The Freeway Phantom: A series of brutal murders in Washington, D.C. | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode contains violence
against children that won't be suitable for all listeners it was a bombing afternoon in the United States capital
of Washington DC on Sunday April 25 1971 Allen teen Spinks left her apartment on
Waller place southeast in Congress Heights to visit a nun who lived on the other side of town before she left
Allen teen warned her children they were not to leave while she was gone the 24 year old daughter Valerie lived in a
different apartment within the same complex at around 7 p.m. she dropped in to ask if one of the older children
could do her a favor by running out to buy some groceries from the nearby 7-eleven convenience store
she knew their mother would disapprove but it was a trip the youngest Binx children had made many times before aunt
Valerie trusted them to take the 7 block journey alone 13-year old Carol agreed to complete the errand tempted by the
offer of a free soda Valerie handed her little sister a five-dollar bill and instructed her to
purchase a loaf of bread 5 TV dinners and the drink for herself as Carol set out wearing blue gym shorts and a red
sweater she soon ran into her mother who was returning from her day out Allen teen was not pleased that Carol
had disobeyed her orders she told her to continue with the errand but to come straight home afterwards where she would
then be punished caryl agreed and hurried off to the store three hours past then Carol still
hadn't returned home concerned her family contacted friends and neighbors to see if anyone had heard from her
they also contacted the 7-eleven and to the clerk explained that Carol had entered the store at around 7:40 p.m.
she purchased the items her sister had requested but there had been no sightings after that Allen teen called
The Washington Metropolitan Police and reported her daughter missing over 40 members of the local community
joined the Sphynx family in scouring the neighborhood and surrounding areas and door-knocking homes the search continued
for days but there were no sightings or contact from Carol six days later an approximately 2:00 p.m. on Saturday May
1 1971 several children were playing on an embankment outside the st. Elizabeth Hospital alongside the Suitland Parkway
a busy nine mile freeway in Southeast Washington an 11 year old boy wandered away from the group onto a grassy mound
where he came upon the body of a young girl he waved down a passing police patrol car the body was identified as
that of Carol Spinks who was dressed in the same clothes that she had been wearing on the day she left home - her
shoes from the way she was positioned on her back it appeared as though Carol had
either been thrown down the embankment from the freeway or had been dragged to the location then autopsy concluded she
had been sexually assaulted and strangled with her death occurring two to three days before she was found
green fibers were recovered on her body and undigested citrus fruit was found in
her stomach Carol's family confirmed she had not consumed any citrus fruit on the day she
went missing this detail combined with the level of decomposition indicated that her killer had likely fed and kept
her alive for several days after her abduction [Music] news of Carol's Vince's murder received
very little coverage in the media the police did not disclose whether they had any leads or suspects and revealed very
little about their investigative efforts into identifying her killer on the morning of Thursday July 8 to 1971
16 year-old Darlene eyo Johnson woke and prepared herself for the day ahead she lived on wheeler Road southeast in
Congress Heights just a few blocks from the Spinks apartment and attended the same school as Carroll although the two
girls didn't know one another Darlene iya had recently landed a summer job as a youth counselor at the auxin
run recreation center which was close enough to her home that she could walk to and from work each day that day in
addition to her regular shift she would be staying at the rec center overnight as they were holding a special sleepover
for the kids in the neighborhood Darlene eyo dressed in a green sweater blue blouse blue shorts and a red white and
blue striped miniskirt and reminded her mother not to expect her home that night
she said goodbye and began her walk to work heading down the same street Carol Spinks traversed nine weeks earlier
later that evening Darlene ia's mother Helen was informed that her daughter had failed to show up for work she
immediately called friends and neighbors but nobody had seen Darlie Nia or had any idea where she could be
helen spent the night sick with worry hoping Darlene er would walk through the door but when there still hadn't been
any sign of her by the next morning Helen contacted the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and filed
a missing person report a week later a driver on the interstate 295 Highway was having car trouble and pulled over
stopping 15 feet from where Carroll Sphynx body had been found there within the heavy brush he noticed what looked
like a human body and called the police there was the second call they had received - that morning about a possible
sighting of human remains in the area a patrol car was sent out to investigate but the dispatched officers drove by the
site without getting out of their vehicle unable to see a body they deduced it was a false sighting and left
the scene on Monday July 19 eleven days after Darlene iya went missing one of the witnesses returned to the side of
the highway curious to know the outcome of their grim discovery to their surprise the body was still in
the same place it had been when they reported it days prior this time when the police were called they located the
body exposure to the hot summer weather had left the body heavily decomposed and
it was not possible to make an immediate identification the remains were taken to
the County coroner's office where fingerprints and clothing were used to identify the body to be Delaney O
Johnson the 16 year old was fully clothed in the outfit she was last seen wearing and - just the like Carol Spinks
her shoes were also missing decomposition prevented the coroner from determining the cause of death or if she
had been sexually assaulted once again the police conducted door knocks in the Congress Heights area
seeking any information about the teenager's death one witness reported seeing Darlie Nia getting into an old
black car being driven by a black male six days before Darlene ia's body was discovered a motorist - driving roughly
25 miles south of Washington along Highway Route two to eight in Waldorf Maryland spotted a body on the side of
the road it was 14 year old Angela Barnes who had disappeared a week earlier on Monday July 12 after leaving
a friend's house at 11:45 p.m. to walk the 10 blocks to her home on Martin Luther King jr. Avenue in Congress
Heights Angela was found fully clothed with a fatal gunshot wound to the back of her head connections were immediately
drawn between her murder and to that of Karol Spinks and Darlie Nia Johnson but there were some differences while
Carroll and Darlie Nia had both been strangled in what appeared to be a sexually motivated attack and disposed
of Nia where they were last seen Angela showed no signs of sexual assault and had been shot then left a considerable
distance from her last known whereabouts all three girls were fully clothed but Angela still had shoes on whereas
Carroll and Darlie Nia did not however the similarities were also uncanny all three victims lived in the Congress
Heights area and were of similar age race and appearance they were all abducted while walking the streets of
their neighborhood and - their bodies had been left on the side of a highway the police were reluctant to admit that
all three murders were carried out by the same perpetrator but couldn't ignore the similarities three young women being
violently murdered under similar circumstances in less than a three-month period should have been major news but
the cases were receiving very little coverage many members of the community believed it was due to the color of the
victims skin in 1971 DC was in a state of racial turmoil three years earlier in April 1968 Nobel Peace Prize winning
