Ghosts of Mississippi

0:00We're in a little bitty town. Good morning Saints. Good morning sinners. I think I'm fortunate to have grown up here just because of how nice everybody is. And what you hear about southern hospitality is true, you know, it's still here, but... It's a nice place to live. There are a lot of nice people, but there are a lot of strange things that happen the graveyard friendship cemeteries supposed to have a ghost Columbus Mississippi is a town with a lot of ghosts the lady in a hoop skirt that walks around weeping some would even say an evil spirit hovers over the town seems like most of the ghosts around here are sad. From the Civil War graveyard to the mansions and Main Street, it seems these days the dead are suddenly everywhere. Hello, you have

1:20reached the Columbus Lounge Homicide Task Force hotline. If you have any information regarding the homicide investigations, please leave a message after the beep. Good evening, everyone, and thanks for joining us tonight. For the third time in five weeks... Another elderly Columbus woman found dead in her home. It's our big story tonight. In this town of just 30,000... The most recent victim, 67-year-old Betty Everett. A town known as a nice place to retire. It's a place where you wouldn't think something like this would occur. Since 1996, there have been five unsolved murders. Unthinkable. Four of the five were strangled. I am just outraged that this could happen. All were elderly victims who lived within a mile of each other.

2:04And when I looked in, she was laying right there by the bed. that this could happen. All were elderly victims who lived within a mile of each other. And when I looked in, she was laying right there by the bed. There were no signs of forced entry. There was no apparent motive. This is somebody that's sick. I mean, that's somebody that's cold and heartless. Police fear that this might be the work of a serial killer. Not knowing who they're gonna get next and where they're gonna come from is what scares the people. May your father, through your love and your grace, that fear would be removed and we could soon find our father those who have done the dastardly thing of murder within our community.

2:39I'm going to use some country boy logic here. Once you get a dog starting killing, eating chickens, you don't stop. There ain't been a reason for any of them to die the death they've died. The hot topic at Trish Shepherd's beauty shop lately, the murders. Because I do a lot of cops' hair. I do a lot of the attorneys' and their wives'. Trish and her friends, Jane Harmon and Sammy Austin, knew almost all of the victims. The one was a hairdresser that worked as a volunteer, basically, at a nursing home. 68-year-old Betty Everett, a hairdresser. The other little lady was just a waitress. Louise Randall, frail but feisty, living alone. She was rowdy and fun. I mean, she was. She was rowdy. Mm-hmm. She'd tell you off if you told her she

3:27wasn't waiting your table right. She knew who came in because she had to unlock the latch on her door and she would not unlock it unless she knew who was out there. And then there was Lauren Wilbanks, 75, a decorator. That really upset me because he was a good person and it was just a murder. They didn't take his diamonds. They didn't take any money from him, they just killed him. These are old people. They didn't do anything. They weren't a threat. There's a thread there somewhere. Also murdered, Robert Hannah, 61, a retired cafeteria worker, and 78-year-old Mack Fowler, a retired farmer who lived alone. Five unsolved murders, that's a lot. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah. I bet there's more unsolved murders than that.

4:14FM 103.9 WACR. We're talking about the murders this morning. Let's go to our phone lines. This is Gene. Gene from Columbus, am I correct? Yes. Do you think anything like this would happen in the area of Columbus? Oh, absolutely not. When I was growing up, am I correct? Yes. Do you think anything like this would happen in the area of Columbus? Oh, absolutely not. When I was growing up, we never locked our doors. Our windows were open. I never thought a thing about it. This finger, put it down straight. Ellen Smith is an unlikely marksman. Well, I think we're all a little nervous. Okay. How does that feel? Does that feel pretty good? Yeah. All of us over 60 anyway. Ellen lived near the two most recent victims.

4:48Don't dare go out and leave my house unlocked unless I'm going to be right in the side of that door. She's determined not to let anyone get the jump on her. Well, I think I told a policeman that I would be tempted to shoot at somebody's legs if they came in, and they said, don't shoot at the legs, shoot the kill. Take your hand down. Thumb off the hammer. It's okay just take your time. Okay. After all that work. This crime has really caused people to think about walking like they used to. And they're looking over their shoulder, which is real sad because one or two individuals has caused this whole town to change their lifestyle, and that's not right. The pressure is on this man to solve these crimes.

