Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. And, most significantly, the teens friends confirmed what investigators had long suspected: Ackroyd had been sexually abusing the girl before she vanished. At the wrong place at the right time.. The girl who was good about leaving notes if she headed out to play Nintendo at a neighbors house hadnt left one. The conference room where we met to discuss this story features a wall-sized whiteboard. Oh my God, her mother-in-law said, opening the door. In that way, the story feels unresolved. Its got humanity and poignancy but it also lets readers know that ultimately some questions about the Turner murder were never answered. Yes, youre right. They were there because they were investigating the killing of Kaye Turner, the woman who is the subject of Day 2. Marlene Gabrielsen was raped by John Ackroyd in 1978. The annotated version that ran online was a much shorter version of my own footnoted drafts of this story. We sought ways to simplify and streamline. Killen had. Its also a newspaper story, not a book. The teens had managed to build a sordid social circle in their young lives, so investigators had plenty of violent men to consider. They dont want the stigma and the shame associated with these crimes. It made sense to strip it down. Why do you suppose that was the case? I burned through so many leads before landing on this one. My editors advised me at one point to look for ways to mix things up with more complex sentences and longer graphs. She returned to the campground, where a stranger said his buddy, John Ackroyd, could give her a lift. Yet neither man confessed to police. But detectives long suspected Ackroyd preyed on women who disappeared along or around Highway 20 from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. You were here with her.. When I outlined each days story, I focused on cliffhangers, kickers and which scenes could propel the narrative. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison John Arthur Ackroyd - Episode podcast teratas I had his work, schooling and military records. These are key characters in this story. She wrote it down on a pack of cigarettes. I asked Marlene to describe what she saw and smelled when Ackroyd yanked her from the truck. This is what we heard at the Youth Club in the early 1970's through to the late 1980's, when most nights were party nights, men were men and girls were girls and you met on the dance floor. Lucinda Williams The Ghosts of Highway 20, One of the victims, Terri Jentz, wrote a book. What are the chances that two serial killers were active during the same time and place? The prosecutor, Bill Hanlon, and newspaper accounts. Marlene suspects it was rooted in their bias against Native Americans. In scene after scene, over a couple of long days as the Christmas holiday approached, the investigators playing Ackroyd and Beck would snatch her off the road. In it, he thanked me for telling the stories of Ackroyds other victims. She handed police a brown paper bag with clothes Marlene wore on the night of the attack. It was scary. Was it difficult to have to summarize so much of the story when your reporting had turned up more than enough details to dramatize the action? Organization, extensive footnoting and a decent system for records that involved seven three-ring binders helped me keep it all straight. The day after Christmas, experienced trackers whod joined the search made a disturbing discovery in a clearing near the area where Ackroyd saw Kaye. 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. Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. The ending because you want to leave readers with a meaningful and hopefully memorable coda, the lasting impression. We had a lot of discussion about the ending. View John Ackroyd results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped on the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Gary had a troubled childhood. I can hear him on the recording that the detective made. She understood how ambitious we were trying to be and was really supportive of that. I understood how painful it could be to have us revisit this traumatic time in his life so I respected his decision. To read the story without annotations, click the Hide all annotations button, which youll find just below the social media buttons in the top right-hand menu, or at the top of your mobile screen. (Getty Images) If you've been following the five-part story of John Ackroyd, its conclusion might leave you hanging. What was your reaction when you discovered it? What was the justification to go ahead and use them in a family newspaper?. Their bodies were found off a logging spur. I wanted to show that at this point Ackroyd was a very sick man. I moved my desk next to Daves. Even today parts of the road are so narrow and quiet the highway has the feel of a country lane. Their deaths exposed Ackroyd as a serial killer and raised the possibility of other killings. Span of crimes. My footnotes for this passage: Oregonian interview with Byron Pickle: They had paddles. They werent expected back until afternoon. Beth Nakamura/ The Oregonian/OregonLive. John Arthur Ackroyd - Wikipedia 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1927 The Big Four 1928 The Mystery . She said no and he left. How were you able to describe the dispatcher as bewildered? The extraordinary arrangement meant Ackroyd would die in prison. A new prosecution would be too expensive. Within days of the discovery of Melissa and Sheilas bodies, police zeroed in once again on the highway worker. Pretty bleak. I wasnt sure what to call it. Kids. No deception detected, the polygraph examiner determined. It lets the reader know that this could be an important turning point in the story. 