Baptist minister and civil rights activist Reverend Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated in Tennessee during a
visit to support African American public sanitary workers as one of the leading and most influential advocates fighting
against racial inequality Reverend King's murder triggered riots across the country particularly in DC where 70% of
the population was african-american despite being the majority population people of color were subject to racial
segregation injustice workplace discrimination deficient education opportunities and police brutality
Martin Luther King Jr's death sparked four days of violent protests of fires and looting throughout DC leaving 13
people dead and almost 1,000 businesses significantly damaged as Washington DC's
police force was predominantly white the widespread distrust of law enforcement remained for many years that followed on
Wednesday July 21 Congress Heights residents called a press conference outside Karol Spinks apartment building
where a crowd of 75 people protested the lack of police and media attention over
the three murders Calvin ro lark editor and publisher of weekly newspaper The Washington Informer
enter president of the Washington Highland Civic Association accused the police of failing to give equal
treatment to crimes in the southeast saying it took up to six hours for police to respond when called to their
neighborhoods Calvin stated if they won't protect us we'll have to protect ourselves form
vigilantes he was also critical of the media's inadequate coverage of the murders remarking if it was a blue-eyed
white girl from Silver Spring her picture would have been all over page one a concerned citizen who had helped
organized the search for Carroll Spinks blamed city officials for failing to install proper street lighting in
lower-income neighborhoods stating we're sick and tired of the deaths of our girls we get no help from the police at
all given the community felt overlooked young local men were encouraged to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious and to
arm themselves with rocks in case they needed to help fend off an attacker dolly Nia Johnson's mother Helen said I
thought this was a nice neighborhood we want protection out here we're a bunch of Forgotten people in response to this
criticism law enforcement maintained that the number of vehicles and helicopters patrolling the area had been
increased they stated that there was no physical evidence to link the three murders but announced that a
seven-member task force had been formed to investigate the crimes less than a week later on Tuesday July
27 10 year-old Brenda Crockett was spending the warm evening splashing in a fire hydrant on her Street 12th place in
Northwest Washington at around 8 p.m. her mother reads they asked her to go to the store to grab a loaf of bread and
some pet food Rita told Brenda to take a companion with her neither her 7 year old sister Berthe or a friend Brenda set
out on the 5 block walk to the nearby Safeway market dressed in blue and white floral shorts and a matching top with
pink rollers in her hair when her daughter failed to reappear half an hour later
Rita realized that Brenda did not follow her instructions and had embarked on the
errand alone she conducted a frantic search of the local streets but her child was nowhere to be seen an hour and
20 minutes had passed since Brenda left when at approximately 9:00 20p a.m. the phone rang at the Crockett home
seven-year-old Bertha answered hearing her older sister's voice on the other line
clearly sobbing Brenda explained that a white man had picked her up but he was now sending her home in a cab she said
she thought she was in Virginia a neighboring state before abruptly saying goodbye and hanging up the phone 25
minutes later the phone rang for a second time Rita's partner Theodore answered it was Brenda again who was
still crying Theodore asked if she knew whereabouts in Virginia she was to which Brenda
responded a white man took me on the loan in a house with a white man theodore instructed her to put the men
on the phone telling her he could come and pick her up Brenda then asked did my mother see me
I'm sure what she meant Theodore repeated his request to speak to the man but Brenda explained he was outside
Theodore then heard heavy footsteps in the background prompting Brenda to whisper quickly well
I'll see you before the line went dead at 5:50 a.m. the following morning the police received a phone call from a
hitchhiker who had discovered the body of a young girl lying in full view on a grassy mound alongside the John Hanson
Highway in the Maryland town of Cheveley near an underpass West that the Kenilworth Avenue exit the body was
confirmed to be that of Brenda Crockett the ten-year-old was nine miles from home positioned to face up with her arms
above her head some investigators believed she had been thrown from a vehicle she had been sexually assaulted
and strangled to death with a scarf knotted around her neck and was wearing the same outfit she had left her house
in but was barefoot the similarities to the murders of Carol Spinks and Delaney o Johnson were clear however Brenda's
body was found in Prince George's County some 20 miles from where the other girls
bodies were discovered during her harrowing phone calls home Brenda stated her whereabouts are somewhere in
Virginia investigators theorized that the killer had fed her misleading information and may have forced Brenda
to make the calls to buy some time and to throw off police her question in the second call as to whether her mother had
seen her led to the possibility that wreathen knew her daughter's a doctor and he was checking to see if he had
been seen with Brenda another possibility was that Brenda spotted her mother during her captivity perhaps
while Rita was wandering the local streets looking for her news of Brenda's murder spread causing
the usually vibrant streets of her former neighborhood to empty as children were kept inside
one resident remarked we usually have lots of gangs going on in the street but nobody's been acting right today I think
everyone is disturbed on Friday October 1 a little over two months after Brenda's murder construction worker
William Yates asked his twelve-year-old daughter Nana moja if she could go to the store
to pick up some sugar flour and paper plates his wife Nana Moshe is stepmother had recently
given birth and William was heading to the hospital to visit her and his newborn he trusted Nana Moshe
wholeheartedly as the second oldest of his four children she was mature and could be relied on dressed in brown
shorts a sweatshirt and white tennis shoes nana moshe left her family's apartment building on Benning Road
southeast in Washington DC at approximately 7:00 p.m. and made her way towards the Safeway market store located
at the end of her street when william returned from the hospital he noticed Nana Moshe wasn't home after calls to
friends and neighbors failed to locate her William ran to the Safeway market where
staff confirmed she had arrived earlier and purchased the items on her grocery list less than three hours later her
hitchhiker was walking along Pennsylvania Avenue in Maryland less than half a mile off the freeway when
they came across a grassy area holding the still warm body of men emoji a Yates the 12 year old was fully clothed
except for her white tennis shoes which were missing denim oh she is house key in $2 91 in loose change was scattered
next to her body along with a bag of sugar she had been sexually assaulted and strangled with such force that her
esophagus had been broken there was a small scratch on her forehead and green fibers on her body a
Safeway Market employee said that the morning after Nana Moshe had visited the store they found a bag of flour and a
pack of paper plates outside near the front entrance police suspected Nana Moshe had likely been abducted as soon
as she had left the store causing her to drop two of her grocery items a local resident recalled seeing the young girl
getting into a blue Volkswagen with a Marylander license plate on the night of her disappearance police tracked down
and seized 25 vehicles matching this description but found no evidence to suggest any of the owners had been
involved in the crime from the outset detectives had admitted there were similarities between Nana mo she is
