Kaye had been raped and shot, Beck told Pam. Or go back to the people left behind, particularly Marlene, who had lived to tell her story and felt heard for the first time. Did you use an outline or timeline to keep things straight in this convoluted case? Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped off the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Karens mother, Violet Gillmore, long believed Ackroyd was behind her daughters disappearance. These are important stories to be told, he wrote. Ackroyd stopped. It was earlier in the year, though he couldnt recall the date. john arthur ackroyd childhood john arthur ackroyd childhood. She wore the buckskin boots her husband bought her even though the couple couldnt afford them. The dialogue and scene-setting details how Ackroyd tapped his leg with his knife, for instance came from interviews with Marlene. These particular details are important as circumstantial evidence. He was responsible for clearing wrecks, helping people whose cars broke down on the highway, and maintenance. Sense of smell is so evocative, yet writers rarely take advantage of its power. She was at turns enraged and guilt-stricken. How did it affect you and your colleagues? Ackroyd shuffled into the courtroom, where Byron sat in the gallery clutching a photograph of his sister. How did you settle on this entry point to their story? The language of the story is spare and lean. She said her son was shy around women. To promote and elevate the standards of journalism, An old logging road just off Highway 20 on the Oregon coast near where Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson's bodies were discovered in 1992 by local hunters. Ackroyd heaved his body out of the chair. It was Marlene Gabrielsens first night away from her baby girl. What was the justification to go ahead and use them in a family newspaper?. Pretty bleak. We chose to go with the legacy of the investigation. 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. 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. And a lot of time in the woods together and that bonded us to one another. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. Why dont you quote directly from his statement? Where did it and the other information about Kayes run come from? A few days later, I received a handwritten letter from Noel. Then it was time to go. Our ride is here, Karen told her friend. We felt and processed their profound grief. She got this sustained ovation from the audience. This spectral photograph opens Ghosts of Highway 20, a stunning multimedia narrative series published last December by The Oregonian/OregonianLive. But, worried about the possibility of parole in the Turner case, they took their chances. Both were present for almost every interview. At other times, friends saw her with a black eye and a wound from where hed ripped out a patch of her hair. Sheilas parents had died, leaving her younger brother to carry on alone with his grief. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Ackroyd told police that Marlene had seduced him in the front seat of his dirty truck. Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. 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. So I shifted to the women he encountered. How did you reconstruct the details included in this long section about Marlenes rape and the aftermath? I produced a separate online version of the story with more than 150 footnotes showing the interviews and records that supported crucial passages. The shopkeeper, Christine Weston, recognized him. I dont think we talked about that because he died so early in my reporting. 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. It was one of those details I tucked away knowing Id use it somewhere. Rachanda and Byron Pickle in an undated photograph. Sinister Sunday topic about serial killer John Arthur Ackroyd, who committed his crimes along Highway 20 in Oregon between 1978 - 1992. 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. He knew it was Ackroyd who had eventually led police to her remains. Hanna told police hed seen both the highway worker and the runner in Camp Sherman that morning. Plus, in an era of smartphones, a Timex wrist watch gives readers the sense that this crime happened in another era. Once home from the Army, he got a state job, where he earned generally positive reviews, though supervisors noted his occasional laziness and frequent time off. Was that a conscious decision? The process compounded his grief. When cops went back to her years later, she apparently felt more at ease talking about what really happened. The extraordinary arrangement meant Ackroyd would die in prison. Kayes killing serves as the cliffhanger at the end of Day 1. 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. What are the chances that two serial killers were active during the same time and place? Pretty much all the details of the attacks and deaths are sickening in the series. I looked for ways to make that as seamless as possible. In one stunning development, he revealed that hed seen Kayes decomposing remains two months after her disappearance but never thought to call police. We had a lot of discussion about the ending. This is a messy story that jumps around in time. I also was liberated by knowing the companion photos and video would fill in many of the details in a different way. But Ackroyd was already serving a life sentence. Without the film, do you think you would use more voices? The story reaches its powerful chronological conclusion. The beginning because you have to engage and explain but not overpromise, all the while getting the tone right. It was scary. Its ugly to describe and imagine these killings. 