In 1987, John Robert King, 30, contacted the El Paso police, where he confessed to killing 19-year-old Shelley Sikes while she was in her car. The Guardian reports that Texas EquuSearch has helped to find over 400 living people since it was founded in 2000. Miller was the man who hadleft the threatening messages on Abels answering machine. He pleaded guilty and received a life sentence. He claimed that he had gone swimming with Beason that night, and she had accidentally drowned. As time went on, police grew more and more suspicious, finally digging more into the death of Ellen Rae Beason. The series sheds light on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of women. The Texas Killing Fields: Who Was the Real killer? EN. He would later be tried and found guilty before being sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Texas Killing Fields is a stretch of abandoned land just off the interstate road the I-45 between Houston and Galveston in Texas. In 1971, these two reportedly outdoorsy gals disappeared while hitchhiking, only to have their bodies discovered in the killing fields. One such individual is a woman that was known as Princess Blue. The families of other victims found in the Texas Killing Fields would not even have that small comfort. Wreck Season 1 Ending Explained -Ryan J. She even claimed that when the horses died, he would leave their bodies to rot in the field, just as the bodies of the women in the Killing Field were found. The majority of the murder cases have not been solved. But, theTrue Crime Edition reports, by the end of 1971, several young women had been killed in the area. Laura Millers father, Tim Miller, also filed a wrongful death civil suit against Hedrick and won $24 million. Located in League City, Texas, the 50-mile piece of land known as the Killing Fields lies about 26 miles away from Houston. What Happens To Him In The End? Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. During that time, the construction business was booming due to the rampant growth and development happening in Texas. However, Clyde Hedrick had a long list of convictions, but he is now out on parole and not charged with any crimes that took place on Calder Road. While not the official name, the "Killing Fields" has become a term used to describe the 25-acre stretch of an abandoned oil field located in League City, Texas, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. In2005, he stopped his golf cart on the railroad tracks and waited for a train to slam into him. Baker's killer was finally identified when clothing recovered from the crime scene was tested for DNA evidence. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Where the Truth Lies: Where Is Casey Anthonys Brother Now? Accused Episode 6: Recap And Ending, Explained: Do Shandiin, Naataanii, And Chase Go To Prison? The monkier is chilling enough, but once you delve into the Texas Killing Fields' murderous history, it's easy to fall down a true-crime rabbit hole. Laura Miller was a 16-year-old girl who had last been seen at the same convenience store that Heide had visited the year before. The other suspect was Robert Abel, who was initially suspected of. So what is the true full story of the Texas Killing Fields? Since the 1970s, over 33 bodies have been found in a desolate area of land near Galveston and League City, Texas. Clyde Hedrick, who was convicted of killing Ellen Beason nearby, is still a suspect in the case. He quickly made his way to the top of the suspect list. As mentioned in Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields, Hedrick would not remain in prison for long. In the summer of 1971, she was kidnapped and murdered. Where is Lloyd Averys Killer Kevin Roby Now? Night Framed Bootleg The Suspect We Keep the Dead Close Dead End Murder in the Heartland Murder Book . As far as William Reece is concerned, he was sent to jail for life for committing three murders. The Texas Killing Fields is currently available on Netflix for watching. Marla mentioned in the documentary that he is an abusive guy who seeks out weaker women and commits heinous crimes. The show interviews a number of people (including me) about Abel. The killings appear to have stopped around 2006, however. Updated: 12:03 PM CST February 16, 2016. disappearance of 30-year-old Ellen Rae Simpson Beason. Officials thus had to stick to his narrative he said he disposed her off along the isolated path in a panic, in fear of being accused of foul play leading to a conviction for corpse abuse in 1996. He was given a life sentence for each of the three offences. Bring on the Shiplap? Laura said she would walk back home after the call but never reappeared at the Miller house. Newsweek has. The first key suspect was a convict who, in 2001, falsely confessed to the murders at the Calder Road oil field while in custody. His arrest and conviction for murder came 16 years after Baker's body was found in March 1996. Each has its own sheriff's department and local police force. Donna was a 34-year-old mother of two, who was last seen at some point during 1991. William Lewis Reece is the only suspect to be convicted of more than one murder linked to the Texas Killing Fields. Few murders are more notorious than those of the Texas Killing Fields, the killing spree that lasted nearly two decades and claimed over 30 victims. A forensic artist also created a portrait based on her remains, and her DNA was added to databases. With the addition of new DNA and forensic evidence, detectives were able to determine Ellen Raes true cause of death was due to blunt force trauma, not drowning as Hedrick had claimed. Nobody knows if his car met with an accident on a railroad track or if it was suicide because of the rumors about him being the infamous serial killer. Share. However, Tim Miller, the father of one of the Killing Fields victims, has been looking into Hedrick in connection with the killing of his daughter. The most recent true-crime documentary onNetflixis called The Texas Killing Fields. The Crime Scene anthologys third season is now airing. After his death a number of police officials stated they believed he had been wrongly convicted. Smith was identified as the killer when an officer submitted Baker's dress for DNA analysis. Tim was granted more than $24 million in liability as well as damages, plus court costs and annual interest, as a result of the civil claim hed brought against the convicted felon, yet the motion was only granted by default because hed failed to appear in court despite notices. The majority of the victims were