Elderly women's deaths baffle N.C. police

2/6/04 | Paul Nowell

[CFW]

Elderly women's deaths baffle N.C. police By Paul Nowell, Associated Press Writer, 2/6/2004

SHELBY, N.C. -- Police Chief Charlie VanHoy isn't quite sure what he has on his hands, but he's worried.

From August to November last year, three elderly women were found dead in their beds, dressed in their nightclothes, with no sign of forced entry into their homes. Phone lines were severed, yet medical examiners found no foul play.

Further confusing matters, jewelry, pocket books -- even loaded guns -- were not taken.

"This is just baffling and very frustrating," VanHoy said Thursday.

Lottie Mae Ledford, 85, was found dead in August. The body of Margaret Tessneer, 79, was discovered about a month later. And Lillian Mullinix, 87, was found dead in November.

Their community, Shelby, is a working-class town of 21,000 people that once was home to a thriving textile industry. The town, located about 50 miles west of Charlotte, averages between five and seven homicides each year, so VanHoy is alarmed by the possibility there could be a killer on the loose in what he describes as "older, established neighborhoods."

The first death was discovered Aug. 23, when Ledford's niece tried to check on her aunt after she was unable to reach her on the phone for several days. According to a police report, she found the front door unlocked and no sign of forced entry, then went next door to a neighbor's house and called police.

Before officers arrived, the neighbor entered the small, one-story home and found Ledford lying on the bed, wearing a nightgown. VanHoy said the neighbor had seen Ledford on her back porch earlier that day.

"She had two loaded guns in her bedroom," the police chief said. "We learned it was normal for her to have them. In all the cases, pocketbooks were located with cash in them. We also found jewelry on their bodies that was undisturbed."

Bobby Fisher, Ledford's nephew, does not believe his aunt would have left her front door unlocked.

"Any time I went to see her, she had to unlock the door to let me in," he said. "And she had two guns and she wasn't afraid to use them."

His wife, Barbara Fisher, described Ledford as a "very independent woman" who never married and lived in the same house for 57 years until her death. She said she thinks Ledford was surprised by an attacker who had been staking out her house.

Investigators found the severed phone line after they searched the exterior of Ledford's one-story home. VanHoy said "red flags went up" when the discovery was made, and the concerns resurfaced when another severed line was found about a month later.

On the morning of Sept. 20, Tessneer's daughter and son-in-law went to her house. When there was no answer, they tried the front door, which was unlocked. Tessneer was found dead in her bed, with jewelry on top of the bedroom dresser and no signs of robbery.

An autopsy listed the cause of death "undetermined," VanHoy said. A second autopsy, performed by the state medical examiner's office, ruled out foul play, he said.

Just a few miles away, Lillian Mullinix, 87, lived in two-story brick house with a front porch shaded by large holly trees.

A neighbor called police when he noticed newspapers piling up in front of her house on Nov. 10. Like the others, Mullinix was found dead on her bed, dressed in a nightgown. There were no signs of forced entry and the phone line was cut.

Mullinix's body was sent to Chapel Hill for an autopsy. Again, VanHoy said, a forensic pathologist told him there was there was no foul play.

"To me, she was a lovely lady," said neighbor Teresa Vercher, as she watched her young daughter and her nephew play in her front yard this week. "She always stayed by herself and she would sit on her front porch every evening with her cats."

Police continue to check for connections between the three women, who were not known to be acquainted, although all worked in the textile industry.

Investigators have had no luck so far, after reviewing phone records and trying to determine if the women hired the same person for chores, such as yard work or home repairs. But VanHoy hopes that pending toxicology reports on Tessneer and Mullinix will offer some clues.

"You hope if you get that old, one day you can just lay down and die," Barbara Fisher said. "It's not fair to die in such a terrible way."

[aculeus]

Suffocation.

Which causes broken blood vessels in the eye which would be found in an autopsy.

[Protagoras]

Suffocation.

That shows up in a competent autopsy.