5:43Chief Donald Freshout. It's weighing on us, it sure is. You losing sleep? Sure, sure, I was up last night cruising the roads, talking to people. You took us around Lee Park near the auxiliary hut. What do we have? When we come back, the Columbus police hunt for a serial killer in their midst. I think it's somebody from in town. I think it's a person that was raised here. He does all the right things with all the right people. That's next. We can solve it. Why do you say you can solve it? We could, but now whether or not we'd live to tell it is another story. There is a feeling like this is supposed to be Mayberry, a pretty little historic town where everything looks nice, but... It's 6.30 in the evening and time to pay a visit to another sleepy southern town.

6:35They want to show them the Mayberry image. They ain't going to show them no murders. You got prison? Yeah, I got four. Oh, I wish I could have been there. I wish I'd have had a crack at these babies. Lock them up, Barney. Everything always works out in Mayberry. Unfortunately, real life isn't as tidy. We got plenty of Barneys running around in Aunt Bea's, but no Sheriff Taylor. The police in Columbus, Mississippi, are facing a killer. Five elderly people are dead. Ten rings, seven o'clock. And the town has been turned upside down. Dead eggs. I carry me a gun in my house all the time, and carry me a hammer when I go outside to my car. Like me, I just carry my little 9 millimeter, let him come back in my house.

7:28I'll take my amendment rights and just keep on going. Lacey! What are we going to do, change your polish? At Trish Shepherd's salon, there are rumors. I like that red on you. I think it's somebody from in town. I think it's a person that was raised here. Now that's a pretty color red for you. That goes to church here. He does all the right things with all the right people. You don't really want to go poking your nose around. Her friends Jane Harmon and Sammy Austin are trading secrets. Some things seem to happen here that don't happen anywhere else. About the dark side of their sunny hometown. We hear things. I mean, everybody does. They're sisters, both artists, with the studio just above the police station. These things have been going on so long and nothing's been solved

8:12and maybe think maybe there's someone who doesn't want anything to be solved. Jane is married to Dennis Harmon, the Columbus prosecutor. There's no motive for this. There's no rhyme or reason for this. And if you don't know who to look for or any rhyme or reason, it's much, much harder to find out who did it. At first, the killing seemed random. They began with Mack Fowler, the retired farmer. In July 1996, he was found stabbed in his home. Then, 16 months later, an acquaintance of Fowler's was murdered. Lauren Wilbanks, the decorator, was strangled and stabbed more than 30 times after a bloody struggle in his kitchen. I just hope there's not any more, because I know all the little old people are scared.

8:59The cases attracted little attention at first, but then, in the fall of 1998, there were three killings in five weeks. On November 13th, Robert Hanna was beaten and strangled to death. The gas in his kitchen was turned on and his house set afire. Police believed he'd been hogtied. Just one week later, Louise Randall was strangled and also hogtied. The gas in her kitchen was turned on, too. This person's not going to stop. He's getting better or cleaner on his murders. One month later, the killer seemed to be mocking the town. The day before, we had a meeting in town, a public meeting, to let the public come in and voice their concerns and things. The next night, another body's found. That was victim number five, Betty Everett, to let the public come in and voice their concerns and things. The next night, another body's found.

9:47That was victim number five, Betty Everett. Local TV reporter Don Culpepper covered the murders. Police chief, the first thing he said to me that day is, we're being taunted, aren't we? And I thought, you know, you could be right. That shows that either it's a devil of a coincidence or this person's out there watching TV and kind of saying I'm one step ahead of the law enforcement. Betty Everett's crime scene was the most startling of all. She was found strangled and hogtied, exactly like Louise Randall. The gas was turned on in her home as well. These crimes that were committed, you have to have a taste for. Since then, the focus has been on a potential serial killer. You're getting some kind of thrill out of killing these elderly people.

