Phantom Killer

The Phantom Killer (also known as the Phantom Slayer), was a serial killer active in the Texarkana area in 1946. The killer is credited with attacking eight people within a span of ten weeks; of the eight people, five were killed. The attacks all happened on the weekends between February 22, 1946, and May 3, 1946.

The murders sent the town of Texarkana into a state of panic throughout the summer. At dusk, city inhabitants heavily armed themselves and locked themselves indoors while police patrolled streets and neighborhoods. Although many businesses lost customers at night, stores sold out of guns, ammunition, locks, and many other protective devices. Several rumors began to spread, including that the killer was caught, or that a third and even fourth double-homicide had been committed.

Most of the town hid in fear inside their houses or hotels, sometimes even leaving town. Some youths took matters into their own hands by trying to bait the Phantom so they could kill him. After three months of no more Phantom attacks, the Texas Rangers slowly and quietly left town to keep the Phantom from believing he was safe to strike again. The murders were reported nationally and internationally by several publications. The killer has never been identified, and thus their identity remains a mystery. Decades later, the case was adapted into the movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

Victims

• Richard L. Griffin, age 29
• Polly Ann Moore, age 17
• Betty Jo Booker, age 15
• Paul Martin, age 16
• Virgil Starks, age 37

Suspect

Youell Lee Swinney (February 9, 1917 – September 15, 1994) was the only major suspect in the Phantom Killer case, although he was never officially charged with any of the murders. Swinney was a known criminal with a history of counterfeiting and auto-theft. He was linked to the crimes by detailed descriptions of the Booker-Martin murders from his wife and accomplice, Peggy, who refused to testify against him in court. Two of the lead investigators in the case, Max Tackett and Tillman Johnson, believed for the remainder of their lives that Swinney was guilty of the murders.

Possible link to the Zodiac Killer?

Some have claimed that the Moonlight Murders were, in fact, the very first appearance of the infamous Zodiac Killer; that, in fact, the Zodiac and the Phantom Killer are one and the same, despite the Texarkana slayings taking place in a completely different state nearly two decades before the Zodiac began his reign of terror.

The evidence that the two might be the same include the following:

• They both had almost the exact same modus operandi, in that they hunted couples who were usually in their cars at gunpoint.
• They both wore hoods that covered their face.
• It is also believed that they even both used the same type of gun, a .38-caliber pistol.

It is generaly believed that the Zodiac likely had served in the military at some point, so if there is any truth to this theory, the two decades of inactivity between the Texarkana murders and the Zodiac murders could be explained as the killer being away in military service, if this above theory is true.