death and two the other four unsolved murders and increased their task force to include 40 investigators they came
from various divisions including the Washington Metropolitan Prince George's County and Montgomery County Police
Department's the Maryland State Police and the FBI the crimes finally started receiving widespread media coverage with
the press naming the unknown killer the freeway phantom 18 year old Brenda Woodard had recently moved out of the
home she shared with her parents and five siblings on Maryland Avenue Northeast in DC after some recent
disputes with her parents Brenda relocated to a friend's place across the courtyard the move was only
temporary and she stayed in regular contact with her family on the night she found out about Nana moja latest murder
Brenda called her mother to warn her to keep an extra close eye on her younger sisters on the evening of Monday
November 15 Brenda visited her fear Emily requesting a ride to Cardozo High School where she was attending night
classes to obtain typing and shorthand skills throughout the summer she had worked as a counselor for the
Department of Recreation and was seeking more stable employment her father agreed
to drop her off giving her a kiss goodbye and telling her to give him a call if she couldn't find a lift home in
which case he or one of her youngest sisters would come and pick her up Brenda attended class and afterwards
joined a classmate for a late dinner at a nearby restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl the
pair decided to catch the bus home together and at 10:25 p.m. they boarded a bus on the corner of 8th and Haight
Street northeast as it didn't travel directly to Brenda's neighborhood she had to switch buses halfway through the
journey just before 11:00 p.m. she said goodbye to her friend and disembarked to
wait at the nearby stop for the line that would take her back home to Maryland Avenue
the following morning rush hour traffic along the Maryland Route 202 highway was
at a standstill Mary wooded had been waiting over an hour for a bus to attend a doctor's appointment when a passing
security guard told her there had been a delay his traffic was hauled up due to the discovery of a man's body off route
202 as Mary began walking to a different bus stop she saw crowds of police press
and onlookers gathered on the other side of the road near the shoulder of the highway a little further on she noticed
the Weig of lying in the middle of the road and recognized that a similar to one that belonged to her eighteen year
old daughter Brenda unable to get the week out of her mind Mary returned home from her doctor's
appointment just before midday to find her phone ringing off the hook it turned out the body found on highway
202 hadn't been a man after all but a young woman Mary received a call from her daughter's house May informing her
that Brenda hadn't returned home after her classes the night before a panic-stricken Mary called the police to
report her daughter missing and today arrived to the wooded House to present photographs of the body found on
the grassy embankment along highway 202 it was Brenda Woodard at 5:00 a.m. earlier that morning a police officer
was conducting his routine patrol on hospital Drive in Cheveley when he sighted Brenda's body she was fully
clothed wearing a black and white checkered skirt a black turtleneck sweater which was inside out a pair of
black boots and a maroon velvet coat that had been draped over her body she had been sexually assaulted strangled
and stabbed in the chest six times the deep wound to her breastbone proving fatal a small bone in her neck was
broken due to strangulation and defensive wounds indicated she had put up a fight two human hairs were found on
her body one from a Caucasian person and one from an african-american person as this was before the implementation of
DNA testing the hairs were not deemed to be vital evidence as there was no way for investigators to know whether they
had come from the killer an officer at the scene or someone else Brenda had bumped into prior to her attack inside
the pocket of her coat was a piece of white notebook paper with a handwritten message that read this is tantamount to
my insensitivity to people especially women I will admit the others when you catch
me if you can the note was signed the freeway phantom the paper had been cut from Brenda's
school notebook and FBI handwriting experts ascertained it was penned by Brando herself it was believed the
killer forced her to write the note as he dictated the message however as the writing was neat and showed no signs of
fear or panic some investigators theorized that Brenda may have known her killer and he had asked her to write the
note under the guise of being a joke before launching his attack if the killer was unknown to Brenda police had
a no explanation for why the note was written the way it was on Wednesday November 17 the day after Brenda woods
body was found her press conference was held wherein a special phone tip line was announced Washington Metropolitan
Police Inspector Malin Pitts had admitted that while it was impossible to ignore the similarities between the six
murders he was unable to confirm for certain whether they were connected he acknowledged the pattern that had
emerged in which each of the victims had been young black females who were residents of the Washington DC area and
had been killed in a similar manner before being left near the side of a busy highway a majority of the girls had
also been left without their shoes although there was a significant age gap between the youngest victim 10 year-old
Brenda Crockett and two the eldest 18 year old Brenda Woodard the latter appeared youthful and could have been
mistaken for being younger inspector Pitts said investigators were keeping an open mind about the possibility that
separate killers were responsible but were staging their crimes to fit the circumstances of the other cases to
detract attention from themselves in anticipation of people coming forward to make false confessions the police
withheld details about the note found in Brenda woods pocket ensuring only the killer would know this information he
clarified that there were no direct links between any of the victims and that none of the girls were known to one
another he said that the police were working hard to solve the murders but had no leads and were uncertain how many
perpetrators were involved the police strongly believed that the victims had been either lured or forced into the
perpetrators vehicle and that there may have been others who had escaped similar
attempts anyone who had refused the offer of a lift or had successfully fought off someone who tried to force
them into a car was encouraged to come forward inspector Pitts quote somewhere in this
community is an individual who probably has a clue that will help solve this case somebody knows a sex deviant or a
child molester somebody knows something mayor Walter Washington also made an appearance to pledge that the task force
had the full support of the city's government resources Maryland Senator Charles Mathias made a plea to the
parents of young girls throughout DC's metropolitan area to take extra precautions until the killer was
apprehended after the press conference roadblocks were set up around the highway exit near where Brenda woods
body was found peak hour traffic was stalled as police questioned motorists but little of interest was uncovered
investigators turned to their focus to the Saint Elizabeth Hospital a federally operated mental health facility that set
alongside the Suitland Parkway right near where the bodies of carole Spinks and Darlie Nia Johnson had been found
in recent times more than 30 court-ordered maximum-security patients had escaped from the institution the
backgrounds of the escapees who had been institutionalized for committing serious
sexual offences after being found not guilty due to reasons of insanity were looked into but after tracking them down
all were ruled out of the investigation and returned to the facility dr. Sheldon
Freud a psychologist who worked with the Prince George's County Police Department
noticed another detail in the freeway phantoms pattern four out of the six victims shared the same middle name