10:30Are you saying the motive is for some kind of thrill seeker? Yes. Police Chief Donnie Freshour is trying to figure out who would commit such crimes and why. First off, it's going to look like me or you. You know, we're not looking at a man with a mask and a hood sneaking around the house. What do we have? This individual could be professional. 10-28, J-1. Detective Selvain McQueen is tracking down every lead. You know, clean cut, driving a Jaguar or a Mercedes or a Corvette. You know, we really don't know. What y'all doing, just hanging out? Yeah. And he's talking to everyone. Mr. Knight, Sergeant McQueen, how are you doing? You'll just take a look at these. Detective Gary Moore is feeling pretty overwhelmed.

11:19We've still got hundreds of leads that we're still trying to run down. Okay, that's who I was thinking. That's him. We've still got hundreds of leads that we're still trying to run down. Okay, that's who I was thinking. That's him. I got a call yesterday telling me about a man that has been abusing his elderly mother, who lives not just a few blocks from the last victim. The police are upping the ante on the reward. And they're bringing in two serial killer experts, John Kelly from New Jersey and Cecil Wingo from Texas. The big job here that I do is listening, listening to the officers talking to me or listening to what they've written down. Wingo is a profiler. He's analyzing the murders and will issue a report

12:04that the police hope will direct them to the killer. The body has so many things to say, even its position. An autopsy could even tell me whether or not the killer was right or left-handed. Who will fit the profile? There was absolutely no reason for this person to kill my mother. Somebody else would like to know what Wingo will come up with. When she went to bed at night, this security door was always locked. And then she would shut this door, lock this. Grady Randall is the son of the fourth victim, Louise Randall, the retired waitress. She had just turned 80 years old. I can't imagine anybody wanting to harm someone like herself. He was three hours away in Tennessee when he got the call. I started

12:51knocking on the door and there was no answer. Nancy Tate, a neighbor, had found his mother's body. The blinds was closed. She usually opened them in the daytime. I started hitting on the windows. She was coming by to help Louise get to the doctor that morning. The screen door just opened. Okay, but it's normally locked, right? It's normally locked. Okay. What was the first thing you saw that told you something was wrong? The drawers were pulled out. You could tell these desk drawers right here had been gone through, and they had come in here and gone through my pack. The killer left Randall's hunting gear carefully laid out on the bed. There is a possibility due to how things were arranged that person could have possibly been here when Nancy knocked on the door. This door was closed

13:39as long as I've been coming to this house, I had never seen this door close before. So I opened it, and when I looked in, she was laying right there by the bed. Face down, with hands tied behind her, with an electrical cord which ran down her back and wrapped around her legs. I just kept saying, this is not happening. This is not happening. And you know, I can just visualize her lying there. I can't get it out of my mind. The police said that the only reason he killed her was simply because she knew who it was. Whoever did it knew what they were doing because the knots were just, that stays in my mind. It was just perfect. You think you'll strike again, Gretty? were just that stays in my mind it was just perfect.

14:25You think you'll strike again, Grady? I couldn't imagine ever doing something like this but I would think if I got away with it once I'd be scared halfway to death to try to do it again. If I was stupid enough to do something like that I know the fear of God be placed in me with y'all being here. This is from Dr. Wingo, both of them. Back at the police station, the profiler's report has just come in. Let me see. It tells police to look for a methodical, organized person who can kill and leave no trace. He's saying that the guy's going to reside somewhere in this area. The killer must fit into the community because the victims have all let the murderer enter their homes. But the report doesn't give police a prime suspect.

15:18This is typical of a white male, and then a paragraph later they say, don't exclude a black male. I don't think it's gonna solve the case. Would you rather just get lucky? Oh, I'll take luck over skill anytime. Yes, sir. The fact is, the Columbus Police Department hasn't had much luck when it comes to solving murder cases. I just think it is super weird that you don't solve a murder. Bizarre deaths have gone unsolved here for years. There are a lot of very interesting suicides in this town. Coming up... We see a lot of those. Getting away with murder in Columbus, Mississippi. There was a gentleman that committed suicide by table saw. That's creepy. I just bought a new automobile the same way they did in the 1900s, when movies were silent.

