ackroyd was transferred out of Santiam Junction, where his connection to the case and his behavior made women uncomfortable. They grew up in small towns about 90 minutes inland on Highway 20 and shared a history infused with drugs and alcohol. They were thin slats of wood. Then he left for home. He had an older and younger sister. Beth Nakamura/ The Oregonian/OregonLive. Four years after they started, Benson and Snow had strung together enough evidence to take the double murder to a grand jury. Ackroyd was born on October 3, 1949, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. I was taken aback by how much emotion and support there was for Marlene in the room. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for John Arthur Ackroyd . At the wrong place at the right time.. 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. Was there a question she was afraid to answer? The sheriff declined to comment last year and has since retired. In exchange, he agreed never to seek parole. They complemented each other: Benson, a veteran cop whod had a hand in investigating some of Lincoln Countys most memorable and notorious crimes, and Snow, a quick study with an impressive memory and a knack for spinning a mountain of clues into theories. This spectral photograph opens Ghosts of Highway 20, a stunning multimedia narrative series published last December by The Oregonian/OregonianLive. Marlene Gabrielsen was raped by John Ackroyd in 1978. She rode her bike in the lane just outside the door and took a bus to grade school in Sweet Home. The dispatcher asked: Who was the last person that saw her, do you know?. Others told the investigators that Ackroyd started hanging around the Sharis in Lebanon after he met the teens. So we had to make clear to the reader why we were telling these stories. I wanted to pick up the watch detail again because we first saw Kaye wearing the watch as she heads on a run and now the watch is a detail in her killing. The trial came to a close and Ackroyd, dressed in cowboy boots, jeans and a studded belt with John in silver letters, We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. Organization, extensive footnoting and a decent system for records that involved seven three-ring binders helped me keep it all straight. The aging killer headed to the door and returned to his cell. Within days of the discovery of Melissa and Sheilas bodies, police zeroed in once again on the highway worker. A thought skittered It took a lot of force to break them. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. How did you reconstruct the details included in this long section about Marlenes rape and the aftermath? How much was revision involved in accomplishing this? Yes! The district attorney said he was unable to talk about it something was prohibiting him. Crombie was just wrapping up a four-year stint on the cannabis beat she had created when Bottomly called her into her office and told her about the case. 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. The murder trial made headlines around the state. Hanna told police hed seen both the highway worker and the runner in Camp Sherman that morning. I knew this would be an essential scene. Kayes gold Timex watch with the vinyl band was there, too. Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. A used rivet was discovered near her body. That beating she got was over, over the top. During his school years, he was a loner who was bullied. Read "John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer" by Ruth Canton available from Rakuten Kobo. He offered no explanation. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results John Arthur Ackroyd (1903 - 1914) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. Now and then, like here, you use complex sentences. When the dispatcher asked why she hadnt called sooner, Linda said she assumed she had to wait 24 hours to report a missing person. Karen Lee, 15, and Rodney Grissom, 14, were friends. I would imagine there were several possible structures for the series. Pretty bleak. Highway workers told them the rivet was a common part they carried on the job. After leaving drama school in Birmingham in 1970, John worked for 10 years or so in repertory theatres all round England, playing dozens of roles. I had to gut him out.. He glanced skyward. 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. Maybe thats why these are the cases that stuck with investigators. [1][2] They lived at Santiam Junction, a state highway division compound at Oregon 22 and U.S. Highway 20. Were other approaches considered? What had led Ackroyd to conclude the items in the ponderosa pine thicket were Kayes? If we said we really needed to go to California, she said yes. After one year, the couple divorced, but they continued to live together with Linda's children. Somebody could have just come in, he said, knocked her over the head, throw her over the shoulders and just walk out without anybody seeing her. He worked overseas as a mechanic and was caught stealing equipment. They dont want the stigma and the shame associated with these crimes. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/OregonLive. Janes heart raced as she crouched over her handlebars and sped toward the nearby country store, listening for the sound of the truck behind her. Peter Ackroyd, (born October 5, 1949, London, England), British novelist, critic, biographer, and scholar whose technically innovative novels present an unconventional view of history. I knew I wanted to use this somewhere in this series. Theirs is a cold-case mystery that began with a tip about a possible serial killer. By his account, Rachanda was gone when he returned a couple of hours later. The teens had managed to build a sordid social circle in their young lives, so investigators had plenty of violent men to consider. On Christmas Eve morning in 1978, she went out for a run in Camp Sherman, where she, her husband and friends planned to spend the holiday. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. The language of the story is spare and lean. We talked to grieving loved ones. I sought to write a driving narrative that relied on detail, dialogue and description with a bedrock of reporting and research. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. Most of what I came up with centered on Ackroyd. A father himself now, Byron gets a catch in his voice when he talks about it. These are important stories to be told, he wrote. No, what do you think I am? Ackroyd said, his voice rising in rare agitation. The Turners lived in Eugene, where Kaye, 35, had worked at Planned Parenthood and then as a manager at a local public health agency. From the outside, he seemed to lead an ordinary life: Raised in small-town Oregon, he hunted and fished, held a steady And Harmon hadn't uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachanda's disappearance. Hed stopped by a half-dozen times since Kaye had gone missing. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. We had a lot of discussion about the ending. I checked that with Byron, Rachandas brother. He said her body was lying in the same wooded area where scraps of her clothing and bits of bone were found. A cinnamon candy? Had Ackroyd left a note telling them where to find her? The girl, 13 years old, had never been found. She read some drafts early on. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. Shes finally believed and theres satisfaction that comes with that. The story reaches its powerful chronological conclusion. [2], His life had changed by early 1992. She vanished on July 10, while Linda was at work; Ackroyd took the day off, and was the last person to see the teen alive. At this point in the story, I didnt want to reveal too much about why the cops were taking another look at Marlenes rape. Span of crimes. They simply felt they had enough. By then, The Oregonian/OregonLive also was investigating Ackroyd. Ackroyd graduated from Clare College, Cambridge (M.A., 1971), and then attended Yale University for two years. The freelancers anniversary story, she realized, opened the door to more; he agreed to take a substantial kill fee so The Oregonian could pursue that more complicated piece. But detectives long suspected Ackroyd preyed on women who disappeared along or around Highway 20 from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. Its damning circumstantial evidence linking Ackroyd to the deaths of these two women, Melissa and Sheila. When the men turned them down, Melissa and Sheila said theyd hitchhike instead. Police photos showed her watch in the woods near where her partial remains were found. The woman demurred. Why? Their bodies were found off a logging spur. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. . The familys kittens were curled up on the girls lap, he said. Our Apps. Her husband was abusive and she drifted from Ackroyd. If police had believed her, she might have been his last. It took weeks the woman had changed her name since the early 1990s but she remembered the men and their names. At the same time, a dozen investigators working the Turner case seized on Ackroyds shifting accounts. She wanted to make sure he knew what was coming. Its not a transcript. This is also the story of John Ackroyd, also know as The Highway 20 Killer. Gillmore knew Ackroyd had abducted a runner near Highway 20. June 12, 2022 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 Several thousand when all was said and done. Prosecutors said she also had been raped. He was convicted of a sex crime in Minnesota, served seven months in prison, and moved to California. janne. He was responsible for clearing wrecks, helping people whose cars broke down on the highway, and maintenance. 25 November 2021. US Highway 20, 1976-1992. I hired a high school student to come in and Bates stamp them. In class, she counted down the minutes, a sense of dread rising as the end of the school day approached. After the rape, Ackroyd slapped the knife against his grimy jeans held up by orange suspenders. That may have also played a role in their response. Sense of smell is so evocative, yet writers rarely take advantage of its power. The Oregonian has prepared a complete dossier on the crimes of John ACKROYD. He was the only son of an office worker at the local police department and a maintenance man. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. This detail is so specific. Among the files were details from grand jury testimony, which included precise accounts of Kayes state of mind and the days and hours before and after her disappearance. How did you locate her? Its also a testament to the human need to find answers and how these disappearances and Ackroyd himself affected people who knew there had to be a connection. Cops did a thorough timeline of Kayes morning so that detail came from those records. I was so bewildered by this I was unclear where this was going and then he said, And when he entered his plea. You can hear me echo him on my recorder, When he entered his plea? I was so stunned that (Ackroyd) had done that, a no contest plea, and that there was no record of that in the court system. Im not sure what the reader gains from reading a detailed description of a rape. He was raised in Sweet Home, a modest logging town along Highway 20. Marlene Gabrielsen was John Ackroyd's first known victim, and the one who survived. I produced a separate online version of the story with more than 150 footnotes showing the interviews and records that supported crucial passages. Her jeans appeared to have been cut. I have the audio of this conversation. Raised in southern Oregon, she was an only child who remained close to her parents and had recently returned from a visit. What lay behind that decision? katelyn akins disappearance. Lucinda Williams The Ghosts of Highway 20, One of the victims, Terri Jentz, wrote a book. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped on the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. He said very little that day but thanked us for making the trip. Investigators talked to Marlenes mother-in-law, too. How did you locate her? Harmon, the investigator who spent hours interviewing Ackroyd, was there, too. I knew from his coworkers that his truck likely didnt have AC. Actor: Emmerdale Farm. Constant references make Highway 20 a character in its own right? In 1986 he became the . This is a such a powerful, almost poetic detail. Margaret runs a very busy team that does all breaking news, all crime and justice coverage and enterprise. The district attorney asked Byron if he supported a plea deal or if he wanted Ackroyd to stand trial. We were in the car a lot, a lot of very long road trips. Like Kayes watch and her hair in the birds nest, this Fireball detail is one I knew I would use. On one reporting trip to the Oregon Coast, I walked the campground and stood in the area where the women made their final call. Kaye Turner's killing became a faded memory. Theyd noticed that Ackroyds truck was still parked outside and his work rig wasnt there. He showed signs of a disturbed mind. She had tried to warn police about Ackroyd. What followed likely altered the path of Ackroyds life, along with those of at least five young women and everyone who loved them. Be sure to examine it, as it makes for compelling and highly instructive reading. George was born on March 29 1875, in East Bierley, Yorkshire. That may have also played a role in their response. You could, I assume, have used sources to describe this scene. You were able, one wrote, to give voice to so many people who have largely gone unheard (until now). Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. When the couple pulled into the compound that evening, Rachanda wasnt hanging around outside like she had the day before. Help advance the Nieman Foundations mission to promote and elevate the standards of journalism by making a donation. I built this profile from those various sources. A few months later, in 2013, the Linn County district attorney took Rachandas case to grand jurors. His arrest was imminent. Ackroyd has three brothers and one sister. She hadnt been out long when a state highway worker named Thomas Hanna spotted her, running south, alone. 1946, in Atlanta, Georgia. Some suspect he was but no evidence links him to these cases. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. I like how direct, clean and certain Hanlons quote is here. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive, A lone truck makes its way along Highway 20 at dusk. He seemed almost relieved to be able to talk about what hed seen. That beating she got was over, over the top. Eliot, Charles Dickens, William Blake, Wilkie Collins, Thomas More and, most recently, Charlie Chaplin. She clearly is trying to process why a mother would wait so long to report that her child has disappeared from a remote highway compound. Her head slammed into the door frame. John Arthur Ackroyd (died December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and may have been a serial killer. The style of the series is elliptical in that it leaves out information, such as dialogue, names of source and other details. His voice came through the speaker. They ran away from home with plans to make it to California. Marlene and Ackroyd agreed to be polygraphed. The breadth of his crimes has never been revealed until now. Sometime after he moved, Ackroyd was in his truck with the daughter of an old friend. It lets the reader know that this could be an important turning point in the story. Polygraph "test" of Marlene K. Gabrielsen conducted by Sergeant Phil R. Ensminger of the Lane County Sheriff's Office . Melissas mother died, too. Looking for John Ackroyd online? Linda Monville left Oregon twenty-six years ago and now lives in San Bernardino, California, where she remarried and built a new life after her daughter, Rachanda Pickle, disappeared from the Department of Transportation compound where they lived together with Linda's third husband, John Ackroyd. By now, investigators knew who they were dealing with. Melissa had a turbulent life, too. We talked to grieving loved ones. "I remember it was beautiful because it was all green and little flowers blooming, little tiny ones. Why after two decades? Ackroyd, going to Newport for work that day, encountered the teenagers somewhere along the highway and offered them a lift, just as he had in the past. This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. The three of us had a favorite restaurant on the road. I am not going to gamble this guy getting away with it, Byron thought. But those relationships shifted over time. Investigators Ron Benson and Linda Snow, with the Lincoln County District Attorney's Office were preparing to present the evidence against Ackroyd for the murders of Swanson and Sanders to the grand jury when Ackroyd passed away. Alarmed, Weston went to get her husband, who called state police. Ackroyd wasnt sure. John was the youngest son of Henry II . He knew how to navigate the hills and hairpin turns during winter, when fierce storms swept through the Cascades. Date of Interment 21/Jan/1929, Temuka Cemetery, Section B, Block 5, Plot 335 MI. The memory of an infamous crime, one year earlier, was still fresh in central Oregon. The Oregonian has published the 1977 polygraph reports for both John Arthur Ackroyd and Marlene K. Gabrielsen, who credibly alleges that he raped her at knifepoint. The state didnt take the case to a grand jury. Roger Beck was also found guilty in the murder of Kaye Turner at a separate trial. I dont know that its the theme. Once, when a clock fell off a shelf, he beat her with a homemade paddle. 