Denise dr. Freud believed the killer was deliberately seeking out young girls associated with the name Denise and
warned I would think that any girl with the name Denise would be particularly careful random killing is not very
common assuming that this is one man we might suppose that he has some hostile association with the name Denise or even
the letter D a doctor who worked in the maximum-security wing at the st. Elizabeth Hospital agreed it was
possible that the killer had a fixation on the name yet Denise was an incredibly common name at
the time and if it proved true it didn't explain why Brenda Crockett entered men
emotion eights were targeted as they had no association with the name police inspector Malin Pitts dismissed the
theory stating that the Denise connection was nothing more than sheer coincidence hundreds of calls were
placed to the task force hotline with the team of six operators quickly doubling to 12 to deal with the influx
of tip offs within just four days 4,000 calls had come through from the public most were from female residents of
Southeast DC who reported being offered rides from strange men and to witnessing
suspicious cars cruising the area with the male drivers and passengers sometimes hurling out
insults multiple theories arose around the identity of the killer including that he was a taxi driver or a teacher
or employee within the public school system who had access to school records enabling him to select the victims with
the middle name of Denis one call made to the tip line was from a young girl with a high-pitched squeaky voice who
simply said my father is the Phantom when the operator asked for her father's name the girl disconnected the call
during another call her voice announced I've got some information for you when you find the Phantom
you'll be surprised because the phantom wears a policeman's uniform with no concrete evidence solid leads or prime
suspects high-level government officials from the White House expressed for their
concern over the unsolved murders and instructed the Justice Department to provide an extra level of support to
wait the investigation the increase in media attention intensified fear across the city with one resident remarking I
feel like I'm going to carry me a gun in every damn place I go and to the first one that looks at me wrong he's going to
get the wrong end of the deal other members of the community took a more peaceful yet unconventional
approach a religious organization called the Christian services corporation launched the radio and television
appeals pleading to the killer to turn himself in so that they could offer him their assistance the group received
support and guidance from dr. Sheldon Freud the psychologists behind the Denice Theory who voiced his belief that
the killer could not control his impulses and that the atmosphere of panic created by the freeway phantom
nickname was likely only feeding his psychosis quote this is not a horror movie we are dealing with a human being
who probably cannot control himself he should be told that if he'll give himself up he'll get treatment instead
of saying to the police you catch the guy people are beginning to realize the community is the first echelon the
police come in when the community fails the change in strategy presented by the Christian services corporation led to a
public service announcement appearing in newspapers and being broadcast on the radio written by an anonymous citizen
the message read this is an appeal to the person or persons responsible for the deaths of the young girls please
call this number for six to nine four one five this is a payphone and it is not taped and you'll hear my voice only
here's why I'm asking you to call right now I'm more concerned about you you probably feel the whole world is after
you you may be scared you may be just plain tired if you are there is someone you can turn to without fear believe to
be the first public service announcement of its kind within one hour of its broadcast eight calls were placed to the
payphone three callers just breathed heavily into the receiver purposely holding up the
line the other five one of whom was a woman named Denise near hysterical with worry
simply wanted to discuss their theories about the killer the freeway phantom himself remained silent by late November
the freeway phantom case had reached full media saturation the national Fraternal Order of Police detectives and
special police association posted a fifty dollar reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of
the person or persons responsible a spokesperson for the group said they hoped their actions would inspire others
to contribute to the reward fund their appeal was successful prompting contributions to come in from
Washington's evening star newspaper local radio station w ust and members of the local warehouse Union soon the
reward pool reached the total of nine thousand dollars in early December police released the series of colored
photographs of a mannequin dressed in the same clothes and hairstyle Brenda Woodard was sporting on the night
of her abduction the mannequin also held a stack of four school books that match
the ones Brenda was carrying the FBI had achieved success with this technique in
the past crediting their last mannequin display for the arrest and conviction of
a criminal who kidnapped and murdered a seven-year-old child yet the effort proved fruitless in Brenda's case one of
the strongest leads was a late-model red Chevrolet Chevelle with chrome strips that had been seen near where Brenda's
body was found police appealed to the public to be on the lookout for vehicles that matched this description which
prompted an unlikely response from a group of Vietnam War veterans who formed an organization titled the Veterans
Protective League dressed in their service uniforms the men used private vehicles
Patrol several of Washington's major freeways 24 hours a day on the lookout for the red Chevrolet Chevelle when the
police found out about the vigilante group they admitted they needed all the help they could get but advised the
public to leave the dangerous work to the authorities the pressure was on for the task force to make an arrest but in
addition to the lack of evidence highlighting a suspect the freeway phantom case was just one of many
ongoing murder investigations plaguing the DC area in the previous 11 months 250 murders had occurred within the
district 36 of which remained unsolved calls to the hotline slowed and soon the phones felt completely silent
anticipations remained higher that the killer would strike again but the months began to pass without incident the
people of Washington wondered if the freeway phantoms killing spree had come to an end and deliberated over what
prompted him to stop Metropolitan Police Inspector Malin Pitts considered the possibilities telling the public quote
the suspect could have been attached to a military base and being transferred he
could have been arrested on some other charge and incarcerated with the ADAAA knowing it for he could have been
committed to an institution by September 1972 almost a year and a half had passed since the beginning of
the freeway phantoms crime spray it had been ten months since the body of Brenda
Woodard had been discovered and to the case had slipped from the headlines replaced by the political Watergate
scandal which diverted the FBI's attention from the unsolved murders life slowly returned to normal for the
residents of South East the DC seventeen-year-old Diane Williams lived with her parents and five younger
siblings on Halle Terrace southeast in Congress Heights just off the exit of the interstate 295 highway her summer
vacation was spent working for the Department of Recreation and by Tuesday September 5 the program had come to an
end so Diane and her siblings were preparing to return to school that morning Diane visited the recreation
center to collect a final paycheck and to then went shopping with her family to pick out paint colors for a staircase
that were redecorating the group returned home just after midday and Diane took an afternoon nap arising
several hours later to prepare dinner as they sat down to wait Diane's boyfriend
James called the house he had purchased some new records and invited by in over to listen to them together
her parents agreed on the condition that she returned home no later than 10:30 p.m.