16:13Wow. Well, I just got this Jeep from Flexcar. All my smackaroos go to paying off the hefty value this little gas buggy lost the second I chugged out of the dealership. Toot toot. Okay, well, FlexCar includes maintenance and insurance, and I can switch to an F-150 or Mercedes anytime. What are you, high on giggle juice? Buying a car is supposed to be the bum deal you pretend is the bison's berries. I have no idea what you're saying. The first and only month-to-month car lease. FlexCar. You drive everything. It ain't something that started yesterday in this town. There's been murders going on for 20-something years that ain't none of them ever been solved. Trish Shepard, the hairdresser, and her friend Jane Harmon, the artist,

17:08have been keeping tabs on the dead in Columbus, Mississippi. You'll see in the paper, body found, ex-location, autopsy to be done, and you don't see anything else about it. We see a lot of those. Unidentified body found. That's creepy. The serial murders remain unsolved. Louise Randall, Betty Everett, Lauren Wilbanks, Robert Hanna, and Mac Fowler all were killed in their homes. I don't think it's a serial killer. I don't really think it's that simple. It's never that simple here. Even city prosecutor Dennis Harmon, Jane's husband, is not surprised that the police here are having a hard time cracking the five cases. Mercifully we have no experience with a serial killer. Harmon's relatively new to the job, but he can tell you Columbus has a long history of

18:02mysterious deaths that just don't add up. There are a lot of very interesting suicides in this town. Well, that's a good lead. There was one young man, there was a hole in the back of his head when they found him in water. The hole was ruled a crawfish hole, and that somehow was a suicide in the water. Crawfish hole? Crawfish hole. Harmon wonders if some of the bodies that turn up around here in odd circumstances might in fact be victims of foul play. There was a gentleman that was ruled suicide by table saw. By table saw? That he took a table saw and cut his hand off and then bled to death. But you got to be kidding. No. I mean I love the town other than the fact that there are crimes committed in a town

18:45this small and then nobody can get to the bottom of it. There are more murders per capita in Columbus, Mississippi than there are in New York City, twice as many. In fact, while the police have been investigating the five serial killings, the murder of another woman has caused controversy in town. Her case was supposedly solved, but a lot of people think somebody got away with murder. Liz Dill vanished back in 1996. How old was she? About 30. 30-year-old woman. She had a child. She was at home alone, and supposedly when her husband came home, she was not there. Dill's body was discovered three days after she disappeared. Two guys found her in a field nude. She was field dressed. Now you say field dressed, for the folks in the city, what does that mean?

19:36I deer hunt. When you kill a deer, you take the deer's back legs and you tie a rope around there and they hang them like this. Wanted someone to pick this woman, go into her house house take her out of her house in the middle of the night and kill her and skin her and rape her. Reporter Don Culpepper covered the case for tv station WCBI. Yeah it stunned people it should stun people in any city but in a small town like this yeah that's a big big thing. I mean it was a Perry Mason episode. Everybody at the time was griping about the murders not being solved, so they jumped on this one and got them two people and made it look like that that was the end of the story. Two men were arrested and convicted of the rape and murder of Liz Dill,

20:19but suspicions remained about who masterminded the crime. In two murder trials, one of the number one suspects was her husband. It had nothing to do with it. Never would. I wish it had been me. Would swap right now. Everybody thinks that the husband done it. According to court records, Brian Dill was seen with the killers on the night of the murder. But the two men convicted of the crime never implicated Dill in the killing. And the district attorney says there just wasn't enough evidence to make a case. Brian Dill is not under arrest. Brian Dill is a free man and never has been charged with a crime. But when Brian Dill went to court to try to collect his wife's life insurance money, more than $200,000, the judge denied him the money, saying, and

21:05I quote, Brian Ellis Dill caused the willful and intentional death of his wife. I mean, that was a stunning thing to have on a piece of paper from a judge to say, I'm not giving this man insurance money because I believe he was involved in his wife's murder. This is not the kind of town things like this are supposed to happen in. You know, I mean, five unsolved murders and possibility of men having their wives kidnapped and killed, tortured, raped. No one being arrested for any of these crimes. So in a town like this you can get away with murder? Pretty much so, depending on who you are. A lot of people may think you can get away with murder in Columbus, but there are some things you can't get away with.