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. We gobbled up newsroom resources and space online and in the paper, but theres a limit and thats the reality of the job and format. It moved around a bit until it landed here. 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. They sat around the fire drinking beer. The trial came to a close and Ackroyd, dressed in cowboy boots, jeans and a studded belt with John in silver letters, It seemed like decent shorthand for conveying the remoteness of this area. He worked overseas as a mechanic and was caught stealing equipment. That beating she got was over, over the top. She stepped into the sunshine, the frosty air heavy with the scent of ponderosa pine. It was scary. If you had to characterize the way the system worked in the Rachanda Pickle case, what words would you use? Didnt do anything to Channy? the cop pressed. An ominous lead. He said very little that day but thanked us for making the trip. New Zealand. 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. I wanted the reader to grasp the precarious position these women were at the time they disappeared. 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. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/OregonLive. We sought ways to simplify and streamline. A spare style is my natural tendency. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. They led her into a small room with a desk. Its got humanity and poignancy but it also lets readers know that ultimately some questions about the Turner murder were never answered. They grew up in small towns about 90 minutes inland on Highway 20 and shared a history infused with drugs and alcohol. I would imagine there were several possible structures for the series. Source? I hired a high school student to come in and Bates stamp them. Within days of the discovery of Melissa and Sheilas bodies, police zeroed in once again on the highway worker. Just as before, police turned up no physical evidence linking him to Melissa and Sheila. In 1973 he returned to England and worked as an editor for The Spectator. 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? The three of us had a favorite restaurant on the road. The Question and Answer section for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Mommy loves you too much, she whispered to her daughter, asleep in a bassinet. She talked about her plans to run in Camp Sherman, inviting a friend to join her that morning. June 12, 2022 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 Most of what I came up with centered on Ackroyd. When the dispatcher asked why she hadnt called sooner, Linda said she assumed she had to wait 24 hours to report a missing person. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. The annotated version that ran online was a much shorter version of my own footnoted drafts of this story. That may have also played a role in their response. Over the course of the investigation, he acted strangely. 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. He had done all his talking to investigators during hours of interrogations after Kaye vanished. It was the day before Christmas. Ackroyds grim speculation about the harm that had likely come to Rachanda echoed gory stories like the ones hed replay over and over in Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. She woke to find his fingers squeezed tight around her legs as he dragged her out of the truck. I spoke with his coworkers and friends. From the outside, Ackroyd seemed to lead an ordinary life: Raised in small-town Oregon, he hunted and fished, held a steady job and married a woman with a couple of young kids. She was calm as she told the dispatcher that her daughter, a homebody, had gone missing. Did you and your colleagues ever worry whether readers would care about cases that happened so many years before? Her father waited a few more days before calling police, then the FBI. Roger Beck was also found guilty in the murder of Kaye Turner at a separate trial. Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. You could, I assume, have used sources to describe this scene. How much was revision involved in accomplishing this? Why? Another Oregon courthouse provided the backdrop for Ackroyds second prosecution. 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. In prison that day with Ackroyd, the detective took one last shot. It took weeks the woman had changed her name since the early 1990s but she remembered the men and their names. She once showed up at Sheilas with bruises on her face and asked if she could stay. She didnt talk much about what had happened. I like how direct, clean and certain Hanlons quote is here. He basked in attention from police. The medical examiner speculated that the young women had been strangled, but the condition of their remains made it difficult to determine a cause of death for either. They noted in their report how the original officers had failed to pursue the rape case even though physical evidence corroborated Marlenes account. Even with the verdict, investigators would never really know what unfolded the morning Kaye died. 