Diane borrowed some change from her mother for the bus fare and to set out on her journey at 10:30 p.m. Diane's
mother Margaret informed her husband to lay on that their daughter had missed the curfew
Leon told her not to worry certain that Diane had just gotten caught up and would be home any minute he left for
work as Margaret kept dutiful watch of the clock 11:00 p.m. came and went and there was still no sign of Diane
Margaret called her James and was informed that Diane had since left her boyfriend's house
James had escorted her to the bus stop on the corner of Martin Luther King Road and Howard Avenue over an hour ago
waiting until she was safely on board not wanting to jump to any conclusions Margaret decided not to alert her
husband of the situation unfolding and instead stayed up waiting for Diane the next morning Leon was driving home from
work when he saw a truck pulled to the side of the interstate 295 highway with a handful of men gathered around he
didn't think much of it and arrived home where he learned that his daughter was still missing he called the police to
notify them of Dianne's disappearance describing her outfit blue jeans with a yellow blouse across the border in
Maryland the Prince George's County Police Department had just received reports of a body of a young woman found
on a grassy incline eight feet from the edge of the interstate 295 roughly 200 yards south from the Washington state
line the truck driver had been passing through the area when he noticed the figure and pulled over to investigate
finding the woman lying face down in the grass fully clothed in jeans and a yellow top but barefoot with one dollar
and twenty-six cents in her pocket she had been manually strangled and had a small bruise inside her left arm a
foreign hair was also found inside her mouth as reports of the grim discovery circulated the Washington Metropolitan
Police contacted the Prince George's County police believing the victim might be 17 year-old Diane Williams Leon and
Margaret viewed the body at the morgue positively identifying the deceased as their daughter as Diane's clothing was
damp the medical examiner deduced she had been left on the embankment overnight and estimated her time of death to be at
least nine hours before she was found if this was accurate it meant Diane was killed
not long after saying goodbye to her boyfriend the five other Williams children were at home watching
television when a news report flashed on screen detailing that Diane had been killed their neighbors heard screams and
allowed crushing noises as the children learned that their older sister was never coming home Margaret Williams
later remarked no one who has ever lost a child in such a manner as I could ever
know what it is like they think they know you try to live but really you were living on the surface the inside is dead
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zip recruiter the smartest way to hire bus driver Warren Williams had driven the same route five nights a week for
the past two months at approximately 11:20 1:00 p.m. on September 5 he recalled Diane Williams board his bus at
the Martin Luther King Avenue stop near Howard Road he distinctly remembered Diane as it was unusual for a young girl
to be riding the bus alone late at night at the time that were roughly twenty other passengers on the bus most of whom
were men he was certain that she along with at least three other passengers disembarked at the Martin Luther King
Avenue and South Capitol Street intersection at around 11:50 p.m. Warren took no note of the other passengers as
he had no reason to be suspicious if his recollections were accurate the only way
for Diane to reach her home a block and a half away on Halle Terrace would have been to cross through a parking lot
along a poorly lit Street Warren's story was bolstered by several of Diane's neighbors who heard screaming
at around midnight on September 5 two of Diane's sisters and two other teenage girls recalled an incident three weeks
earlier wherein a man in a yellow car exposed himself to the group as they were out on the street believing this
incident may be related the girls worked with a police sketch artist to create an
image of the flasher described as being of Mexican or Indian heritage three days
after Diane's murder a police spokesperson confirmed they were now treating the case as part of the freeway
phantom investigation stating that the teenager had likely been abducted after getting off the bus they had conducted
hundreds of interviews and were following up several leads but was still no closer to identifying a prime suspect
or making an arrest meanwhile the Williams family received prank phone calls at all hours of the
day and night some callers would ring and ask to speak to Diane before hanging up while others unleashed a string of
obscenities one call came through at 2:00 in the morning with the caller declaring in a sinister voice I killed
your daughter yet they were all so inundated with messages of support Jennifer wooded the 16 year old sister a
freeway phantom victim Brenda wooded reached out to the Williams family with a letter expressing her greatest
sympathies and mutual struggles she wrote I know that all the sympathy cards and two notes of condolence in the world
cannot erase away any portion of the pain that you must feel at this moment a big part of living includes accepting
the bad with the good but why in god's name does such a large part of it have to be bad one day and I hope very soon
this insane maniac will be found but until then I hope and to pray that another innocent girl will never fall
into the hands of such an evil and purposeless death Jennifer shared a poem which had brought
her some comfort at read I cannot say and I will not say that she is dead she is just the way with a cheery smile and
a wave of the hand she has wandered into an unknown land and to left us dreaming how very fair
its needs must be since she lingers there so think of her faring on his deer in the love of their as the love of here
think of her still as the same I say for she is not dead she's just the way with the freeway phantom now active once
again investigators and the media began reflecting over the similarities between
each known victim some remained uncertain whether 14-year old Angela Barnes had fallen prey to the freeway
phantom as she was the only girl to sustained a gunshot wound and did not exhibit any signs of sexual assault
many felt her murder was committed by another individual entirely the densely populated areas where each of the seven
victims had believed presented a contrasting mix of middle-class family homes and public housing projects where
the streets were poorly lit and - there were many rundown neglected areas the killer's hunting grounds were raised of
the Anacostia River far from DC's tourist hot spots where the residential enclaves were bisected with highways and
parks making a popular with transients most of the girls had come from well-educated middle or working-class
families with varying social and economic status who ever lived in homes on quiet tree-lined streets or in
apartment buildings each girl was similar in physical appearance indicating the killer always had a
specific target in mind despite their age difference all were black slim tall and well-dressed captain Robert Boyd
from the Washington Metropolitan Homicide Squad explained their physical description was about the same the older