[Protagoras]

Medical examiners found no cause of death in any of the three women? Very strange.

Not exacty.

"medical examiners found no foul play."

[diamondjoe]

True. Had forgotten that.

[aculeus]

True. Had forgotten that.

I'm the one who's embarrassed. Such knowledge is a sign of spending too many hours watching television.

[cajungirl]

Oh dear me, I didn't mean to offend. Maybe I mean he sort of works at the library as some kind of assistant but not a real librarian. Maybe even a mailman,,who would know who was a lone old lady better than a mailman. And who would they trust at the door. The guy is a peripheral sort of person,,the kind of person you see all the time but you don't really notice other than to think he is kind of odd. Not sociable. Doesn't date. No men friends. No drinking. Does not go to church . Probably collects something. LIke license plates or something like that. Not guns.

[cajungirl]

In my experience all women love to profile! Looks at all the profilers on this thread. Must be from assessing men as husband material. We are born profilers.

[cajungirl]

How did you know? I love true crime,,my first true crime book was about the Loeb Leopold kidnappers,,hooked ever since.

[Protagoras]

Must be from assessing men as husband material. We are born profilers.

Based on the divorce rate I'd say most could use more training. :^}

[Protagoras]

How did you know? I love true crime,,my first true crime book was about the Loeb Leopold kidnappers,,hooked ever since.

The History Channel ran an hour long program on that case this morning. I just finished watching it.

[cajungirl]

I agree except I don't think he is courting notoriety,,I think he has some sort of very sick psychotic thing with his mother going on here. And as for autopsies, most are pretty cursory if old women are iinvolved. ME's don't go around acting like they are on tv,,they just sort of look and pronounce. I am sure at this point they are looking more closely. And some deaths, classified as natural or expected, don't get autopsies.

[diamondjoe]

I think everyone likes to profile, not just women. (I'm a guy, as it turns out.) I think it stems more from being raised in a society where crime stories (fictional and non-fictional) are so pervasive. It's in the blood, so to speak. I find serial killers fascinating--repulsive, but fascinating.

[AppyPappy]

He doesn't look people in the eye and he keeps his shoes under the bed in a neat row. It's a strange and seemingly irrelevant thing but almost all serial killers have the trait.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

erhaps the killer might even work for the phone company--he cuts the line, comes to the door, tells the women that their line is out (which they confirm by picking up the receiver and getting no dial tone), and that's how he gets in to the house.

Wouldn't someone who works for the phone company know how to disconnect and reconnect a phone line without it being detected? According to my reading of the article, the cut phone lines are the only indication of foul play and without them there would be no investigation. Makes you wonder how much of this kind of serial killing goes on without anyone ever suspecting anything.

[albee]

It is the Grim Reaper! He cut the phone wires while swinging his scythe aimed at the women's throats!

[cajungirl]

I was 12, on vacation out west with my parents, when I read that book and never looked up to their dismay. I think I missed the Grand Canyon and Painted Desert while reading that book. Incredible book. And have been interested in the characters ever since. One of the killers, Loeb, I think ended up getting out of jail and working down in Puerto Rico or someplace. BTW I just read Caril Fugate, remember her?, is living out of jail, loved by her community, doing like day care and lives under her real name. She and Stark murdered the father of a friend of mine and scarred that family for three generations. She was like 15 when it started.

[AppyPappy]

He probably cuts the phone line, not because he needs to, but because he always does. Serial killers are almost always OCD

[cajungirl]

Interesting about the shoes. Someone upthread wondered if the nitegowns were new. Made me wonder, could this be a very old geezer whose wife just died of something and now he is going around putting old ladies down for some weird reason. Like he thinks he is doing them a favor. The nothing stolen when it is in plain sight tells me this is an unusual killer. I do think Bundy would have stolen. Maybe this guy is over 70!!

[AppyPappy]

I'm guessing he works in the medical field and knows which drugs are not found in an autopsy.

[cajungirl]

Think he brought his new nities to the killing? That totally creeps me out. Spooky.