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. The reason for concealing the documents and who insisted on secrecy have been lost to time. It was just a hell of a story. The state didnt take the case to a grand jury. Ackroyd was abusive to both Byron and Rachanda. The details surrounding the assault are terrifying enough. Cops went to search a storage unit Ackroyd had rented the year before, only to find hed cleared it out days earlier. Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Hed planned to fix snowplows but decided to take the day off after learning parts hadnt arrived, a claim that baffled his supervisor, who said there was plenty of work to keep Ackroyd busy. Later that night, Marlene and her husband argued when he said he wanted to head off with a couple of friends. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results John Ackroyd (1850 - 1913) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. I lied like hell back then, she told McAnulty. Was there a question she was afraid to answer? What the heck happened to you? Laront asked. You shift now to the killer. A state police sergeant and a lieutenant from a local sheriffs office tracked down Marlene at home. Ackroyd was born on October 3, 1949, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Then Ackroyds teenage stepdaughter disappeared and a new group of investigators reopened Kayes case. The judge didnt remember the circumstances and the lawyers for each side pointed fingers at one another. Those contradictions, discrepancies and outright lies had led him to this moment. Their connections to Ackroyd were never made public. The prosecution is going to progress in this.. When I outlined each days story, I focused on cliffhangers, kickers and which scenes could propel the narrative. Beck left Oregon. Her face and name are tattooed onto his left bicep, a memorial to the aunt his children never knew. They found the other sneaker, mostly intact. She asked if she could sleep over. They simply felt they had enough. Its a testament to taking a second or third look with fresh eyes and newer forensic techniques at old crimes. In our meetings early on, I filled every square inch of the board with dates, victims, themes, etc. The police didnt believe Gabrielsens accusation at the time and her case, which bookends the series, is an example of justice long overdue in the #MeToo era. 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. At first, shes just taking the info from Linda Ackroyd. Melissas mother died, too. Marlene Gabrielsen, who survived her encounter with John Ackroyd, told us at one point how Ackroyd had dragged her from his truck. But the rape allegation wasnt their priority that day. She said he threatened to do to me exactly what they did to Kaye Turner.. Sandy Turner, Noels wife, answered and greeted us warmly. This time you use a direct quote? Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped on the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Tagged: The Oregonian. On one reporting trip to the Oregon Coast, I walked the campground and stood in the area where the women made their final call. Despite all the tantalizing coincidences and Ackroyds apparent eagerness to place himself at the scene of the crime, investigators could find no physical evidence definitively linking him to the killing. I can hear him on the recording that the detective made. For now, I just want the reader to know something triggered their interest in what happened to Marlene and leave it at that. The circumstantial case rested on a basic theory: It was unlikely that anyone but Ackroyd, now a convicted killer, had harmed the girl. Rachanda was a good kid, helping around the house and taking care not to stray far. . Both men received life sentences. We talked about this stuff pretty much nonstop at work and when we hung out together outside of work. Parts of Melissas body were gone, probably dragged away by animals. He seemed almost relieved to be able to talk about what hed seen. Can you describe the collaboration between you, Dave Killen and Beth Nakamura? Peter Ackroyd CBE, FRSL (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. Marlene had hitchhiked plenty and didnt think twice as she squeezed into the front seat between the men. His voice came through the speaker. The two camps on the ending: Stop at Ackroyds death with a scene of a cop looking around the killers cell for a confession but finding nothing. This is heartbreaking. Structurally, what was your intention? Four years after they started, Benson and Snow had strung together enough evidence to take the double murder to a grand jury. The home showed no signs of foul play. Something bad happened to her. The aging killer headed to the door and returned to his cell. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. That meant he was on the road unusually late. She spotted two young women she knew. Stockpiles of cinder rock towered near the buildings inside the complex. The hearing lasted about seven minutes. Before she left, she had slipped into her fathers workshop in the garage, writing Hi Dad, I love you, Kaye in neat cursive on a yellow legal pad for him to find later. But what if the case turned on that clue? They climbed back into the truck and continued west on Highway 20. does apple allow gambling apps. The beginning because you have to engage and explain but not overpromise, all the while getting the tone right. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. Prosecutors didn't have a body. These are key characters in this story. Reporting on this series was emotionally grueling. How did you reconstruct the details included in this long section about Marlenes rape and the aftermath? Did she feel shed been raped? Its 41 years too late, but finally she is believed. She rode her bike in the lane just outside the door and took a bus to grade school in Sweet Home. The general store in Camp Sherman, Oregon, where John Ackroyd showed up to report he had discovered some clothing in the woods that might've belonged to Kaye Turner, whose disappearance in 1978 caused a stir that lingered for years in this small vacation community just off Highway 20. The Turners lived in Eugene, where Kaye, 35, had worked at Planned Parenthood and then as a manager at a local public health agency. They met once a week in Bensons office to dive into thousands of pages of old files, spending hours devouring details about the case. The couple ate; then they had sex, significant because they almost never did. She talked about how she thought he was a logger or someone who made a living in the woods. No, what do you think I am? Ackroyd said, his voice rising in rare agitation. So while I did the interviews, reporting and wrote the stories, their work helped elevate the project into something pretty special. Melissa had a turbulent life, too. Its amazing how much serendipity plays a role in this story, isnt it? Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. He read about how Ackroyd had been with an old hunting buddy on the morning of Kayes killing. We encourage you to research and examine . 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. A thought skittered He rolled up the window and slammed the door. Ackroyd considered her for a long moment, then reached into the back of the truck and held out a dingy pair of plaid pants. And Harmon hadn't uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachanda's disappearance. He and his wife walked out of the county courthouse, where he paced and wept. You handle time very effectively, jumping from minute to minute, day to day, month to month and year to year, eliding what came between without the reader feeling a sense of having missed something. Our Apps. My editors advised me at one point to look for ways to mix things up with more complex sentences and longer graphs. Killen had. The answer was no. There was so much information to move through. Court and police files contained several references to Jane. I can hear her bafflement on the 911 audio, which Ive listened to over and over. She carried her baby book as a reminder of a time when she was happy. Later, Karens jeans, pages of her journal and the blouse shed sewn for a school project were found off a logging road. Bill Hanlon, the district attorney in Jefferson County, wasnt surprised when the call came from a prosecutor in Linn County, where Ackroyd lived. A spare style is my natural tendency. I knew this would be an essential scene. He told police he was poaching when Kaye was killed. Both reports are attached to this post. Dried blood covered his arms and hands. You dont describe the rape, instead skipping over graphic details. And Harmon hadnt uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachandas disappearance. Two years later, at age 14, she married Beck. I asked him for an interview. Happier times. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. Call the police, Marlene said. View John Ackroyd results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. The cold case investigation was current and provided real-time detective work that was an aspect of the story that we hadnt yet explored. Why? Snow worked the phones, digging up numbers for highway workers, many of them long retired. I would imagine there were several possible structures for the series. If you have experienced sexual violence and need support, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE. Take hot dogs out of the freezer. 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. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. The cops cheered. Will McAnulty, one of the detectives, suggested they run through the scene one more time. She admitted it could have been her. Reporting on this series was emotionally grueling. I found her through Nexis, I think. Ackroyd was spotted there at least three times after they went missing. I was working with a massive amount of information, a long span of years and a huge slice of Oregon geography. She was nude. It provided readers with a sense of place but also helped propel the story along. 