It moved around a bit until it landed here. When I outlined each days story, I focused on cliffhangers, kickers and which scenes could propel the narrative. When you have one you really hang tight to them. What role did she play? Alarmed, Weston went to get her husband, who called state police. Ackroyd was later charged with Kaye's murder -- the only killing he was ever prosecuted for. The style of the series is elliptical in that it leaves out information, such as dialogue, names of source and other details. This was looking forward. Then Linda tells her that Rachanda has been gone for 24 hours and the dispatcher stumbles a bit. If a jury acquitted Ackroyd, it could clear the way for him to seek parole. Now he admitted hed not only stopped but also had spoken with her. Structurally, why did you decide to break here for a biography of Ackroyd? High in the lush canopy, he noticed a birds nest perched on a branch. He made a brief stop at the house he shared with his mother in Sweet Home, his hometown. The story reaches its powerful chronological conclusion. How and why did you settle on that approach? They had to be named first it should be a shock to the conscience that women were vanishing like this and someone was getting away with it. Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. 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. Where did it and the other information about Kayes run come from? She also knew he was from Sweet Home, not far from where Karen had used the pay phone to call a friend in the Midwest, just one year before Kaye Turner died. She stepped into the sunshine, the frosty air heavy with the scent of ponderosa pine. Pretty much all the details of the attacks and deaths are sickening in the series. What was your source and why did you use it when so many other times you chose to paraphrase speech? The state didnt take the case to a grand jury. He was drawn to Melissa and Sheila, making a point to chat them up. The two friends had gone camping with Melissas family at Beverly Beach State Park, a windswept strand of sand and headlands on the central Oregon coast. The police didnt believe Gabrielsens accusation at the time and her case, which bookends the series, is an example of justice long overdue in the #MeToo era. This time you dramatize the action instead of summarizing it. 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. Its ugly to describe and imagine these killings. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Seven months after it ran, Crombie continues to receive emails and letters from readers grateful that these forgotten women have been remembered. janne. Cops did a thorough timeline of Kayes morning so that detail came from those records. His parents worked as a maintenance man . Read "John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer" by Ruth Canton available from Rakuten Kobo. A stranger had driven his pickup over two young women as they slept at Cline Falls State Park, less than an hour southeast of Camp Sherman. She told them how Ackroyd had once offered the young women a ride. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. st thomas the apostle catholic church mass schedule; United States. He showed signs of a disturbed mind. A thought skittered Ackroyd was raised in the small logging town of Sweet Home, Oregon. Now we knew that he was definitively linked to this little girls case. 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? I was working with a massive amount of information, a long span of years and a huge slice of Oregon geography. One of those visits stood out: Shed discovered him fondling himself while looking at Oui, an explicit mens magazine sold at the store. Her breast had been punctured by a bullet, he said, and her throat was slashed. After one year, the couple divorced, but they continued to live together with Linda's children. A lone truck makes its way along Highway 20 at dusk. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Did you assume readers would know what a Fireball is? Dave listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. How do we create a person's profile? Yet neither man confessed to police. She admitted it could have been her. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. A couple of weeks later, Marlene sat in the back of an unmarked police car as two officers drove her to the lie detector test. John Arthur Ackroyd was a longtime state highway mechanic whose route along U.S. 20 wound through some of Oregon's most spectacular scenery from the Cascade foothills to the coast. Was it easy to get him to talk to you? Kelley Benham French read one of those footnoted drafts and suggested that we publish them all. Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped off the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. The project was a true collaboration. I think the local DA wanted to take another look at this cluster of unsolved cases involving young women, and Melissa and Sheila were among them. Organization, extensive footnoting and a decent system for records that involved seven three-ring binders helped me keep it all straight. Rachanda disappeared on July 10, 1990. Dave, Beth and I spent a lot of time deep in the woods where these women were assaulted, killed and abandoned. They ran away from home with plans to make it to California. We will go through the lives and deaths of Kaye Turner, Rachanda Pickle, Melissa . I work for Channy, he told Ackroyd. He was beset with chronic health problems and hadnt left his cell much. Why? Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Then Linda tells her that Rachanda has been gone for 24 hours and the dispatcher stumbles a bit. But these are long stories and I didnt want to lose readers, so it was a question of using scenes and descriptions that were most telling. 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. My editors advised me at one point to look for ways to mix things up with more complex sentences and longer graphs. Harmon, the investigator who spent hours interviewing Ackroyd, was there, too. The dialogue and scene-setting details how Ackroyd tapped his leg with his knife, for instance came from interviews with Marlene. In a separate call, his old coworker told the same story. . You were able, one wrote, to give voice to so many people who have largely gone unheard (until now). She clearly is trying to process why a mother would wait so long to report that her child has disappeared from a remote highway compound. Her husband was abusive and she drifted from Ackroyd. Without the film, do you think you would use more voices? Her husband was abusive and she drifted from Ackroyd. Why was it important to do so? Then theres Ackroyds first known victim. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. We were in the car a lot, a lot of very long road trips. Pretty bleak. Among the files were details from grand jury testimony, which included precise accounts of Kayes state of mind and the days and hours before and after her disappearance. Her case remained unsolved. Source? Ending with her in this way allowed me to highlight her resilience. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. And Marlene was the victim of police malpractice, which had lethal consequences. There was so much information to move through. Showing : Public Libraries K-12 Schools Library Name Distance. Its definitely hard to read but written, I hope its seen, with deliberation and circumspection. Just like with Kaye, detectives would never know what had happened to Ackroyds stepdaughter, Rachanda Pickle. Did you use an outline or timeline to keep things straight in this convoluted case? I know from watching Dave Killens powerful documentary that much of what you summarize in the story, especially peoples voices, appears there instead of the print narrative. His partner, Detective Will McAnulty, sat nearby. At the beginning of my reporting, I wrote a letter to Noel Turner, the husband of Kaye Turner who had disappeared on the Christmastime run. The couple ate; then they had sex, significant because they almost never did. I relied on hundreds of pages of transcripts from police interviews with Ackroyd for some of these details. For a long time, the lead was a scene from his cell immediately after his death. This is another of the few times when we read extended dialogue, a hallmark of classic narrative. Besides the journalism awards, what was the reaction? The lead prosecutor has a formidable memory and kept meticulous notes that were part of the case file. How were you able to describe the dispatcher as bewildered? The project won the integrated storytelling award from the national Society of Features Journalism, while The National Womens Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation awarded it the National Journalism Impact Award. Kids. His name was John Arthur Ackroyd, who would join the ranks of Ted Bundy, Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, and other notorious predators who have trolled the Pacific Northwest for vulnerable and marginalized women. He didnt respond. Beck and his wife lived in a trailer not far from Camp Sherman, where Kaye had disappeared. Their stories. The sisters knew why she was afraid. My editors, Therese Bottomly and Margaret Haberman, told me over and over to think about scenes and to identify cliffhangers. We went back in our clips. She went missing in 1990 12 years after Kayes killing and just down the highway. The investigators called Marvin Laront. Maybe thats why these are the cases that stuck with investigators. Reporting on this series was emotionally grueling. Mommy loves you too much, she whispered to her daughter, asleep in a bassinet. How and why did you settle on that approach? Its definitely hard to read but written, I hope its seen, with deliberation and circumspection. Bill Hanlon, the district attorney in Jefferson County, wasnt surprised when the call came from a prosecutor in Linn County, where Ackroyd lived. I looked for ways to make that as seamless as possible. He said he was with his friend and hunting companion, Roger Dale Beck. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. Constant references make Highway 20 a character in its own right? Your lead is a classic roundup that focuses on several people or events. My sister was denying it. Secondary trauma from reporting stories like this is real. First thing I thought of was: How can you be hurt in this kind of beauty?" What lay behind that decision? To some, she seemed lost, almost invisible. Do investigators believe Ackroyd was responsible for these unsolved deaths? Yes and it was something I struggled with. He even pretended to aid in the fruitless search for the girl. The cops cheered. Where did it and the other information about Kayes run come from? Ackroyd was incarcerated in Oregon State Penitentiary. We needed to say that. My goal all along was to limit reader confusion. To do that in a way that was going to keep a readers interest through five installments was herculean. Cart The gruesome details implicated Ackroyd and suggested to investigators that hed returned to Camp Sherman weeks after the killing to check on Kayes remains. Local cops tracked down Sheilas mother. The couple had since divorced and Pam had moved to California. Find books like John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer: A collection of True Crime from the world's largest community of readers. The cause: heart disease. Once in a while, Bart Swanson makes his way to the isolated logging road where Sheilas body was found just feet from her friend, Melissa Sanders. Detectives moved on. What triggered the new investigation? I am totally innocent, he said, his breathing labored, and Ill say that until the day I die. In exchange, he agreed never to seek parole. The beginning because you have to engage and explain but not overpromise, all the while getting the tone right. We relied on each other for support. [1], In 1977, he began working for the state highway department along U.S. Route 20 that ran east to west across Oregon. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. Covering thought leadership in journalism, 2023 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, It was pure serendipity. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. Extraordinary because the court sealed the plea and effectively silenced Rachandas brother. 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. Melissas parents awoke to find the young women gone, their tent empty. Karens case and the others from that era were all but forgotten. Talking about some other people that are dead up in that area., Oh, said Ackroyd, now youre trying to lay some others on me?, No, Im just asking you, the detective said. It is available in multimedia format. His shirtsleeves were rolled up. This story is complicated and confusing. 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. Read John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton with a free trial. Again, he didnt respond. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. It started when a supervisor in the Linn County Sheriffs Office assigned McAnulty to organize press clippings from the early days of the investigation. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. I spoke with his coworkers and friends. Weeks after the teens disappeared, Ackroyd was finally arrested for Kayes murder and booked into the Jefferson County jail in Madras. He rolled up the window and slammed the door. No deception detected, the polygraph examiner determined. Snow worked the phones, digging up numbers for highway workers, many of them long retired. Then Ackroyds teenage stepdaughter disappeared and a new group of investigators reopened Kayes case. They were thin slats of wood. This section could perhaps have served as a nut graf, placed much higher in the story. Ackroyd was in no mood to talk this time. The Oregonian has prepared a complete dossier on the crimes of John ACKROYD. We had a lot of discussion about the ending. McAnulty wondered if an ex-wife might see the events of the distant past in a different light. You could, I assume, have used sources to describe this scene. He knew it was Ackroyd who had eventually led police to her remains. Is this the theme of the story? We felt and processed their profound grief. The men heard a truck pull into the yard. She saw it as a way of letting readers know how much work went into this series. What had led Ackroyd to conclude the items in the ponderosa pine thicket were Kayes? An ominous lead. Her body had never been found. A father himself now, Byron gets a catch in his voice when he talks about it. June 12, 2022 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 They wrote down his habit of taking time off around the disappearances, as hed done with Kaye and Rachanda. A dozen or so work crews called the junction home. What sources did you rely on to reconstruct the events of your trial? Rachanda was a good kid, helping around the house and taking care not to stray far. The answer was no. I looked for ways to make that as seamless as possible. Melissa and Sheila joined a list of girls last heard from or seen late at night in this coastal community. It also won best special section in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associations annual awards. Their stories have another connection: One man - John Arthur Ackroyd - is linked to all five crimes. The highway worker had hurt Rachanda, stuffed her into a garbage bag and hauled her away, Linn County Sheriffs Detective Jim Salsbery said during one of their interviews. Her mother left behind a short list of chores. George was born on March 29 1875, in East Bierley, Yorkshire. 