21:52Good evening. Tonight, an FBI investigation of the Columbus Police Department and its chief continues. What happened to Chief Donnie Freshour? He just got caught playing with the kitty. A bombshell drops on the police chief and the serial killer investigation. That's next. With five unsolved murders haunting their town, the police in Columbus, Mississippi already have their hands full. They still can't say for sure if they're dealing with a serial killer or cruel coincidence. They've made no arrests, and there's little visible progress in the investigation, leading some people to wonder if the finest in small-town Columbus are up to the job. As Harold Dow picks up the story, an already complicated case is becoming even more muddled.

23:07And wait till you see who turns up on the wrong side of the tracks. Alright, here we go from the National Weather Service. A picture perfect day in Columbus, Mississippi. It would have been a perfect evening in Columbus, Mississippi. Police Chief Donnie Freshour's church softball team is about to come from behind to win a hard-fought game. Woo! Are they hot or are they hot? But Chief Freshour has hit a foul ball, and he's under investigation. Some officers at the Columbus Police Department are under a cloud of suspicion. By the FBI. Files, records, and Chief Freshour's computer hard drive have been seized by investigators. You know, like a kid. I don't mind getting accused of what I've done,

23:56but don't accuse me of what I didn't do. It's been seven months since the last murder here in Columbus, Mississippi. No killers have been caught. In fact, the only arrest that has made headlines here is, get this, the arrest of the police chief. Did Freshour illegally funnel Crimestopper tip money and possibly cut the... This will be a major shakeup. Lies. Chief Donnie Freshour, what happened? You can have that one. He just got caught playing with the kitty. Okay. I feel that my civil rights were violated by the chief of police. Amy Neighbors, mother of three, alleges she had a sexual relationship with Chief Freshour. He wanted me to have sex with him, wanted me to be his kept woman, whatever you want to say.

24:58And that he paid her with private funds donated to solving the five murders and other crimes. He gave me Crime Stopper money. I was not under the impression at first that it was being illegally given to me, so to speak. He claimed he was trying to help me out. Did he actually just put the money in your hand? A few times he did actually give me cash money, but other times he gave me a code and and he told me to go to the bank and give them the code, and they would give me money. The federal crime was to embezzle that money. Prosecutor Dennis Harmon was involved with the FBI investigation. Crime Stoppers is a local organization. We collect money for tips for confidential sources, and he was rigging it so that it appeared that confidential sources

25:45were getting money from Crime Stoppers when in fact it was a girlfriend. Did it happen more than once? Yes, sir. About three times. Three or four times. Was he in uniform? Did he have a police car? He did, uh, he did, uh, yes, he did. We did ride in his police car, his official police car. She's well-known to the police. Got several minor charges against her, shopliftings, embezzlements, that sort of thing. Pressured by the FBI, Amy Neighbors wore a wire. Facing that evidence, Freshour pled guilty to conspiracy and embezzlement. Does it look like he'll be doing time? My bet is yeah. Former Columbus Police Chief Donald Freshour was sentenced to eight months in prison following his admission to embezzling funds from Crime Stoppers.

26:38I'm totally behind my husband, my family's behind him, and our church is behind him. All of us knew Donnie. We were stunned and surprised and disgusted at what happened. I'll say I'm sorry until I give out. That's all I can do. I got what I deserved to a certain degree. Tell us what happened. What went wrong? Even though I had the stars on my shoulder, I'm the chief of police, I'm still human. And I screwed up. With Donnie Freshour gone, the murder investigation is back to square one. Five elderly people are dead, and their killer is still on the loose. If they really got the right person, I think it would just shock the town after that. But the police are about to pursue some unusual leads, and no one is above suspicion.