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. How do we create a person's profile? One of the victims, Terri Jentz, wrote a book about what happened and her search for her assailant. How did you locate her? Marlene K. Gabrielsen wants you to remember her name. What triggered the new investigation? I produced a separate online version of the story with more than 150 footnotes showing the interviews and records that supported crucial passages. The story also features an annotated version using footnotes identifying all your sources? He didnt respond. Explore genealogy for Arthur Ackroyd born 1882 died 1929 New Zealand including research + children + more in the free family tree community. Its definitely hard to read but written, I hope its seen, with deliberation and circumspection. I knew I wanted to use this somewhere in this series. In a separate call, his old coworker told the same story. Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. Her head slammed into the door frame. On one reporting trip to the Oregon Coast, I walked the campground and stood in the area where the women made their final call. Sometime after he moved, Ackroyd was in his truck with the daughter of an old friend. Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Some of these details were included in police reports. His excuse for his bloody arms and hands around the time Melissa and Sheila vanished was that hed just gutted a roadkill deer. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. She fought back in every scene, but they all ended the same. I am totally innocent, he said, his breathing labored, and Ill say that until the day I die. At the same time, a dozen investigators working the Turner case seized on Ackroyds shifting accounts. She recounted the attack in detail, how the man cut off her underwear and boots. Their stories. These particular details are important as circumstantial evidence. Theyd noticed that Ackroyds truck was still parked outside and his work rig wasnt there. Court and police files contained several references to Jane. Thats when it got broken, over her rear. I knew this would be an essential scene. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. Within weeks, Melissa and Sheila were dead. Sheilas parents had died, leaving her younger brother to carry on alone with his grief. The aging killer headed to the door and returned to his cell. I did not have any models in mind. She thinks those factors played a role in their handling of the investigation. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 - December 30, 2016) . For more than a month in late 1993, Ackroyd sat impassively in a courtroom at the historic Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Madras, about an hours drive across the high desert from where Kaye had disappeared. You dont describe the rape, instead skipping over graphic details. Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders were murdered in 1992, in Lincoln County, Oregon. 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. Court and police files contained several references to Jane. Ackroyd entered a no contest plea to his stepdaughters murder. 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. She always made the project a priority and didnt make me feel like, Oh, God, Im not contributing or my colleagues are having to pick up the slack. How odd, they thought. Kaye had been raped and shot, Beck told Pam. By then, Ackroyd was a suspected killer who had frustrated police for more than a decade. It was scary. We needed to say that. Later, they mentioned the bizarre encounter to a foreman, but the anecdote never made it past shop gossip. The gruesome details implicated Ackroyd and suggested to investigators that hed returned to Camp Sherman weeks after the killing to check on Kayes remains. Ackroyd knew, too, the dirt spurs that led off the highway and into the forest. She remembered looking up to see small flowers in bloom. The sisters knew why she was afraid. The killer was dead. A grand jury would hear the case. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? I found her through Nexis, I think. They were there because they were investigating the killing of Kaye Turner, the woman who is the subject of Day 2. During his school years, he was a loner who was bullied. Do you consider this your nut graph? He was convicted of a sex crime in Minnesota, served seven months in prison, and moved to California. Parts of Melissas body were gone, probably dragged away by animals. His story about inviting the girl to photograph wildlife that morning never made sense to Rachandas family and friends. She felt the cool blade of Ackroyds hunting knife against her neck. Later that morning, the door to the house opened unexpectedly. The conference room where we met to discuss this story features a wall-sized whiteboard. Its ugly to describe and imagine these killings. [1][2] They lived at Santiam Junction, a state highway division compound at Oregon 22 and U.S. Highway 20. Now, a woman had gone missing, triggering a massive search that made headlines clear to Portland: Husband fears kidnap: Turner searchers losing hope, one read in The Oregonian four days later. The prime suspect all along, Ackroyd wasnt charged in the case. Several parts conclude with a cliffhanger, effectively designed to keep the reader reading. This detail is so specific. Structurally, what was your intention? We needed to say that. He was anxious and beaded with sweat even though the afternoon heat had faded. He enlisted in the Army after having been accused of felony theft. Shes finally believed and theres satisfaction that comes with that. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. He steadfastly maintained his innocence, admitting only that he had seen Kaye that morning and found her remains. 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. So here: Whos responsible for this carnage? His partner, Detective Will McAnulty, sat nearby. We talked all along about how graphic to be. I put them in binders and then entered them in a spreadsheet. Rachandas brother, Byron, still sees her so clearly, her sweet features framed by brown hair. 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. We went back in our clips. The district attorney asked Byron if he supported a plea deal or if he wanted Ackroyd to stand trial. A report from the trial in the Bend (OR) Bulletin. It was my way of saying the state felt they had enough to prove this case and thats as close as this case would get to justice. We talked about this stuff pretty much nonstop at work and when we hung out together outside of work. Snow worked the phones, digging up numbers for highway workers, many of them long retired. Source? Although many versions exist of the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir . My editors, Therese Bottomly and Margaret Haberman, told me over and over to think about scenes and to identify cliffhangers. The couple drove about 90 miles from their home in Lebanon and set up camp near the rodeo grounds. And Marlene was the victim of police malpractice, which had lethal consequences. 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. Organization, extensive footnoting and a decent system for records that involved seven three-ring binders helped me keep it all straight. I found her through Nexis, I think. This is a kicker to the intro and sets up the only survivors story that immediately follows but it surely is the series emotional center of gravity: The dismissal of Marlenes account by police had tragic consequences. Seemed like the most hopeful note on which to end a series that didnt offer much light. Her calendar at work noted recent liaisons with the men. The Turner case file filed a metal file cabinet and was a reporters dream as far as narrative details. . But the rape allegation wasnt their priority that day. It was on one of them that hed raped Marlene Gabrielsen a year before Kaye Turner disappeared. . He is most likely one of the Ghost of The Ghosts of Highway. Yes, we saw Highway 20 as its own theme and character. There was no chance to give Rachanda a proper burial. I wanted the story to be easy on the reader. Those footnotes helped me sleep at night. Why? A spare style is my natural tendency. Later, Ackroyd would drive back roads, shooting squirrels and cutting off their tails. McAnulty wondered if an ex-wife might see the events of the distant past in a different light. But none of these seemed to work. That late summer day, Ackroyd headed straight for Weston. It provided readers with a sense of place but also helped propel the story along. They simply felt they had enough. She wore the buckskin boots her husband bought her even though the couple couldnt afford them. Kaye Turner was killed in 1978, followed by Ackroyds stepdaughter, Rachanda, in 1990. He claimed she turned down his invite . We talked to grieving loved ones. These are important stories to be told, he wrote. Why the shift? Ackroyd obviously is the catalyst of destruction. What lay behind this approach? And Harmon hadn't uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachanda's disappearance. I checked that with Byron, Rachandas brother. 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. 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. The judge didnt remember the circumstances and the lawyers for each side pointed fingers at one another. But its worth noting that it took many years for this particular serendipity to play out. Karens case and the others from that era were all but forgotten. Over time, the story took on even darker tones. The woman demurred. www.opendialoguemediations.com. 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. Marlene slowly stood, wearing only her T-shirt and jacket. Overseas, he was investigated for selling marijuana and going AWOL. 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. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. Ackroyd dodged the accusations at the time, but police revived Kayes case in 1990 amid an unsuccessful investigation to solve the disappearance of Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyds 13-year-old stepdaughter. It made sense to make Highway 20 a central theme and to tell the story chronologically, using the highway as a guide. Raised in southern Oregon, she was an only child who remained close to her parents and had recently returned from a visit. I wanted to absorb all of the material I had collected and then tell the story with authority. We have found 138 people in the UK with the name John Ackroyd. Biography . Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. Ackroyd graduated from Clare College, Cambridge (M.A., 1971), and then attended Yale University for two years. John Arthur Ackroyd was a state highway mechanic whose route took him along Route 20 from the Cascade Foothills to the Pacific Ocean's coast. But those relationships shifted over time. Then Linda tells her that Rachanda has been gone for 24 hours and the dispatcher stumbles a bit. Finding no sign of her, he panicked and called police. A cinnamon candy? 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. The subject matter is horrific. How did it affect you? . Laront remembered the night when a bloodied Ackroyd came into the shop. Ackroyd disclosed yet another curious detail: He hadnt been alone on Christmas Eve morning. They simply felt they had enough. Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. She recalled how Marlene had arrived at her house, sobbing, saying something terrible had happened. These are heartbreaking stories of isolation., We asked Crombie to tell us about the process of producing the project, and the emotional toll it took, and then to help us annotate the reporting and writing of Ghosts of Highway 20.. The last time the two saw each other, Rachanda was in the backseat of a Chevy Blazer headed home. A cinnamon candy? I asked my colleagues if they thought readers would know about Fireballs and the consensus was yes. The annotated version that ran online was a much shorter version of my own footnoted drafts of this story. They ran away from home with plans to make it to California. A young deputy played Kaye. Even with the verdict, investigators would never really know what unfolded the morning Kaye died. Most of what I came up with centered on Ackroyd. It took weeks the woman had changed her name since the early 1990s but she remembered the men and their names. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in . Ackroyd was raised in the small logging town of Sweet Home, Oregon. We encourage you to research and examine . One resembled the waffle soles of Kayes Nikes. Theirs is a cold-case mystery that began with a tip about a possible serial killer. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. Yes! He was responsible for clearing wrecks, helping people whose cars broke down on the highway, and maintenance. Mystery still shrouds much of what happened during Ackroyds final encounters with his victims, and thats not likely to change. It took a lot of force to break them. We had multiple victims across a large swath of rural Oregon and crimes that covered a long period of time. Two more young women disappeared about a month before Ackroyd was arrested and charged in Kayes death. So I went back to Marlene and slow-walked her through her preparations for going out that night. He picked her up 41 years ago at a campground outside Sisters, Oregon. If we said we really needed to go to California, she said yes. 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. Due to his connection with Rachanda's disappearance, many women at Santiam Junction were uncomfortable with his behavior and he began to work out of Corvallis.[2]. Structurally, why did you decide to break here for a biography of Ackroyd? There were 300 people there and Marlene Gabrielsen came. 1977-1992. Thats when Ackroyd picked up a woman from the side of the road, dragged her into the woods and raped her. I knew from his coworkers that his truck likely didnt have AC. After the rape, Ackroyd slapped the knife against his grimy jeans held up by orange suspenders. Ackroyd, now 63, went over the timeline of the day Rachanda disappeared, spinning the same old lies. 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. My editors, Therese Bottomly and Margaret Haberman, told me over and over to think about scenes and to identify cliffhangers. 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. They climbed back into the truck and continued west on Highway 20. Her mother noticed the girls hairbrush, makeup and earrings were still there. The cold case investigation was current and provided real-time detective work that was an aspect of the story that we hadnt yet explored. Dave listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. We talked all along about how graphic to be. putter loft and lie adjustment; you my baby daddy i want child support; apartments for rent in gander nl; Search Dave worked the drone and Beth wandered off alone to look for a way to capture what Marlene saw that early morning 40 years ago. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for John Arthur Ackroyd . Structurally, what was your intention? Cops did a thorough timeline of Kayes morning so that detail came from those records. He recalled the blood, Ackroyds unlikely story and the odd timing. Over time, Ackroyd added incriminating details to his account. Christmas presents Noel bought for his wife were wrapped and in the car. Did you have to listen to them to be able to write that sentence? I would describe it as unsatisfying and extraordinary. It was a 30-minute drive to the nearest store for milk. Police photos showed her watch in the woods near where her partial remains were found. I like how direct, clean and certain Hanlons quote is here. Actor: Emmerdale Farm. His parents worked as a maintenance man and as an office worker at the police department. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Theyd been dumped off the highway along Ackroyds route from the coast to Sweet Home. Marlene Gabrielsen, who survived her encounter with John Ackroyd, told us at one point how Ackroyd had dragged her from his truck. Then a confession by a convicted murderer sidetracked detectives before they determined he was lying. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison John Arthur Ackroyd - Top podcast episodes For decades, investigators wanted peace for Rachanda, the lonely girl who was unhappy and out of place at the highway compound. Kelley Benham French read one of those footnoted drafts and suggested that we publish them all. The rest haunted investigators who had pursued him through the years. That may have also played a role in their response. 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. Kayes final hours remained a mystery. She hadnt been out long when a state highway worker named Thomas Hanna spotted her, running south, alone. This is a dramatic scene Ackroyd walks into the Sweet Home shop spattered with blood and offers a strange explanation. This is a such a powerful, almost poetic detail. Yes, we saw Highway 20 as its own theme and character. I built this profile from those various sources. For instance, Ackroyd told police he drove to his mothers house after raping Marlene. 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 t was the last time any cop talked to Ackroyd. They sat around the fire drinking beer. They didnt hear from Ackroyd, who had decided not to testify. So while I did the interviews, reporting and wrote the stories, their work helped elevate the project into something pretty special. Detectives didnt dwell on the highway worker. Though they had grown apart in their marriage, he remembers Kaye with fondness. Marlene Gabrielsen was John Ackroyd's first known victim, and the one who survived. It was Marlene Gabrielsens first night away from her baby girl. How did you settle on this entry point to their story? If police had believed her, she might have been his last. Biography Edit. I kept approaching the local cops, detectives, some quite elderly, retired. June 12, 2022 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 He claimed he invited her to join him on a drive to photograph deer on back roads near the junction. This is the area where Marlene Gabrielsen was raped off Highway 20 by John Ackroyd. I tried to give quick references to time to guide without distracting the reader. Shed gone around town hanging missing posters but hadnt called police. This is a crucial moment where Ackroyd is confronted with one of these crimes, in this case Rachandas disappearance. Shes finally believed and theres satisfaction that comes with that. I had some of these details from my initial interviews with Marlene, but Kelley pressed me to go back for more, to really flesh out that evening in detail. Each of the multimedia elements in powerful in its own right. She stepped into the sunshine, the frosty air heavy with the scent of ponderosa pine. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers London- The Biography and Thames- Sacred River as well as biographies of Ezra Pound, T.S. Hed stopped by a half-dozen times since Kaye had gone missing. They raised three kids. She had tried to warn police about Ackroyd. Then Ackroyds teenage stepdaughter disappeared and a new group of investigators reopened Kayes case. At one point, Kelley Benham French was a consultant on the series. At one point before the trials, investigators had returned to Camp Sherman to re-enact theories of what had happened. He basked in attention from police. This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. The style of the series is elliptical in that it leaves out information, such as dialogue, names of source and other details. The shopkeeper, Christine Weston, recognized him. Was he ready to talk? You end this section by withholding what happened with the grand jury. Our overarching purpose was to hold their rapist/killer accountable in public for the first time. They met once a week in Bensons office to dive into thousands of pages of old files, spending hours devouring details about the case. You shift now to the killer. What they didnt know: The teens likely were already dead. Kaye and husband, Noel, had joined friends on a holiday getaway at Camp Sherman, a vacation and fly-fishing retreat along the pristine Metolius River off Highway 20 with a two-room school, country store and 200 year-round residents.
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