girls looked younger and - the younger girls looked older they looked between 14 and 16
the theory that the killer was targeting girls with the middle name of Denis was
losing merit as the latest victim Diane Williams had no association with the name the locations where each body was
found were also similar with a remarkable lack of clues or physical evidence the killer more than likely had
access to a vehicle carrying out the rapes and murders elsewhere to purposefully limit any evidence left
behind the disposal of the bodies at night or in the early hours appeared to be a tactic that took advantage of the
cover of darkness while enabling the killer to easily spot the headlights of approaching cars how the freeway phantom
lured his victims was a point of contention with the exception of men emotion eighths and Brenda wooded no
other victims carried obvious defensive injuries nor were there any signs of a struggle in the area of their abduction
either the girls knew their killer and voluntarily entered his car or he was respectfully presented and well
articulated enough to convince them to accept the ride some criminal profilers believed the killer was likely a middle
class older black male they didn't rule out the possibility he was Caucasian but
with certain locals would have recalled the white man frequenting the area he could have also disguised himself as a
woman or had a female accomplice to earn his victims trust The Killers propensity for strangulation
was more commonly associated with criminals from a middle or upper class background a psychologist who worked
with sex offenders dr. Marie Cohen concluded that the killer likely presented himself as gentle well-meaning
and in control while hiding a bitter hatred he believed the murders were fueled by rage and that the sexual
assaults were a secondary motive providing an additional outlet for anger expression and degradation the killer
appeared familiar with the southeast area possibly from having lived in Washington for a long period of time
while working a job that required him to travel around the city he may have crossed paths or come into contact with
these victims in the past and this recognition allowed them to interact with him with little concern may all
teachers including substitute teachers within the southeast the DC area were looked into but none had toured all
seven of the victims there were also loose links between the fact that Diane Williams Darley Nia Johnson and Brenda
Woodard had summer jobs with the Department of Recreation and that nana moshe heights and carol Sphynx lived in
near public parks and swimming pools recreation centers and popular youth spots were looked into but this too was
deemed a coincidence detective Lewis Richardson from the Washington Metropolitan Homicide Squad voiced his
opinion that members of the community were withholding information out of fear the killer would seek retribution quote
we believe someone has seen something but they don't want to get involved this man has confided in a close
relative or friend we're seeking this person to come forward to save the next victim's life
although there were no major developments over the following months efforts were underway to improve
coordination between the different agencies working on solving the case this hinderance may have been the
killer's intention that abducting victims from one jurisdiction and leaving their bodies in another would
result in a muddled investigation if this was indeed his tactic some believed that the killer was a member of law
enforcement fully aware of the pitfalls of the force this correlated well with the theory that the victims voluntarily
accepted a riot from the killer as they would have trusted or complied with the police officer several officers were
investigated but none were identified as suspects leads were followed up as far away as
Mexico and crimes that shared similar emmos were checked for possible links allegations continued to surface that
the police weren't taking the investigation seriously because of the victims race prompting detective
Richardson to respond defensively on black and on from the ghetto and in this city a homicide is a homicide a body is
a body whether it's a banker or a junkie that get the same attention contrary to
popular opinion the freeway phantom investigation had received a large amount of police attention many who
worked on the case stated it was the largest the manhunt they had ever been involved with hundreds of thousands of
dollars and hours were poured into the case the arsons of leads were investigated and thousands of interviews
were conducted maintaining his belief that someone was withholding information out of fear or loyalty detective
Richardson said the community was just as responsible for helping uncover the truth he finished with an apology
quote I'm sorry we haven't caught anyone I feel we're letting the community down by
May 1973 the investigation had stagnated and the number of detectives assigned to
the case had the window too to Wilma Harper the aunt of Diane Williams was in the process of writing a book about the
case when she founded a support group for the victims families named the freeway phantom committee they bonded
over their shared losses with Brenda Crockett's mother Rita explaining people have said to me I know how you must feel
but they really don't know they didn't lose a child like that if mine is dead and yours is dead then we can understand
each other it's as simple as that the unsolved murders had a profound impact on each family Darlie Nia Johnson's
sister was so terrified of intruders coming into their home that her family had to move Carol sphinxes family also
relocated with her mother Allen teens succumbing to the weight of public scrutiny after being forced by police to
take a lie-detector test rumors had circulated that she was protecting her daughter's killer some siblings of the
victims struggled at school and were afraid to go anywhere alone they distrusted men and had a general
wariness of their community with some developing a bitterness towards Washington DC as a whole acknowledging
that the distrust of police held by the community might be preventing someone with information from coming forward the
committee questioned citizens themselves they also rallied together to boost the
reward money Carol's mother Allen Tyne Spinks quote our kids are gone now but we have to find the person responsible
for the sake of other children the police say they have no clues and - no suspects
I know someone out there knows a piece of the puzzle and money talks committee members appeared on talk shows organized
school safety programs and held self-defense classes to keep the case in the public consciousness the start of
1974 marked one year into nine months since the freeway phantom melash struck what caused the end of his killing spree
remained a mystery but the theories were that he had been arrested for an unrelated crime been institutionalized
moved away or died psychologists speculated that his crimes may have been triggered by a conflict in his life
which had since been resolved On February 17 an article written by John saw in The Washington Post revisited the
racial issue Calvin ro lark the president of the Washington Highland Civic Association
stated for years blacks have been at the mercy of Whiterun police departments who
held them at low priority as long as blacks were killing blacks and I haven't seen much change in this you will find a
pattern of young blacks being missing and murdered and we're never able to bring the individuals to justice but if