27:34That's next. I've got to get ready. Trish Shepard is in a hurry. Where do we put that dress? Tonight will be a big night. This is my dress. Queen of the rednecks for one more night. She's getting dolled up. We do this once a year. For a gathering, Mississippi style, of the fast and the powerful. I guess we're ready. Dope Track Racing. I pass out the trophies here tonight. But it seems like there is no finish line in sight for the five murder cases. I still just don't understand why they hadn't been solved. And there have been no arrests. It doesn't seem to the public eye that there's any effort being put into it. The race to catch the serial killer has spun out of control. In other cities, you pick the city, New York, Chicago, when there are five murders and law

28:54enforcement officials think it's a serial killer out there, you actually can see law enforcement shaking the bushes. I'd be scared of the body that would fall out of the bush around here. JOHN DAVIS, Trish Shepherd, for one, blames the police department. TRISH SHEPHERD, We got a corrupt police department, and you can't solve a murder if the department don't get straight. DONNA FRANKLIN, We're all human. JOHN DAVIS, One person who won't solve the crime is former police chief Donny Freshour. He's serving time in federal prison for embezzling Crime Stoppers' money to give to his mistress. Not the murders, but the police chief's going to jail now. But even Chief Freshour admits this investigation had problems from the start.

29:37Do you think mistakes were made? Sure. A policeman is human. If you're human, you're gonna make errors. And maybe we approached it with the idea that this is gonna be another one of those, we get out, we get some leads, we run it down, and it'd be done by lunch. Freshour admits the crime scenes were trampled and tainted. If we were a little bit more careful at the crime scene, we possibly could have gleaned a little more evidence. Would you say the investigation was botched? Enough wasn't done early enough. crime scene we possibly could have blamed a little more evidence. Would you say the investigation was botched? Enough wasn't done early enough. As city prosecutor Dennis Harmon saw what was going on. Botched covers a

30:13multitude of evils specifically there were not enough people out there that was the biggest problem. Overtime was being limited the number of detectives was being limited big city problems with the small town resources. What went wrong? We have a very good criminal out there for covering his tracks. The fact that the murders haven't been solved, who do you blame for that? Columbus Mayor George Wade is on the hot seat. It's difficult to blame any one single person or department or... I think we all have to share that responsibility, and that's what we're doing. But somebody's getting away with murder here. Oh, yes, but we haven't given up either. So now, there's a new chief to reckon with. Investigation's still ongoing.

31:07People are working on it around the clock. Billy Pickens was promoted to try to clean up the department. We did talk to a number of people in the community, and a number of them had told us that they had lost confidence in the police department. What's your response to that? Hopefully that we can get back with the public, have it as much confidence in us as they once did. Chief Pickens thinks big changes are in order. He reassigns the chief homicide detective and puts a patrol lieutenant in charge of the murder investigation. But folks aren't so sure that's going to help matters. Regular patrol people put in detective positions. What do you make of that? I don't understand that. There's a difference between a patrolman and a detective, I would think.

31:52We're still following up all leads, new leads and old leads. And the new chief has a new theory on how the murders are connected. We don't have a serial killer that's mad running around in Columbus. Chief Pickens believes only two of the five crime scenes are identical. So instead of just one killer, there are several. We have five murders. And at the present time, I feel like there's only two that's actually connected. Then the others would be the two ladies, Mrs. Everett and Mrs. Randall. The other three murders, we tend to feel that were individuals. We do have a couple of suspects. One person the police are looking at is Grady Randall. Remember him? Son of Louise Randall, one of the victims.

32:49That lady loved me more than life itself. Randall says the police told him that he seems to know too many details about the crime scene. The bathroom right here is where it supposedly took place. A crime scene he says he never saw. Because on the night of the murder, he was traveling in Tennessee on business. She looked in here and saw my mother lying right here on the floor between the bed and cedar chest, face down, with hands tied behind her, with an electrical cord which ran down her back and wrapped around her legs. Randall says he has been questioned several times about his mother's murder. They've come to Memphis, and they've talked to me. Of course, they took fingerprints. Wait a minute. Took your fingerprints?

33:36I'm not going to say it doesn't bother me at all, that I'm not offended whatsoever. It does bother me. My mother and I were very close. But at the same time, I feel like they're doing their job. You know, if it requires investigating me, hey, you know, let's do it, let's get past this and, you know, get down to brass tacks. Will the police find anything in their investigation of Grady Randall? Mom was just, she was the sweetest thing. Are you optimistic that you'll be able to bring someone to justice here in these murders? Very optimistic. Hopefully they won't pin it on the wrong person. I'd rather it remain unsolved. Every day, someone sits in this chair convinced healthy, strong hair has to come with a luxury price tag.

