Sandy Turner, Noels wife, answered and greeted us warmly. Pretty much all the details of the attacks and deaths are sickening in the series. Narrative is not typically what Ive done. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. 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. We felt and processed their profound grief. For decades, investigators wanted peace for Rachanda, the lonely girl who was unhappy and out of place at the highway compound. Do investigators believe Ackroyd was responsible for these unsolved deaths? Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders were murdered in 1992, in Lincoln County, Oregon. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? My sister was denying it. His work meant long hours alone on Highway 20, the route that bisects Oregon from east to west. Hed pored over Ackroyds police interviews from 1979 when the highway worker admitted he was the last person to see Kaye Turner. I had his work, schooling and military records. She was alone with Ackroyd, a big man who reeked of sweat and freshly cut wood. In class, she counted down the minutes, a sense of dread rising as the end of the school day approached. Marlene and Ackroyd agreed to be polygraphed. Today, both men insist they should have done more to protect Sheila Swanson and Rachanda Pickle from a killer. But Ackroyd was already serving a life sentence. Then one finally offered: Try a woman who worked at the Sweet Home shop back then. You dont describe the rape, instead skipping over graphic details. A grand jury would hear the case. Dried blood covered his arms and hands. Marlene Gabrielsen, who survived her encounter with John Ackroyd, told us at one point how Ackroyd had dragged her from his truck. By then, Ackroyd was a suspected killer who had frustrated police for more than a decade. I can hear her bafflement on the 911 audio, which Ive listened to over and over. I would imagine there were several possible structures for the series. He took out an envelope of old photos of Ackroyd, his pickups and Santiam Junction all from the original police file. She once showed up at Sheilas with bruises on her face and asked if she could stay. The project was a true collaboration. When he returned, she asked for his phone number to help identify him but also to make him think she liked him. The story reaches its powerful chronological conclusion. Did you tear off her bra? What lay behind that decision? An acquaintance told a detective how he once watched in horror as Ackroyd, then a young man, hacked up puppies using a machete, saying the dogs were his and nobody else could have them. I relied on hundreds of pages of transcripts from police interviews with Ackroyd for some of these details. View John Ackroyd results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. John | Facts, Reign, Legacy, Family Tree, & Magna Carta My editors, Therese Bottomly and Margaret Haberman, told me over and over to think about scenes and to identify cliffhangers. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. He lies down in the dirt and stares up: Is this what his sister saw before she died? Alarmed, Weston went to get her husband, who called state police. Few kids lived there and the ones who did werent Rachandas age. What they didnt know: The teens likely were already dead. Then he left for home. In it, he thanked me for telling the stories of Ackroyds other victims. Do you consider this your nut graph? Yes, youre right. Those contradictions, discrepancies and outright lies had led him to this moment. The two had history that extended to childhood. Detectives didnt dwell on the highway worker. Both were present for almost every interview. On one of our many reporting trips along Highway 20, the three of us tracked down the approximate location of the attack based on Marlenes account and police reports. Biography. John Arthur Ackroyd - Wikipedia The state police detective assigned to investigate the killers death found Ackroyd on the floor of his cell, his sleep apnea machine still whirring and the breathing tube stuck in his throat, left over from last-ditch efforts to save him. The couple ate; then they had sex, significant because they almost never did. Like Kayes watch and her hair in the birds nest, this Fireball detail is one I knew I would use. Karens case and the others from that era were all but forgotten. Her breast had been punctured by a bullet, he said, and her throat was slashed. They show similarities with the other attacks off the highway in the woods, restraints or some sort of overpowering, abuse and then stashing the womens bodies out of the way, leaving them for the elements and animals to destroy. I also was liberated by knowing the companion photos and video would fill in many of the details in a different way. These are important stories to be told, he wrote. An ominous lead. Explore genealogy for John Ackroyd born 1839 Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom died 1921 Temuka, South Canterbury, New Zealand including father + descendants + more in the free family tree community. Did you have to listen to them to be able to write that sentence? Ackroyd told police that Marlene had seduced him in the front seat of his dirty truck. Its ugly to describe and imagine these killings. [1] He married Linda Pickle in the mid-1980s. Rachandas brother, Byron, still sees her so clearly, her sweet features framed by brown hair. Structurally, what was your intention? She hadnt been out since her daughter was born three months earlier. Investigators talked to Marlenes mother-in-law, too. "This . There was so much information to move through. For instance, Ackroyd told police he drove to his mothers house after raping Marlene. His wife, Pam, said the two men were around the trailer for most of the morning, which helped give Ackroyd an alibi. It was a single handwritten sentence. They were still after him when Ackroyd died alone in his prison cell two years ago. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. The beginning because you have to engage and explain but not overpromise, all the while getting the tone right. I built this profile from those various sources. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Unsatisfying because he pleaded no contest but his sentence was suspended as part of the plea so he was never formally convicted and his plea deal didnt require him to reveal what hed done with Rachanda. Then Rachanda Pickle went missing from the desolate highway compound where she lived, never to be seen again. She talked about how she thought he was a logger or someone who made a living in the woods. Seemed like the most hopeful note on which to end a series that didnt offer much light. Harmons manner was low-key and friendly as he tried to gauge Ackroyds interest in pursuing parole. Time had fogged her memory, but on one point she was clear: The men ordered her to lie if police asked where they were that morning. Police and court records. Do you or any of the detectives have any suspicions why it was sealed? Ending with her in this way allowed me to highlight her resilience. I was able to reconstruct this scene based on a detailed interview with Marvin Laront They were thin slats of wood. ILMO Maria Beloved wife of John Edmund Ackroyd who died at "Milethorn . Marlene suspects it was rooted in their bias against Native Americans. What was the justification to go ahead and use them in a family newspaper?. Some of the most important sources never appear in the print component of this project. I kept approaching the local cops, detectives, some quite elderly, retired. It was there that witnesses heard Ackroyd try to lure Melissa and Sheila to a party he said hed planned to host in Newport just down the road from where they would be camping. At one point before the trials, investigators had returned to Camp Sherman to re-enact theories of what had happened. The time and date stood still: 9:27 a.m. on Dec. 24. The case went cold. He mentioned it only after a pair of state police troopers approached him a couple of weeks later. I wanted him to know that the reporting was continuing and that a story would likely appear sometime in the coming months. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. Others told the investigators that Ackroyd started hanging around the Sharis in Lebanon after he met the teens. I had to gut him out.. I wanted to absorb all of the material I had collected and then tell the story with authority. You were here with her.. I also wanted to touch on the idea that this story served as a form of justice for Marlene. It was as close to a breakthrough as theyd get. We talked to grieving loved ones. I am not going to gamble this guy getting away with it, Byron thought. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. He picked her up 41 years ago at a campground outside Sisters, Oregon. katelyn akins disappearance. She seemed withdrawn and tired. When it concluded, the judge sealed the court records. 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. Sinister Sunday topic about serial killer John Arthur Ackroyd, who committed his crimes along Highway 20 in Oregon between 1978 - 1992. Noel Turner drove through Camp Sherman to look for his wife. Rachandas brother struggled to cope with the loss of his sister. At this point in the story, I didnt want to reveal too much about why the cops were taking another look at Marlenes rape. He married a local woman named Linda and they lived with her young kids, Byron and Rachanda. Ackroyd shuffled into the courtroom, where Byron sat in the gallery clutching a photograph of his sister. For years, only those in the room would know what had happened. (en) dbo:birthDate: 1949-10-03 (xsd:date) dbo:birthPlace: dbr:Sweet_Home,_Oregon; dbr:Oregon; Find a Digital Library with John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer near you. 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. Highway workers told them the rivet was a common part they carried on the job. She was 13. Polygraph "test" of Marlene K. Gabrielsen conducted by Sergeant Phil R. Ensminger of the Lane County Sheriff's Office . There was stuff I wanted to say about them that didnt really fit in elsewhere so this seemed like a good spot for that. Kayes final hours remained a mystery. Why? John Arthur Ackroyd, 1902 - 1997. I dont think we talked about that because he died so early in my reporting. How come he had all this blood on his hands?. I asked my colleagues if they thought readers would know about Fireballs and the consensus was yes. The Oregonian has prepared a complete dossier on the crimes of John ACKROYD. This story is complicated and confusing. Ackroyd did little to look for her and later picked up Linda from work. What happened?. Shed be back in an hour, in time for breakfast. Tagged: The Oregonian. Is this the theme of the story? This United States biographical article related to crime is a stub. Then he started swinging at her with his hand.. They were scrappy and streetwise high school dropouts. I checked that with Byron, Rachandas brother. What was your source for this description of Ackroyds temper? The reason for concealing the documents and who insisted on secrecy have been lost to time. I asked Marlene to describe what she saw and smelled when Ackroyd yanked her from the truck. Yes and it was something I struggled with. You dont describe the rape, instead skipping over graphic details. We spent countless hours together on this project. John Ackroyd's Instagram, Twitter & Facebook on IDCrawl The reports dont shed light on why they doubted her. I did not have any models in mind. Sheilas ankles were bound with leggings. He was willing to talk. They assumed the two had gotten a ride from friends. It was a poignant detail in a horrifying account. My sister was denying it. He had an older and younger sister. In late December, as the case wrapped up, the investigators read the news: Ackroyd was dead. [2], His