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. Plows stood ready to rumble onto the mountain pass during winter storms. Who was this guy and what made him tick? On one of our reporting trips along Highway 20, I spent the ride focused on the road, what he would have seen from his truck. She got this sustained ovation from the audience. The Question and Answer section for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. It took 14 years to . If you change your mind and want to show me, Harmon called out, let me know.. Recently read an excellent series by the Oregonian, "Ghosts of Highway 20" on suspected serial killer John Arthur Ackroyd, who was active in Oregon from the late 1970s, operating on a remote stretch of US Highway 20 between Bend and Newport, where he was employed by the State Highway Department. 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. You use just 67 words to effectively condense the details of a crime that must have been full of detail. It seems remarkable in hindsight that he managed to elude police despite such compelling circumstantial evidence and his rape a year earlier of another woman off Highway 20. You aim to anticipate the next question theyll have. Marlene started this series and it seemed fitting to end with her. Kayes final hours remained a mystery. I knew all along I wanted to make a passing reference to this crime because it was such a horrible act that touched on some of the same themes as Ackroyds crimes. It was a sensational crime that remains unsolved. A few months later, in 2013, the Linn County district attorney took Rachanda's case to grand jurors. Though they had grown apart in their marriage, he remembers Kaye with fondness. What lay behind this approach? I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. Despite having a rape kit showing evidence of the assault, her story was disbelieved by authorities. . Our overarching purpose was to hold their rapist/killer accountable in public for the first time. He died in prison in 2016.[6][7]. He was convicted of a sex crime in Minnesota, served seven months in prison, and moved to California. 2-7+. But as we approached publication, Therese (Bottomly) said I needed to connect with Noel. First: Marlene Gabrielsen, raped in 1977. He was using a paddle at that time. 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. Another Oregon courthouse provided the backdrop for Ackroyds second prosecution. It was so essential to the chronology that the cash-strapped county that tried Ackroyd years later flew in a Timex exec from the East Coast to testify about the watch and its timekeeping. Hanna was returning to his place in Camp Sherman after working the night shift. We coped with it in our own ways, but we relied on each other. The Life Summary of John Arthur. This story is complicated and confusing. His story about inviting the girl to photograph wildlife that morning never made sense to Rachandas family and friends. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. At a time when journalists credibility is under assault, extensive footnotes seemed like a compelling way to show our work. It lets the reader know that this could be an important turning point in the story. Do investigators believe Ackroyd was responsible for these unsolved deaths? This United States biographical article related to crime is a stub. Why? How were you able to describe the dispatcher as bewildered? One detective took time to sketch Ackroyds loose connections to Melissa and Sheila how he and the teenagers knew some of the same people in Sweet Home, his hometown. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 - December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. He dropped off Linda at the resort and continued east on Highway 20 to the state maintenance shop in Bend. Rachanda declined, citing the chores her mother expected her to finish, he said. Thats when it got broken, over her rear. It is a very convoluted story with a blizzard of facts, dates, people, incidents, etc. That morning, the detective looked around the disheveled cell and surveyed what was left: Ackroyds stash of food, a cane and his prison-issued clothes. This is a crucial moment where Ackroyd is confronted with one of these crimes, in this case Rachandas disappearance. Biography. The young mother managed to survive. So instead of hundreds of footnotes, we ran about 150 in a separate version of the story that also links to original source material. I burned through so many leads before landing on this one. A Forest Service rangers account of seeing Ackroyd that day in a sno-park near Santiam Junction hours later than Ackroyd claimed blew a hole in the highway workers alibi. This time you dramatize the action instead of summarizing it. Both reports are attached to this post. The details surrounding the assault are terrifying enough. Source? We chose to go with the legacy of the investigation. When he got home, I explained the purpose of our visit, what the series would report and how it would include details about his wifes killing that would be upsetting. A cop once mentioned to me that Ackroyd always had a bunch of these candies in his pocket and would pop them into his mouth during interrogations. You shift now to the killer.
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