On 22 February 1946, Jimmy Hollis and his girlfriend, Mary Jeanne, were attacked in Texarkana, by a “phantom-like” figure while out on a date in their car. They were beat with an object and Jeanne was sexually assaulted with a gun. They managed to escape. The following month, Polly Ann Moore and Richard Griffin were found murdered. They had both been shot while sitting in their car and Moore had been sexually assaulted.
On 13 April, 15-year-old Betty Jo Booker and 16-year-old Paul Martin were shot dead. Booker had been sexually assaulted and had been found 2 miles away from Martin, and his car was found 3 miles from Booker’s body and 1.55 miles from his body, indicating the teens had attempted to escape the killer but were unsuccessful.
There were at least three hundred suspects brought in for questioning throughout the killings. On 3 May, the killer struck again, killing Virgil Starks and seriously injuring his wife, Katie, in their home. He was shot dead while reading the newspaper and his wife was shot in the face but managed to escape and alert a neighbour.
This “phantom-like” killer became known as the “Phantom Killer” and the case remains unsolved today.