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. He was the main suspect, but the case had vanished from local news reports even though her disappearance triggered one of the largest search efforts in the countys history. I wanted to absorb all of the material I had collected and then tell the story with authority. Seven months after it ran, Crombie continues to receive emails and letters from readers grateful that these forgotten women have been remembered. Months later, the highway worker led police to the wooded area where scraps of her clothing and her jawbone were found. This is heartbreaking. Margaret (Haberman) agreed and suggested that we pare them down to a manageable number for publication. The killer was dead. You should know. I moved my desk next to Daves. Didnt do anything to Kaye Jean Turner? McAnulty asked, his voice cool. How do you know how long it took? She was alone with Ackroyd, a big man who reeked of sweat and freshly cut wood. Why was it important to do so? She saw it as a way of letting readers know how much work went into this series. He said her body was lying in the same wooded area where scraps of her clothing and bits of bone were found. (Getty Images) If you've been following the five-part story of John Ackroyd, its conclusion might leave you hanging. Weeks after the teens disappeared, Ackroyd was finally arrested for Kayes murder and booked into the Jefferson County jail in Madras. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. The story also features an annotated version using footnotes identifying all your sources? Then a confession by a convicted murderer sidetracked detectives before they determined he was lying. A report from the trial in the Bend (OR) Bulletin. This was looking forward. This section could perhaps have served as a nut graf, placed much higher in the story. I know from watching Dave Killens powerful documentary that much of what you summarize in the story, especially peoples voices, appears there instead of the print narrative. The others: Did you force her to have sex at knifepoint? This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. 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. I relied on interviews with a detective and the woman deputy to reconstruct this scene. The teens had managed to build a sordid social circle in their young lives, so investigators had plenty of violent men to consider. In fifth grade, something shifted. I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. 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. Did you have a knife in your hand when you had sex? Narrative is not typically what Ive done. Was that a conscious decision? She talked about how it was late spring. In other scenes, Beck grabbed her as Ackroyd looked on. The breadth of his crimes has never been revealed until now. most spectacular scenery from the Cascade foothills to the coast. I am not going to gamble this guy getting away with it, Byron thought. Their stories. I think the local DA wanted to take another look at this cluster of unsolved cases involving young women, and Melissa and Sheila were among them. Linda Ackroyd, who now goes by the last name Monville, says she doesnt know if Ackroyd molested her daughter. She often wore a black leather jacket that her parents paid for on installments. The testing, unavailable at the time of her killing, showed shed been shot and stabbed. Their final call in the spring of 1977 came from a pay phone in Lebanon. Police photos showed her watch in the woods near where her partial remains were found. And to explain why this story has currency and impact today. Pretty bleak. Shes finally believed and theres satisfaction that comes with that. This is a dramatic scene Ackroyd walks into the Sweet Home shop spattered with blood and offers a strange explanation. Dave listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. I knew I wanted to use this somewhere in this series. It was produced by senior staff writer Noelle Crombie, videographer Dave Killen and photographer Beth Nakamura, who worked side-by-side for nearly two years an unusual arrangement given the buyouts and layoffs that have hollowed out Americas newsrooms, including those in Oregon. There were 300 people there and Marlene Gabrielsen came. What had the original investigators overlooked? They had to get him. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. Kaye headed out alone, her feet pounding a two-lane camp road tinged red from volcanic ash. She wrote it down on a pack of cigarettes. She went on to work at a local bank. You shift now to the killer. Police photos showed her watch in the woods near where her partial remains were found. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Marlene suspects it was rooted in their bias against Native Americans. His excuse for his bloody arms and hands around the time Melissa and Sheila vanished was that hed just gutted a roadkill deer. The last time the two saw each other, Rachanda was in the backseat of a Chevy Blazer headed home. I wanted to show that at this point Ackroyd was a very sick man. When it concluded, the judge sealed the court records. That was something that kept me up at night, having to describe this landscape, these small towns, how to breathe life into people who died a long time ago, these investigations that were very old. st thomas the apostle catholic church mass schedule He was beset with chronic health problems and hadnt left his cell much. Had police believed her, none of the subsequent murders committed by Ackroyd would likely have occurred. Investigators suspected the rivet a quick fix used in field repairs had fallen out of the pocket of her attacker. But those relationships shifted over time. Biography. In 1977, Ackroyd raped Marlene Gabrielsen. Kaye had been an avid runner with deep ties to Eugene, where she worked as a manager at a local public health agency. It took a lot of force to break them. 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.

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