a white folks are murdered they don't stop investigating until they find out who did it
Washington Metropolitan Police Captain Robert Boyd disputed this V manely stating nothing could be further from
the truth the article supported captain Boyd's assertions through statistics which showed in 1972 the closure rate
for homicide cases was identical for black and white victims and in 1970 three cases involving white victims
actually had a higher unsolved great captain Boyd the blame to the media for the widespread misconception that his
department didn't take the murders of black people seriously he maintained who was really the media that showed a
calculated disinterest in according crimes committed in DC's black neighborhoods he did except that police
had a no excuse for why an arrest had not yet been made calling the killer clever and tremendously lucky for
carrying out his crimes without anyone witnessing the publication of John SARS article generated renewed public
interest and in March 1974 the police launched the new inquiry into the freeway phantom case
later that month they received a phone call from a woman who said the article had taken its toll on her conscience and
she couldn't remain silent any longer based on the undisclosed to tip-off she provided on Saturday April 6 it was
announced that arrests had been made for the 1971 murder of 14-year old Angela Barnes Deadwood Solman and Tommy Simmons
met in 1970 while undergoing training at the Washington Metropolitan Police Academy during their first two-year
probation in early 1971 they reported having their police issued 38 caliber firearm stolen from Simmons
home in Temple Hills as there were no signs of forced entry and - no other valuables were missing major doubts were
raised about their story an internal inquiry was launched and when faced with the possibility of disciplinary action
but Solman and Simmons resigned from the force when questioned about Angela Barnes's murder
Simmons confessed to the crime saying that in the late hours of July 12th 1971 he and Sulman were driving his
Volkswagen down will of Road southeast when they spotted Angela walking alone they made a u-turn and forced her into
their vehicle at gunpoint with the intention to quote take sexual advantage of her when Angela tried to escape
Sulman held the gun to her head and ordered her to hold still a struggle ensued during which he
claimed the gun accidentally went off killing her instantly panicked they drove out to Waldorf where they disposed
of her body before driving back to Washington to clean blood from the vehicle Sulman denied any involvement
saying he had been at home that night with his wife playing Monopoly when Simmons knocked on his door
distressed saying he had killed a girl and needed help disposing of the body but his now ex-wife debunked his alibi
and eventually testified against him saying she had witnessed Sulman destroy his gun in the days following the murder
two days after Simmons and Salman's arrest a police spokesperson announced that both men had been ruled out of the
freeway phantom investigation and were not suspects in the remaining six unsolved murders the pair were found to
guilty for the kidnapping and murder of Angela Barnes and sentenced to a minimum
of 20 years to life in prison members of the freeway phantom committee were relieved as it gave them hope that
they too would receive closure in the future however they were aware that the community's distrust in law enforcement
would only increase as the convicted men were former officers Diane Williams art
Wilmer Harper quote most of the telephone calls we get criticized the police the fact that these suspects were
policemen saddens us we know how the public feels toward the police and this will make it harder for them
on June 5 1974 it was announced that new and credible information had been obtained in relation to the freeway
phantom case the year prior three men had been convicted for committing a string of violent kidnappings and sexual
assaults against seven young women in the DC area the attacks dated back to 1969 and
shared the same MO the men would have lure a woman into their car before driving to an abandoned building where
they proceeded to rape her before dropping her off in the city given that the people used there was a green
Chevrolet Vega investigators named the gang the green Vega rapists in October 1973 three men aged in their 20s were
convicted for the crimes as they served their time additional charges were laid against them as more victims came
forward it was soon determined that at least five men had been involved and that the gang may have been responsible
for up to 1,000 rapes committed between 1969 and to 1973 as the new charges were
piling up one of the convicted men Morris Warren attempted to secure a plea deal with the prosecution alleging that
he had information about the freeway phantom he proceeded to identify several of the freeway phantom victims as green
Vega targets taking police to the crime scenes and providing details about how the girls were killed Warren was
convinced that other members of the gang was striking similar deals with the prosecution and wanted to be the first
one to talk to ensure he secured the best possible bargain however the others were all remaining silent and when the
prosecution refused the Warrens offer of total immunity he retracted his statements and admitted everything he
said about the green Vega rapists involvement with the freeway phantom case had been an elaborate lie
this came as little surprised to some investigators as Warren only provided details that had been widely circulated
in the media he failed to mention any undisclosed information like the handwritten note left in Brenda woods
pocket hairs found on the bodies of some of the victims were tested against Breen
Vega gang members with zero match despite this some investigators were convinced the Warren was telling the
truth the full police probe was conducted into the possible connection but there was no evidence or witnesses
to link the two cases together and with Warren's statements now retracted in 1976 a grand jury decided there was not
enough evidence to wish you an indictment four members of the gang were sentenced to life in prison for their
involvement with the green Vega attacks each of whom denied any involvement with
the freeway phantom case in March 1977 58 year-old computer technician Robert askins was arrested in DC for the
kidnapping and rape of a 24 year old woman askins had previously spent several years in the st. elizabeth
hospital after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity for the 1938 murder of a sex worker named Ruth McDonald who
he had poisoned to death using cyanide laced whiskey his sentence was later overturned on a legal technicality and
he was released from the psychiatric facility in 1958 after his latest rape charge the police
conducted a search of Aspen's property where homicide detective Lloyd Davis came across the appellate court decision
relating to his release from st. Elizabeth's something in the documents caught his eye the word tantamount the
same word featured in the note from the freeway phantom found in Brenda woods coat pocket as it wasn't a word he heard
often had stuck out to detective Davis and he wondered whether oskins could have been responsible for the crimes
detective Davis questioned askins former colleagues who confirmed he often used the word tantamount when expressing
