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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.. In scene after scene, over a couple of long days as the Christmas holiday approached, the investigators playing Ackroyd and Beck would snatch her off the road. They were thin slats of wood. Police had done extensive interviews with his supervisors and friends as well. Few kids lived there and the ones who did werent Rachandas age. No, what do you think I am? Ackroyd said, his voice rising in rare agitation. How did you locate her? Ackroyds low libido was the source of such open conflict that Lindas teenage son, Byron, knew of their troubles. The details throughout are extraordinarily vivid. Our overarching purpose was to hold their rapist/killer accountable in public for the first time. On Christmas Eve morning in 1978, she went out for a run in Camp Sherman, where she, her husband and friends planned to spend the holiday. Did the girl ask you to pull over and have some fun?. He was drawn to Melissa and Sheila, making a point to chat them up. He was raised in Sweet Home, a modest logging town along Highway 20. Rachanda and Byron Pickle in an undated photograph. Ackroyd, an opportunist who preyed on women, had worked for more than a decade as a state mechanic along the last 170 miles of Highway 20 from the Cascade foothills to the coast. He picked her up 41 years ago at a campground outside Sisters, Oregon. Her jeans appeared to have been cut. She thinks those factors played a role in their handling of the investigation. Why did Pam Ramirez lie when first interviewed by the cops? Over two decades, four women disappeared and one was raped along the same stretch of road in rural Oregon. Shed hung onto the damaged boots and showed them to the men. I like how direct, clean and certain Hanlons quote is here. This time you use a direct quote? I have the audio of this conversation. Ackroyd obviously is the catalyst of destruction. Pretty bleak. Ackroyd was jailed in 1993 for a 1978 . Disgusted, Weston went to find her husband, but Ackroyd was gone by the time the couple returned to confront him. Most nights, the pair could be found at Sharis in Lebanon, where teens and adults gathered to talk on CB radios and drink coffee. Great verb choice! The three of us had a favorite restaurant on the road. Something bad happened to her. Initially, he told police hed passed Kaye without stopping. I wanted the reader to grasp the precarious position these women were at the time they disappeared. Your lead is a classic roundup that focuses on several people or events. Then one finally offered: Try a woman who worked at the Sweet Home shop back then. Like Kayes watch and her hair in the birds nest, this Fireball detail is one I knew I would use. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. Yet neither man confessed to police. Then, two decades later, in 2010, another detective picked up the file. It was produced by senior staff writer Noelle Crombie, videographer Dave Killen and photographer Beth Nakamura, who worked side-by-side for nearly two years an unusual arrangement given the buyouts and layoffs that have hollowed out Americas newsrooms, including those in Oregon. The other man in the truck told police that Ackroyd wasnt the violent type and the woman was drunk. Was there ever a concern about libeling Ackroyd before he died and rendered the question moot? The focus seemed wrong. Plus reading it aloud again and again and producing a condensed online timeline helped uncover themes and discrepancies. The story, photos and documentary took home five Northwest Regional Emmys, the Bruce Baer Award for Oregons best investigative reporting, and was a finalist for the Scripps Howard multimedia journalism award. I asked my colleagues if they thought readers would know about Fireballs and the consensus was yes. How were you able to describe his breathing? Did you discover Jane Morris in the trial transcript? She hadnt been out long when a state highway worker named Thomas Hanna spotted her, running south, alone. The unglamorous task fell to Ron Benson, an investigator for the district attorney, and Linda Snow, a retired legal assistant. We had multiple victims across a large swath of rural Oregon and crimes that covered a long period of time. We have found 138 people in the UK with the name John Ackroyd. He claimed hed reached down to touch the slain womans arm and hair. I relied on hundreds of pages of transcripts from police interviews with Ackroyd for some of these details. It seems clear that for many of those involved, including most importantly the victims and their families, the system (and to a larger extent society) failed them. Some workers used them to keep cool in summer months. I wanted the reader to hear Ackroyds reaction when confronted with the detectives suspicions. And Bill Hanlon, the prosecutor who helped put Ackroyd away. I moved my desk next to Daves. This let us quickly introduce the five women we write about but also put them first in the mind of the reader. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison John Arthur Ackroyd - Episode podcast teratas Beautiful scenery but what this man did was not beautiful in any sense. The Oregonian/OregonLives five-part series on John Ackroyd details crimes that include sexual abuse, rape and murder. Of course they remembered. I work for Channy, he told Ackroyd. Please take me home.. She understood how ambitious we were trying to be and was really supportive of that. The state didnt take the case to a grand jury. Its damning circumstantial evidence linking Ackroyd to the deaths of these two women, Melissa and Sheila. The watch played a key role in helping to pin down when she was killed. who said that they had a rocky childhood, and their father abused their mother to the point that she left the family. Ackroyd was raised in the small logging town of Sweet Home, Oregon. If you had to characterize the way the system worked in the Rachanda Pickle case, what words would you use? How to say John Arthur Ackroyd in English? ILMO Maria Beloved wife of John Edmund Ackroyd who died at "Milethorn . I remember him spanking her over one of those old school windup alarm clocks and it got broke and he was trying to fix it in and stuff and him and mom were talking about it and they were both getting heatedmom said to line them up and spank them until (one confesses) They were getting ready to line us up. The conference room where we met to discuss this story features a wall-sized whiteboard. Benson made a four-hour trek to a courthouse three counties away, where a metal filing cabinet held Kaye Turners case. Google says its about a half-hour to Sisters, the nearest town where the family would have bought groceries. The freelancers anniversary story, she realized, opened the door to more; he agreed to take a substantial kill fee so The Oregonian could pursue that more complicated piece. Why? A grand jury would hear the case. A new prosecution would be too expensive. One resembled the waffle soles of Kayes Nikes. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in . Then Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyds 13-year-old stepdaughter, disappeared. I did not have any models in mind. Within months, without a body or physical evidence implicating Ackroyd, so did the investigation. His arrest was imminent. FamousFix profile for John Arthur Ackroyd including biography information, wikipedia facts, photos, galleries, news, youtube videos, quotes . John, byname John Lackland, French Jean sans Terre, (born c. 1166died October 18/19, 1216, Newark, Nottinghamshire, England), king of England from 1199 to 1216. Would is a conditional verb indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Mystery still shrouds much of what happened during Ackroyds final encounters with his victims, and thats not likely to change. The spring camping trip to Newport was supposed to mean time with family, but she and Sheila took off the first chance they got. Her hair was matted with sticks and dirt. Interviews with Rachanda Pickles brother, Byron, and one of her childhood friends. Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. Their stories have another connection: One man - John Arthur Ackroyd - is linked to all five crimes. A Forest Service rangers account of seeing Ackroyd that day in a sno-park near Santiam Junction hours later than Ackroyd claimed blew a hole in the highway workers alibi. John was the youngest son of Henry II . The dialogue and scene-setting details how Ackroyd tapped his leg with his knife, for instance came from interviews with Marlene. Hed pored over Ackroyds police interviews from 1979 when the highway worker admitted he was the last person to see Kaye Turner. I tried to give quick references to time to guide without distracting the reader. There were no somber words from the bench about justice served, no deathbed confessions. There was nothing in the record that showed where this request came from or why it had been sought. When parent conferences rolled around, no one showed up. Later, Karens jeans, pages of her journal and the blouse shed sewn for a school project were found off a logging road. Kayes remains sat forgotten in the Jefferson County Courthouse until three years ago when court staff came across them. The extraordinary arrangement meant Ackroyd would die in prison. The dispatcher asked: Who was the last person that saw her, do you know?. By then, Ackroyd was a suspected killer who had frustrated police for more than a decade. Ackroyd was abusive to both Byron and Rachanda. In 1992 he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Vulnerable and adrift, Melissa and Sheila knew nothing of Ackroyds sinister background when he entered their lives. Melissa Sanders was 17 and from Sweet Home. I found her through Nexis, I think. Melissa and Sheila joined a list of girls last heard from or seen late at night in this coastal community. But as we approached publication, Therese (Bottomly) said I needed to connect with Noel. That was something that kept me up at night, having to describe this landscape, these small towns, how to breathe life into people who died a long time ago, these investigations that were very old. I knew all along I wanted to make a passing reference to this crime because it was such a horrible act that touched on some of the same themes as Ackroyds crimes. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. Why was it important to do so? Its a testament to taking a second or third look with fresh eyes and newer forensic techniques at old crimes. They began walking along U.S. 101, covering more than six miles to the turnoff to Highway 20, then headed east. Sheila, then 19, was the older of the two but seemed younger. At first, shes just taking the info from Linda Ackroyd. It was so essential to the chronology that the cash-strapped county that tried Ackroyd years later flew in a Timex exec from the East Coast to testify about the watch and its timekeeping. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. And Harmon hadnt uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachandas disappearance. I knew this would be an essential scene. She clung to her boots, which shed grabbed from the clearing. I heard the river on one of those trips and took the liberty of saying he would have heard it too if his windows were rolled down. Ackroyds name emerged early on. I checked that with Byron, Rachandas brother. There were 300 people there and Marlene Gabrielsen came. It was so essential to the chronology that the cash-strapped county that tried Ackroyd years later flew in a Timex exec from the East Coast to testify about the watch and its timekeeping. She told them how Ackroyd had once offered the young women a ride. It was a sensational crime that remains unsolved. Did you and your colleagues ever worry whether readers would care about cases that happened so many years before? Sheila Swanson was 19 and from nearby Lebanon. Yes, we saw Highway 20 as its own theme and character. [1], In 1977, he began working for the state highway department along U.S. Route 20 that ran east to west across Oregon. He talked his boss into letting him drive 750 miles to California to find out. In 1986 he became the . Eliot, Charles Dickens, William Blake, Wilkie Collins, Thomas More and, most recently, Charlie Chaplin. Time had fogged her memory, but on one point she was clear: The men ordered her to lie if police asked where they were that morning. It was one of those details I tucked away knowing Id use it somewhere. They were there because they were investigating the killing of Kaye Turner, the woman who is the subject of Day 2. Enough time had passed to conclude Rachanda was dead. At first, shes just taking the info from Linda Ackroyd. Also, Ackroyd was a local guy whose mother worked at the police department as an office worker. Did you have any models in mind, any that you studied before or as you were writing? Great details, especially the belt. He had already raped a young mother by the time he happened upon Kaye the day before Christmas in 1978. He drew an orange grid, each column dedicated to a victim assaulted or killed, likely by Ackroyd. Its got humanity and poignancy but it also lets readers know that ultimately some questions about the Turner murder were never answered. These particular details are important as circumstantial evidence. He had raped a young woman, led detectives to a runners remains off an isolated road in central Oregon and was the last person to see his stepdaughter alive. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. How did you decide which characters to include in the epilogue? Maybe we can see each other again, Ackroyd said. Thats when Ackroyd picked up a woman from the side of the road, dragged her into the woods and raped her. Marlene, dizzy from alcohol, watched as he reached through the open window to unlatch the door from the outside. bridal shower wording sample for guests not invited to wedding; family life resurrection eggs story printable. Ackroyd, too, hung out there. It took a lot of force to break them. How did it affect you? Pretty much all the details of the attacks and deaths are sickening in the series. So Dave and I drove a couple hours south to the Turner home Noel had remarried in the years after Kayes death and knocked on the door. Ackroyd was charged with Rachanda's murder in 2013, and pleaded no contest. You could, I assume, have used sources to describe this scene. A lone truck makes its way along Highway 20 at dusk. Ackroyd would recycle the same stories. Country. We spent time with Marlene, the lone survivor. He even pretended to aid in the fruitless search for the girl. He seemed almost relieved to be able to talk about what hed seen. You shift now to the killer. Kaye Turners killing became a faded memory. 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. One time, she made a scene when it was time to go. Karen Lee, 15, and Rodney Grissom, 14, were friends. Then it was time to go. Yes and it was something I struggled with. We talked to grieving loved ones. Weeks after the teens disappeared, Ackroyd was finally arrested for Kayes murder and booked into the Jefferson County jail in Madras. The police detective who originally investigated the rape was long dead, so we couldnt ask him. I was so bewildered by this I was unclear where this was going and then he said, And when he entered his plea. You can hear me echo him on my recorder, When he entered his plea? I was so stunned that (Ackroyd) had done that, a no contest plea, and that there was no record of that in the court system. Marlene started this series and it seemed fitting to end with her. Harmons manner was low-key and friendly as he tried to gauge Ackroyds interest in pursuing parole. In a separate call, his old coworker told the same story. Plus, in an era of smartphones, a Timex wrist watch gives readers the sense that this crime happened in another era. And Harmon hadn't uncovered any physical evidence linking Ackroyd to Rachanda's disappearance. We talked about this stuff pretty much nonstop at work and when we hung out together outside of work. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/OregonLive Was there a question she was afraid to answer? Their stories have another connection: One man is linked to all five crimes. John Arthur Ackroyd (died December 30, 2016 at age 67) was an American murderer and a serial killer. This is the area where Marlene Gabrielsen was raped off Highway 20 by John Ackroyd. I had to rely on their description of what he said. Ackroyd had indeed come across Kaye but didnt go to police, even though he saw posters with her picture at the nearby Santiam Junction highway compound, where he lived. It wasnt long before teenagers Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson disappeared from a camping trip to the coast. She saw it as a way of letting readers know how much work went into this series. His false teeth had been knocked to the floor. Why did you decide to use Benson and Snow as a vehicle to transmit all this background? The girl who was good about leaving notes if she headed out to play Nintendo at a neighbors house hadnt left one. He had an older and younger sister. 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? This scene has a cinematic quality cops gathering on an empty road days before Christmas reenacting an abduction using a woman deputy and then deciding to give the story their own happy ending. Most of your sentences are short and simple; subject-verb-object, short sentences, short paragraphs. The two spent evenings at a Sharis restaurant along Highway 20, where they hung around with other teens and locals, including a state mechanic named John Ackroyd. Was he ready to talk? Actually, the beginning and the ending were the most rewritten parts of the series, as we knew they would be. Actor: Emmerdale Farm. The investigators called Marvin Laront. Anyone who is reporter, you said, knows that a good editor is hard to come by. He struggles to breathe and its clear he takes time to move around. The dialogue and scene-setting details how Ackroyd tapped his leg with his knife, for instance came from interviews with Marlene. She handed police a brown paper bag with clothes Marlene wore on the night of the attack. There were days when we were depleted after doing interviews or looking at these files and crime scene photos. Im not sure what the reader gains from reading a detailed description of a rape. She remembered looking up to see small flowers in bloom. You know, he said, both of you sitting there pointing your fingers at me, and I didnt do nothing.. A state police sergeant and a lieutenant from a local sheriffs office tracked down Marlene at home. Back then, if traffic was light and his window was rolled down, Ackroyd would have heard the South Santiam River rushing alongside the highway as he headed west out of Sweet Home. Rachanda declined, citing the chores her mother expected her to finish, he said. I dont know that its the theme. From the outside, Ackroyd seemed to lead an ordinary life: Raised in small-town Oregon, he hunted and fished, held a steady job and married a woman with a couple of young kids. Ackroyd was raised in the small logging town of Sweet Home, Oregon. Harmon thought back to the handful of cases from the 1970s that remained unsolved: the bodies or clothes of women and one young man found in the isolated wilderness of Linn County, not far from Highway 20, the route Ackroyd spent years traveling for the state. 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. I tell new reporters not to do what I did; its a ridiculously inefficient way of amassing documents for a big project like this. Even today parts of the road are so narrow and quiet the highway has the feel of a country lane. So while I did the interviews, reporting and wrote the stories, their work helped elevate the project into something pretty special. Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian/OregonLive. In other scenes, Beck grabbed her as Ackroyd looked on. Ackroyd was one of many leads they pursued. I had his work, schooling and military records. It turned out that Jane Morris had an earlier brush with Ackroyd as well, months before Kaye went missing. Our Apps. He recalled the blood, Ackroyds unlikely story and the odd timing. They looked for similarities how none of the victims had been buried, for example. Ackroyd entered a no contest plea to his stepdaughters murder. If I put 50 dollars on a gamble that there wasnt punishment in a week I would lose that 50 dollars. When John snapped, it was scary. I burned through so many leads before landing on this one. She thought of how Kaye must have felt, the air so cold she could see her breath. John Ackroyd ended up dying in prison in 2016. Word reached police in Lebanon, Sheilas hometown, that she, too, hadnt shown up. 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. What sources did you rely on to reconstruct the events of your trial? Overseas, he was investigated for selling marijuana and going AWOL. Is this the theme of the story? Though investigators were certain he was behind her disappearance, they couldnt prove it. Covering thought leadership in journalism, 2023 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, It was pure serendipity.