May 16: Estranged father murders his three children
Plus: a triple-murder bank robbery, death at the hands of a babysitter's boyfriend, and more.
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Today in True Crime: Quick Hits
5 years ago: On May 16, 2019, the remains of 15-year-old Riley Crossman were found in Berkeley County, West Virginia, after she’d been missing since May 8. Andy McCauley was eventually found guilty for the murder and given two life sentences.
10 years ago: On May 16, 2014, Jane Larson of Massachusetts spoke to her husband, 74-year-old Paul Overby, for the last time, later revealing that he had been abducted when he visited Afghanistan to meet with the leader of a Taliban group.
20 years ago: On May 16, 2004, 58-year-old Robert Kelly Sr. and his 17-year-old son, Kristopher Kelly, were last seen leaving their property in Fairbanks, Alaska. To this day, they haven’t been located, and no significant leads have been made public.
1980: Victim of serial killer is reported missing in Florida
When Billy Mansfield, Jr.—a serial killer and the son of a child molester—ran into 16-year-old Theresa Fillingim and brought her to his “house of horrors,” Fillingim’s sister had no idea what happened to her. She thought maybe it was her fault—that she’d “lost” her sister.
She went to the police to file a missing person’s report on May 16, 1980, but had to wait 41 years before she’d get any answers.
In the meantime, Mansfield was arrested in California for strangling a 29-year-old woman to death. While he was being held for that murder, California police received a tip to search Mansfield’s property down in Florida, which was sprawling and covered in junk.
After intense searching, they dug up the bodies of four additional women. Two were quickly identified; the other two remained Jane Does for years.
In 2022, DNA technology finally identified one of the Jane Does as Theresa Fillingim, who was just one week away from her seventeenth birthday when Mansfield found her. Her sister reported feeling relief at the long-awaited identification.
Explore More
Read: Remains unearthed at serial killer's "house of horrors" 41 years ago identified as missing teenager Theresa Fillingim, CBS News
Listen: William Mansfield Jr, True Crime All The Time
Watch: Large law enforcement presence at home where Billy Mansfield buried bodies, WFLA News Channel 8
2003: Triple bank homicide shocks quiet suburb
The quiet suburb of Greer, South Carolina, had never had a triple murder before—until one or maybe two unknown robbers walked into the Blue Ridge Savings Bank and gunned down three people.
The victims? Retired physics professor Eb Barnes and his wife, Maggie, who tried to run a simple errand before proceeding with their day. Also killed was bank employee Sylvia Holtzclaw, who wanted to be spending the day with her visiting son, but who’d agreed to cover a few hours for a coworker.
By the time police responded to the bank’s panic alarm, it was too late to save them. All three bodies were found in a small room inside the bank, with no sign of a struggle.
Gunfire during a bank robbery may seem par for the course, but police say it’s unusual. “Big shootouts at banks, that’s Hollywood drama,” a Greer detective told journalists. “It’s a rarity that someone actually discharges a firearm.”
The case has been featured on America’s Most Wanted, but still, the suburb has no answers.
Explore More
Read: 15 years later: Blue Ridge Savings Bank triple murders still unsolved, Greenville News
Listen: Three Dead at Blue Ridge Bank, Unsolved Mysteries
Watch: Blue Ridge Bank Murders Still Haunt South Carolina Town, True Crime Daily
2014: 9-year-old girl killed by babysitter’s boyfriend
When a 9-year-old Florida girl named Felecia Williams disappeared, her babysitter told so many different stories that she confused police and prevented them from immediately issuing an Amber Alert.
At first, the woman—Eboni Wiley—said Williams disappeared while she was showering. Then she says she ducked out to buy marijuana and returned to find Williams gone.
Then police learned there was a man in the apartment, a real sketchy fellow named Granville Ashanti Ritchie, who claimed that Williams disappeared while he and Wiley were having sex in another room.
But the day after she went missing, young Williams’ body was found floating in Tampa Bay. Her grieving family buried her and put her nickname on her gravestone: Sugar Plum.
Despite the conflicting stories, suspicion fell quickly on Granville Ashanti Ritchie, and in 2019, he was tried for Williams’ murder. Evidence showed that Williams had tried to call 911 from his phone, and that Ritchie had sexually abused her and then strangled her to death.
Sand and leaves from the Tampa Bay area where Williams’ body was found were also found in Ritchie’s car. He was sentenced to death and is currently on Florida’s death row.
Explore More
Read: Granville Ritchie found guilty of murdering 9-year-old girl, WTSP
Listen: #61: Granville Ritchie, Black True Crime Podcast
Watch: Left Alone with a Monster, Season 3 Episode 8, Peacock
2018: Furious ex-husband kills children and himself
Justin Painter and Amanda Simpson had been married for nine years and had three kids, but the couple wasn't happy. Painter was controlling and made Simpson feel afraid, though he never physically hurt her. He'd always told her that she'd lose the kids if she left.
Finally, though, Simpson had had enough. She left, telling the judge who oversaw their divorce that Painter was mentally unstable and had threatened to kill himself. Despite that, the two managed to co-parent, and Simpson started a new relationship that she was quite excited about.
But when Painter learned that the new boyfriend, Seth Richardson, was moving in, he decided to do something drastic about it.
He burst into Simpson's home in the morning, while she and Richardson were still asleep in bed. She woke to "searing pain." Painter had fired a gun into their bed, breaking her ribs and killing Richardson.
Through the pain, she remembers seeing him in the doorway, telling her that her three children—four, six, and eight years old—were all dead, too. "You're going to have to live with it," he said. Then Painter shot himself in the face right in front of her.
Explore More
Read: 'He's won': Lone survivor of Ponder rampage opens up about ex-husband who killed 3 kids, boyfriend, The Dallas Morning News
Watch: Mom Grieves From Hospital Bed Online, CBS TEXAS
Newspaper Throwback: 1993
On May 16, 1993, The Palm Beach Post reported on the deaths of a daughter and mother—20-year-old Lisa and 45-year-old Rita Bado—who were killed in their Lantana, Florida, apartment in August 1992.
The double murder came at a time when Florida was preparing for Hurricane Andrew, which would hit later that month, and it wasn’t until 2001 that a suspect was taken into custody. The man, James Frederick, was later sentenced to life in prison after confessing to the family murders.
Explore More
Read: Mother And Daughter's Murder Case, Stalled By Florida Hurricane, Finally Solved Years Later, Oxygen
From the Headlines
BTK serial killer investigation: new clue unlocks missing 16-year-old girl’s name, The Guardian
‘Kidnapped’ Algerian man rescued after 26 years from neighbour’s cellar, The Independent
Police address ‘rumors' in investigation into Elijah Vue disappearance, NBC Chicago
Serial killer Son of Sam claims he's inspired by tragic Holocaust diarist Anne Frank, Toronto Sun
5 years after fatal encounter, jury to hear murder case against Auburn cop, The Seattle Times
Arthur Massei Found Guilty in 1971 Murder of Natalie Scheublin, The Bedford Citizen
Attorney for boater ID'd as man who fatally struck 15-year-old Ella Adler speaks out, CBS News
What to Read & Stream
Monsters and Mortals: Famous Serial Killers on the Screen, CrimeReads
The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror – Review, Heaven of Horror
"Help Me Bury This Body" Mystery Books for a Fresh Take on a Classic Genre, Murder & Mayhem
Slasher: An inside look at how detectives solved a nearly 50-year Indianapolis cold case, IndyStar
Detective: Shanna Gardner Talked About Killing Jared Bridegan For Years, Court TV
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