34:33But you know what really surprises them? How simple the solution can be. The secret isn't some long, expensive salon treatment. It's actually Pantene. Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo and Conditioner has a vitamin-rich lather that leaves hair looking vibrant and hydrated after every wash, with results lasting over 72 hours. And for an extra boost, use Pantene's Miracle Rescue 10-in-1 Multitasking Spray. Oh, here comes a new client. Time to share the secret. For salon-quality hair repair, it's actually panting. If there wasn't such thing as a ghost, I would think that you would find them here. It's spooky. That's supposed to be where the lady with the long flowing white gown walks. One lady told me that she was looking for her child.

35:36In Columbus, Mississippi's oldest cemetery, the dead are said to walk. Is Miss Randall out here? I think Miss Everett is. But maybe there's more to their death than meets the eye. Columbus's elderly victims may be dead and buried, but for Louise Randall, Betty Everett, Mack Fowler, Lauren Wilbanks, and Robert Hanna, the wait for justice could be eternal. I want people to realize that they are people, not just a name on a piece of paper. When Chief Billy Pickens first took office in 1999, he made some progress. Wherever there's something that we think is a lead, we're going to go. A year after we first brought you this report, the big story is the election of a new mayor who says he'll make the stalled murder investigation a priority.

36:30Do you think you will be able to solve any of these murders? No one can say yes or no. I would like to say yes, but I'm going to say I hope we do. Since the last of the so-called serial killings back in 1998, there have been no more murders which match the pattern. They've talked to me. Of course, they took fingerprints. Grady Randall, the son of victim Louise Randall, has been questioned several times, but he has never been charged with anything. Police Chief Billy Pickens told 48 Hours, quote, Grady Randall was offered and took a polygraph test and passed. He is not being looked at at this time as a strong suspect. And the former police chief, Donnie Freshour, has done his time in federal prison. Eight months. He's now

37:22working construction. Does it bother anybody knowing that a killer or some killers could still be loose around here? Well, yes, I think it does. But you can't live in fear all your life. Ellen Smith learned how to use a gun to protect herself. I guess I would have shot it if I'd had to. I'd probably been so scared I would have shot myself in the foot. She's still not taking any chances. Now, do you still keep your gun close by? Oh, yeah. Under your pillow? Yeah. You still do? Uh-huh. I don't know if they'll ever be able to find him at this late date. Do you think they will ever solve these five murders? Not unless they bring in people from outside that don't care about a name or care about old politics and old money.

38:10Because it is going to be an in-town person. It ain't going to be some vagrant walking down the street. This town is really nice, but it's kind of like, which I don't know if you northerners have this, but in the south you do have little roaches and they're impossible to get rid of. And in the daytime it's fine, and you cut the lights off, here they go. This is like Columbus. When you're here, it's very nice, but when you cut the lights out, things creep out. In 2017, police arrested David Murray, whose DNA sample was linked to the murder of Mac Fowler. Murray was hospitalized for mental evaluation. No evidence has been found connecting him to the other murders. We're getting rescued! This November, Yellow Jackets returns for the final season.

39:07The Wiskaia Kai Yellow Jackets have been found after 19 months in the wilderness. The girls may have been rescued, but homecoming is savage. No, no, no! We have to stay in control of the story. You went behind my back. We weren't supposed to leave. Stream the final season of Yellow Jackets November 20th on Paramount+. We're gonna be so totally sick. On Paramount+, our hits hit harder. You bitches, hit dramas like Mobland. This family is on the brink of civil war. Lioness. I'm a soldier. This isn't the end of a fight. This is the start of one Tulsa King you can't get rid of me and hit thrillers like Dexter Resurrection I've been killing killers for half my life and the final season of Yellow Jackets

39:54you have no idea what we went through out there catch every killer twist now streaming on Paramount Plus fight for your life