life had changed by early 1992. Did you use an outline or timeline to keep things straight in this convoluted case? Can you describe the collaboration between you, Dave Killen and Beth Nakamura? www.opendialoguemediations.com. First thing I thought of was: How can you be hurt in this kind of beauty?" Though Ackroyd offered their mother stability, the teens dreamed of the day they could leave home for good. For instance, Ackroyd told police he drove to his mothers house after raping Marlene. Most of what I came up with centered on Ackroyd. To promote and elevate the standards of journalism, An old logging road just off Highway 20 on the Oregon coast near where Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson's bodies were discovered in 1992 by local hunters. Ackroyd had offered his hunting buddy, Roger Dale Beck, as his alibi, but another jury found Beck guilty of murder in the Turner case, too. That may have also played a role in their response. He talked his boss into letting him drive 750 miles to California to find out. He saw another highway worker driving through Camp Sherman that morning. Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. The men at first said theyd hunted coyotes but later changed their stories to say they were poaching deer. At the same time, a dozen investigators working the Turner case seized on Ackroyds shifting accounts. The district attorney said he was unable to talk about it something was prohibiting him. She got this sustained ovation from the audience. Structurally, why did you decide to break here for a biography of Ackroyd? The judge didnt remember the circumstances and the lawyers for each side pointed fingers at one another. The couple married in the mid-1980s but divorced after a year. Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. Your lead is a classic roundup that focuses on several people or events. They had to get him. The freelancers anniversary story, she realized, opened the door to more; he agreed to take a substantial kill fee so The Oregonian could pursue that more complicated piece. 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. Yes! Where did it and the other information about Kayes run come from? Their connections to Ackroyd were never made public. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. Maybe thats why these are the cases that stuck with investigators. Marlene started this series and it seemed fitting to end with her. Why did choose to organize by chronologically, by victim? Ackroyd's step-daughter Rachanda Pickle went missing in 1990. Sense of smell is so evocative, yet writers rarely take advantage of its power. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. Read John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton with a free trial. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 - December 30, 2016) . But the work of discovery keeps you going as well as the realization (maybe anxiety) that you must make a fair and supportable case and do justice to the time involved, the expense and most of all, the material. A report from the trial in the Bend (OR) Bulletin. Beck and his wife lived in a trailer not far from Camp Sherman, where Kaye had disappeared. He was the main suspect, but the case had vanished from local news reports even though her disappearance triggered one of the largest search efforts in the countys history. A Forest Service rangers account of seeing Ackroyd that day in a sno-park near Santiam Junction hours later than Ackroyd claimed blew a hole in the highway workers alibi. They ran away from home with plans to make it to California. Why? It was a sensational crime that remains unsolved. And, most significantly, the teens friends confirmed what investigators had long suspected: Ackroyd had been sexually abusing the girl before she vanished. They grew up in small towns about 90 minutes inland on Highway 20 and shared a history infused with drugs and alcohol. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. I wanted to pick up the watch detail again because we first saw Kaye wearing the watch as she heads on a run and now the watch is a detail in her killing. Youre going to do what I tell you, Ackroyd said, speaking for the first time, his low, raspy voice laced with a bit of a drawl. Early on in the project videographer Dave Killen and photographer Beth Nakamura were riding together on Highway 20 on one of our many reporting trips. Pretty bleak. Their stories have another connection: One man - John Arthur Ackroyd - is linked to all five crimes. We had multiple victims across a large swath of rural Oregon and crimes that covered a long period of time. [5] The prime suspect all along, Ackroyd wasnt charged in the case. They were there because they were investigating the killing of Kaye Turner, the woman who is the subject of Day 2. 1977-1992. Piecing Together the Story of an Oregon Serial Killer You handle time very effectively, jumping from minute to minute, day to day, month to month and year to year, eliding what came between without the reader feeling a sense of having missed something. She and her husband planned to spend a night at the Sisters Rodeo. Finding no sign of her, he panicked and called police. Did you assume readers would know what a Fireball is? How did you locate her? Companies played included two seasons at the old Derby Playhouse, two seasons at the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe, The Swan Theatre, Worcester and notably three years with the EMMA Theatre Company based in Loughborough. It wasnt far from where the teens remains were found. The answer was no. The lead prosecutor has a formidable memory and kept meticulous notes that were part of the case file. After Rachandas disappearance, Ackroyd was transferred out of Santiam Junction, where his connection to the case and his behavior made women uncomfortable. Structurally, what was your intention? John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton - Ebook | Scribd