women, aged between 12 and 34 years old. Almost two decades later, in 2015, Reece's DNA was found to match 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson, who had been murdered in Oklahoma in 1997. Heres everything we know about the potential suspects associated with one of the most prolific serial killer cases in history. She claims: "I think theres possibly more bodies. [2] As the killings continued through the years, the area became known as the Texas Killing Fields. Nevertheless, everything changed once Ellens body was exhumed in 2012 her revised autopsy declared she suffered skull fractures, meaning shed been hit on the head with a blunt object before drowning. . In the documentary, it is shown how his ex-girlfriends and ex-wives informed the officials of his anger issues. Texas Killing Fields also known as The Fields is a 2011 American crime film directed by Ami Canaan Mann and starring Sam Worthington Jeffrey Dean. However, a serial killer on the loose sent many families into shock, and a lot of the women in their community started dying or disappearing. Given the frequency of the killings and the similarities of some of the crime scenes, it's thought that the Texas Killing Fields have been used by one or multiple serial killers. Many of the deaths and disappearances featured in Netflixs The Texas Killing Fields remain unsolved, but at least one piece of the decades-long mystery was settled fairly recently. Some have been eventually convicted for a few of the murders, while others were released or remain as suspects. However, in 2016, he did confess to killing two women and let the officials see the remains of the victims. The series sheds light on such issues and how problematic it is to victim-blame. Many felt he had done so intentionally as he was unable to ever escape the rumors and accusations of the Texas Killing Fields. After forcing her into his car, he tied her wrists together and attempted to kidnap her. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields. When 29-year-old Ellen Rae Beasons body showed up abandoned in 1984, police soon were led to the last person to see her alive, Clyde Hedrick. One man, Edward Harold Bell, a convicted sex offender and murderer, claims to have killed Debbie and Maria (along with many of the other girls found in the fields), but he . Everyone who knew him was certain he had taken his own life. No one is safe. The League City police were so convinced he murdered those women and buried them, creating his own private graveyard, that they filed a court affidavit calling him a serial sexual offender who displayed the kind of rage and violent behavior often seen in serial killers. Another suspect was a man who kept horses in an adjacent lot and owned a stable. They never found or heard from their daughter again. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields Victims: Were There Any Survivors Of Calder Road Killings? Ellens decomposed remains were found underneath a discarded sofa as well as other garbage on a dirt road in Galveston County in July of the same year, making Clyde the primary suspect. Who Was the Real killer in The Texas Killing Fields. Netflix has dropped yet another installation of their successful Crime Scene docuseries, and this time, viewers dive into some mysterious murders that have, to this day, never been solved. After two decades on the run from U.S. police for the murder of former Marine Larry Dickens, Edward Harold Bell was extradited from Panama to the states to face trial in 1993. Today, the . The District Attorney claims that although there is not enough evidence to establish the case, he has not yet been excluded as a suspect. Clyde was hence arrested on a single count of murder, only for a Galveston County jury to find him guilty on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter at the age of 60 in 2014. The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45 and approximately 26 miles southeast of Houston.Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I-45 area. The documentary tells the story of a series of murders that occurred on a patch . This is the Texas Killing Fields explained. Police initially assumed that Colette was a runaway, leading the Wilson family to round up their neighbors and form an impromptu search party. Texas has observed several brutal crimes in its history and Killing Fields Murders is one of them. Previously known only as Jane Doe and Janet Doe, in 2019, two women were identified as Audrey Lee Cook and Donna Prudhomme via DNA testing, according to theWashington Post. Women are still blamed for offenses committed against them; it is always why was she out at night? instead of why are women not safe at night? People are too busy victim blaming instead of working on the root cause of crimes. While we unfortunately do not know much about Clydes early years or background, we do know he had moved from Florida to Texas as a young adult due to the rise of fast-paced cities like Houston. With Netflixs Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields living up to its title in every way imaginable, we get a complete insight into the dark, twisted, sordid side of human nature many times over. While searching for Colette, other victims were discovered, including 14-year-old Brenda Jones and 19-year-old Gloria Ann Gonzales. The nail-biting documentary on Netflix shows us the vicious crimes men committed against women in the 80s. According to theTrue Crime Edition, Wilson had just returned from band camp and was waiting for her mother, Claire, to pick her up. Kevin Petroff, Galveston Countys assistant district attorney, says in the doc that Hedrick made a jailhouse confession that he raped and murdered Laura, and he confessed to Heide Fyes death, too. This material was downloaded from YouTube. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. It wasnt until 2012 that Beasons body was exhumed, resulting in findings that led to Hedrick being charged with manslaughter and receiving a 20-year prison sentence. Newsweek has everything you need to know. There have been several other arrests in relation to the Texas Killing Fields. While there are plenty of theories and suspects, the answers have not been as forthcoming. People since it was founded in 2000 land known as Princess Blue arrests relation. And Killing Fields police initially assumed that Colette was a runaway, leading the Wilson family to round up neighbors. Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly 's department and local police force at?! 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