important matters a search of askins home uncovered photos of young girls soiled woman's scarves and a knife that
was linked to another unsolved crime a gold earring and two buttons were found in his vehicle but no fibers were found
that matched to those on the bodies of several freeway phantom victims Askins was questioned at length regarding the
freeway phantom murders but he denied involvement saying he wasn't depraved enough to commit such crimes he was
convicted for the kidnapping and rape of the 24 year old woman and another victim
and was sentenced to life in prison although there was no physical evidence to link him to the freeway phantom
murders he was considered by some to be the prime suspect in 1987 former Washington Metropolitan homicide
detective romaine Jenkins was reassigned to the US Attorney's Office Jenkins had
worked on the freeway phantom investigation since the beginning becoming invested from the moment she
canvassed homes in Carroll sphinxes neighborhood with the resources of the US Attorney's Office now at her disposal
Jenkins formally reopened the case shiri interviewed witnesses questioned friends and relatives of the victims and
visited two key locations while jenkins believed robert oskins was capable of committing such crimes she was not
convinced that he was the killer she thought the person responsible was more likely a transient a member of the
military a Vietnam War veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or someone who felt they had a score to
settle with the police as a black woman herself jenkins agreed that the race of the victims had played a part in the
initial mishandling of the investigation but also blamed the general disorganization of the police
departments involved for not being able to solve the crime given the significant advancements in
forensic technology that had emerged since the 1970s she requested the physical evidence found on the victims
bodies including the note from Brenda Woods pocket be tested for traces of DNA however most of the physical evidence
today they'd been lost destroyed or preserved so poorly that nothing was in a condition to yield any conclusive
results jenkins retired in 1994 and remained haunted by the unsolved case reflecting on it daily and often
rereading her notes to see if there was any small detail she may have overlooked
in an interview with The Washington Post she declared that she will keep searching for answers until the day she
dies quote what happens when people like me and to the families are gone this will be forgotten in 2004 the case was
reopened once again by Washington Metropolitan Police Department detective James Traynham by this time many of the
original police files had been lost and the ones he was able to recover from the
FBI and Prince George's County were missing multiple pages and essential information
detective Traynham thought it was important to look at the case from a fresh angle and employed the help of a
former Canadian police officer turned criminology professor dr. kim ross mode from texas state university Roz mo had
developed a computer program that used the geographic areas of a crime to help determine where the suspect may work or
live known as their anchor point the system concluded that the freeway phantom likely had an anchor point in
DC's Congress Heights district somewhere on the south side of the st. Elizabeth Hospital this aligned with detective
trainings belief that the killer lived in the same neighborhood as the first two victims Carol Spinks and Darlene iya
Johnson before he expanded elsewhere in an effort to detract attention from himself in a revived plea for
information it was announced that a 150,000 dollar reward was now available for anyone with a tip that led to an
arrest in 2009 the human hair found in Diane Williams mouth were submitted to the FBI for advanced DNA testing but the
authorities remained tight-lipped about the results like detective Jenkins before him detective Traynham was not
convinced that Robert Hoskins was the killer telling the Washington Post that the police tried their best to make him
fit the profile but it simply wasn't working on Friday April 30 2010 Robert Askins died in prison
aged 91 years detective Traynham retired without ever getting the answers he so desperately sought for almost 50 years
the families of Carroll Spinks Darlene iya Johnson Brenda Crockett Nana Moshe a Yates Brenda wooded and Diane Williams
have awaited justice in a 2018 interview with the journalist Cheryl Thompson for
the Washington Post Bertha Crockett said she still beats herself up for not going to the store
with Brenda on the day she was abducted her trauma manifested in a rebellious streak in her youth quote if Brenda was
living I would have done things differently I wish I would have grown up with her we could have encouraged each
other to be better women Patricia Williams entire world changed on the day she found out her sister Diane had been
murdered the search for the truth motivated her to become an officer with the Washington Metropolitan Police
Department with the ultimate goal to catch the freeway phantom Patricia has since retired from the police department
and she hasn't had any contact from law enforcement for years she has no idea if
the case is still being reviewed and if so who is in charge or which department has what files that remain scattered
over the three jurisdictions DC Prince George's County into Maryland Patricia told The Washington Post quote
he never forget there is no closure whoever did it has gotten away they may be living somewhere else doing it again
it's not too late to say something you have a whole generation of family members who would like to see someone
brought to justice as of 2019 the freeway phantom remains unknown the 150,000 dollar reward is still available
and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Washington police department or the FBI
[Music] you

Case 121: The Freeway Phantom

Inside the pocket of her coat was a piece of white notebook paper with a handwritten message that read: “This is tantamount to my insensitivity to people, especially women. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can.” The note was signed, the “Freeway Phantom.”

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Anonymous Host Writing – Elsha McGill Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-121-the-freeway-phantom

Brief Summary

The episode details the unsolved murders of young black girls in D.C. during the 1970s and the community's fight for justice.

Key points

The Disappearance of Carol Spinks. Carol Spinks goes missing after a trip to the store, leading to a community search.
Darlene Johnson Goes Missing. Darlene Johnson fails to show up for work, prompting her mother to report her missing.
Community Outcry for Justice. Residents protest the lack of police attention to the murders of young girls.
Brenda Crockett's Harrowing Calls. Brenda Crockett calls home after being abducted, revealing a chilling situation.
Brenda Woodard's Tragic Discovery. Mary discovers her daughter's body on the highway, leading to a frantic search.
The Freeway Phantom's Note. A chilling note found with Brenda's body hints at the killer's taunts.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

If it was a blue-eyed white girl...

Criticism of media coverage regarding the victims.

13:03WatchAug 17, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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