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. It felt clunky to me to stop and quote a source. You dont describe the rape, instead skipping over graphic details. It was the day before Christmas. I kept approaching the local cops, detectives, some quite elderly, retired. The teenagers had met six months earlier. John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. Karen Lee, 15, and Rodney Grissom, 14, were friends. I wasnt sure what to call it. His relationship with Linda ended and he moved in with his mother in Sweet Home. Then Rachanda Pickle went missing from the desolate highway compound where she lived, never to be seen again. He worked overseas as a mechanic and was caught stealing equipment. That day, she tied her hair back and pulled on her green Levis. They kept their exasperation in check, rarely raising their voices as they combed fine details for any new revelation. The two investigators crowded Bensons office with more whiteboards, scribbling fine points from each case. You felt a tremendous obligation to the victims and their loved ones in telling this story. Ackroyds name emerged early on. Even before hunters had stumbled upon the teens remains, Ackroyd told a friend: They are assuming its me.. Anyone who is reporter, you said, knows that a good editor is hard to come by. John Arthur Ackroyd (October 3, 1949 - December 30, 2016) was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. Buy John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer by Ruth Canton at Mighty Ape Australia. Find a Digital Library with John Arthur Ackroyd, Serial Killer near you. Two more teens disappeared but their bodies never turned up. We felt and processed their profound grief. By then, Becks ex-wife had lost touch with Ackroyd but remained fond of him. Prosecutors said she also had been raped. It was scary. How did you locate her? Tagged: The Oregonian. The Question and Answer section for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. [2], His life had changed by early 1992. He and his wife walked out of the county courthouse, where he paced and wept. The men ate and left to poach deer, not returning until the next day, she said. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal . Why did you go to this trouble? In prison that day with Ackroyd, the detective took one last shot. Then one finally offered: Try a woman who worked at the Sweet Home shop back then. He died in prison in 2016.[6][7]. When the couple pulled into the compound that evening, Rachanda wasnt hanging around outside like she had the day before. A lawyer from central Oregon heard the cases had been reopened and called with a suggestion: Take a look at an old highway worker named John Ackroyd. That late summer day, Ackroyd headed straight for Weston. The testing, unavailable at the time of her killing, showed shed been shot and stabbed. She had been drinking and her husband was known to local cops in their small town. It was essential. Then 29, Ackroyd had worked for the highway department for nearly a year. He steadfastly maintained his innocence, admitting only that he had seen Kaye that morning and found her remains. It wasnt long before teenagers Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson disappeared from a camping trip to the coast. Benson and Snow set out to find the men who had the strange encounter with Ackroyd. Without the film, do you think you would use more voices? It made sense to strip it down. Investigators suspected the rivet a quick fix used in field repairs had fallen out of the pocket of her attacker. Even with the verdict, investigators would never really know what unfolded the morning Kaye died. His arrest was imminent. "I remember it was beautiful because it was all green and little flowers blooming, little tiny ones. No, the bewildered dispatcher said, thats not true, not with children. Seemed like the most hopeful note on which to end a series that didnt offer much light. Its a combination of rhythm the variety is more interesting and simply finding ways to weave in the necessary details of who, what, when, where and why without overwhelming readers. How did you reconstruct the details included in this long section about Marlenes rape and the aftermath? I hired a high school student to come in and Bates stamp them. At first, shes just taking the info from Linda Ackroyd. From the outside, he seemed to lead an ordinary life: Raised in small-town Oregon, he hunted and fished, held a steady I was working with a massive amount of information, a long span of years and a huge slice of Oregon geography. It was the first time shed seen him since that summer morning. For now, I just want the reader to know something triggered their interest in what happened to Marlene and leave it at that. If police had believed her, she might have been his last. I have the audio of this conversation. Overseas, he was investigated for selling marijuana and going AWOL. It was scary. At 17, Melissa was tough-talking and independent. This detail is so specific. He got creative: What if cops and prison officials arranged for Ackroyd to share a Christmas or Thanksgiving meal with his family on the outside? They were thin slats of wood. 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. 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..
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